Bethan, too, raised her head, shifting in her seat as she leaned on the bench. She quietly sat with Bonnie and looked at the sky. The two women stayed in the garden and chatted until the next morning.
At 10 a.m., Brettley carried the tired Bethan to the airport. Gwen, who let her hair down and wore sunglasses and cap, was shocked to see Bethan. She was surprised to see Brettley carrying her down from the car.
“Hey, I know how loving the two of you are, but this is a three–person trip! Can both of you not be like this before the trip starts?”
Gwen commented.
It was too much for a single woman like her to see how loving the two of them were, was it not?
Nonetheless…she did not think she was single anymore. She placed her hand at her heart and felt how it pumped.
Luke was here. His heart would forever beat in her chest. They would never be apart anymore, and all the gossip and rumors could no longer hurt their relationship. “She had chatted with Bonnie for the entire night and didn’t sleep.”
Brettley carried the drowsy Bethan as they entered the airport. “Let’s go.”
Gwen rolled her eyes helplessly. She quickly pulled her baggage and followed Brettley to check in. Luckily, they took the private plane to Saigen city this time, and a bed on the plane allowed Bethan to get the sleep she needed. Otherwise, Gwen would have a strong reason to believe they would spend the first day in Saigen City in the hotel.
Alas, she underestimated how tired Bethan was. Even after sleeping for several hours on the plane, she was still unconscious after they arrived at Saigen City. No matter what Gwen said, Bethan could only mutter groggy responses and answer wrongly to every question. Gwen sighed helplessly. She placed her baggage in the room and changed her clothes. “You should rest in the hotel. I’ll go walk around by myself.”
Saigen City was a different city from Merchant City and Banyan City. Although it was just autumn in Banyan City, it was winter in Saigen City, and thus it was snowing. Gwen felt better when she saw the different historical buildings on the street.
Thus, she decided she should not waste the beautiful moment and went to take a walk by herself.
“Sorry…”
Bethan slept on the bed and looked at Gwen, who had already put on a while color plush jacket. She apologized, saying, “Bonnie and I were reminiscing about our past, and we lost track of time. I’m sorry I can’t go with you today…”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
Gwen took out a fluffy hat with rabbit ears and wore it. “I don’t mind. I’m going to take up your time for a long period while Bonnie stays in Merchant City. She’s more pitiful than me. It’s good that you chatted with her and comforted her before we left!”
Bethan burst out in laughter as she gazed at how energetic Gwen was. “I wanted to bring you here to cheer you up.”
“From what I’m seeing now, it doesn’t seem like you need my help to cheer you up anymore.”
Gwen managed to compose herself gracefully. No one knew why, but her condition progressively got better after Bethan and Bonnie knew Luke had passed away. Over the past month, she had been complaining about Luke. She said Luke was a heartless jerk for not visiting her. Nonetheless, after Bethan knew Luke had passed away, she never heard Gwen say that anymore.
It was as though Gwen knew why Luke never came back when no one told her the reason, so she could not have known about this either. Based on her personality, she would not be so calm if she found out.
Having thought that, Bethan looked at the grinning Gwen. The only reason she could think that made Gwen have these changes was because of Luke’s heart.
Maybe… Luke did not want Gwen to be so sad and upset, so Gwen recovered very well.
“Alright, sleep well. I’ll bring you some good food when I come back at night.”
Gwen did not know what Bethan was thinking. She smiled, bade Bethan goodbye, and left the room.
After Gwen left, Bethan yawned and wanted to sleep, but her phone rang. It was Brettley calling.
“You don’t have to worry about Gwen. I’ve sent people to keep an eye on her from afar. Nothing will happen to her, so you can sleep without worrying.”
Bethan’s heart felt warm as she listened to Brettley’s deep voice. Once their plane arrived, Brettley got called away by Thomas’ men, saying that they had important matters to discuss. Nevertheless, he did not forget to take time to arrange for people to watch over Bethan and Gwen, not to mention calling Lura to make her feel at ease.
“Thank you,” muttered Bethan with a nasal voice. “You don’t have to thank me.”
Brettley curled up his lips into a smile when he heard her voice.”
Sleep well. Don’t stay up late anymore.”
Bethan responded and hung up the phone. Only then did she close her eyes and sleep.
In fact, she started to think about their trip last night when she and Bonnie’s conversation somehow sidetracked to Luke. They started to reminisce about all the things Luke did for Gwen over the years, and slowly, they started to understand Luke and felt bad for Gwen. Without them realizing it, they lost track of time entirely. Amid their conversation, Bethan vaguely remembered Bonnie said Kate, who had been following Luke everywhere he went, was also from Saigen City. After Luke’s death, Kate returned home.
After Gwen left the hotel, she started to stroll the street for the entire afternoon. She experienced a different culture and felt extremely relaxed and cheerful. However, she had underestimated Saigen City’s weather. The boots she wore could not withstand the cold weather. Within a couple of hours, her feet started to ache because of the cold weather, and thus began her quest to look for a footwear shop to buy a new pair of shoes is a mall. “Ms. Miller, these shoes match your clothes very much! If you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask for your fiance’s opinion? It’s very good!”
In the shoe shop, Gwen lowered her head to change the shoes and overheard the sales attendant introducing a pair of shoes affectionately. She was not bothered by it and continued to look at the shoes she was trying.
That was until she heard a familiar male voice.
“Yes, I think they look very nice, too.”
That voice. At that very instant, Gwen felt as though she was petrified, struck by lightning.
That was Luke’s voice!
At that moment, Gwen felt like the blood in her body froze as she felt herself trembling. This was the voice that appeared in her dream every night, and she even thought she was hallucinating when she heard it again.
The man behind her started to talk again, “But it’s fine if you don’t like it. We can shop at other places.”
Gwen felt like her blood started to rush up her brain. Tears started to roll in her eyes. She bit her lip and got on her feet.
There was a couple leaving behind her. The man had his arms around the woman as they left the shop.
That figure…did not look like Luke
Nevertheless, she rushed out the door and, not caring about how she would look, blocked the couple from leaving like she was crazy, arms spread wide open. “Who are you?”
The woman furrowed her brow as she looked at Gwen with a puzzled look The man gently pulled the woman into his arms and looked at Gwen warily. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
That voice. It was not the same as Luke. Gwen was stunned. ‘How could that be? Was I…hallucinating after all?’ she thought.
“What a crazy woman.’ The woman shot Gwen a disdainful look when Gwen did not even say anything after blocking their path. She pulled the man’s arm and left the place.
Gwen merely stood transfixed like she was struck by lightning and did not move an inch.
How could that be? She could have sworn she heard Luke’s voice, she knew it!
After a while, she covered her face as tears started to fall. She missed him dearly, so much so that she started to hallucinate his voice in public. She even rushed to stop strangers from leaving to make sure that man was not Luke.
Gwen would have never done that in the past. After she was dumped by Ben and what she went through, she became timid and weak to the extent that she did not dare to laugh and talk loudly on the street like Bonnie.
In spite of that, she cried out loud in this foreign place because she thought she heard Luke’s voice. She covered her face and cried. She found herself slumping to the floor, squatting as she wept with a hand on her chest –silently, voicelessly. She tried her best. She thought she would feel better after she convinced herself Luke was with her in her body and that he was always together with her. She thought that if she pretended to be happy and strong, those feelings would eventually manifest and solidified. She kept on lying to herself and stubbornly pretended to be fine with everything. However, all those fragile pretenses shattered into pieces like broken glass right at that moment. She had never forgotten Luke. The longer he was away from her, the clearer his image was in her brain.
She could not forget him. She could not do it!
Why? Why was she sick? Why could only Luke’s heart save her? Why did Luke never discuss this with her and chose to make sacrifices for her? She would rather she was dead in Luke’s arms and not living like a zombie.
‘You’re an asshole, Luke!’ Gwen screamed in her heart. “Miss?”
The sales attendant of the shoe shop came to her side and patted her back lightly when she saw Gwen crying while squatting on the floor.
She passed a piece of tissue to Gwen.”
Did something bad happen to you?”
Gwen’s head remained lowered as she silently wept. Thus, she did not see Kate holding hands with a man as she left the shoe shop when the sales attendant was comforting her.
“I don’t like that pair of shoes a lot.”
Kate leaned her head against the man’s arms while looking very happy. “But, if you think it looks good, it must be very pretty!”
The man smiled and pinched Kate’s nose passionately. As he lowered his head, he saw the sales attendant patting the back of a woman squatting on the floor. He could not see her face, but her thin body had him furrowed his brow tightly.
Kate glanced over in the direction the man was looking at Gwen, too, but she did not recognize Gwen. She pursed her lip and stretched her hand out to cover the man’s eyes. “Don’t look at another woman!”
The man smiled and looked up to the front. “Alright, you little green–eyed monster.”
His deep, alluring voice blended in with the hustles and bustles of the street.
Kate leaned in his arms happily. “Well, you shouldn’t look so handsome, then! I’m going to tell your father that we should have the wedding as soon as possible, in case you’re lured away and seduced by other women.”
The man smiled helplessly. “Well, you’ll have to wait until I make full recovery, right?”
“Of course.”
Both of them chatted happily and disappeared into the end of the mall’s walkway.
Gwen lost track of how long she had been squatting and crying. Once she was sure no more tears were coming, she looked up sheepishly and thanked the sales attendant with gratitude,”
Thank you.”
After that, she stood up to leave, but the sales attendant stopped her. “Miss, the shoes…”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.