Niamh was even more surprised when she heard those words.
She stared at Kendrick’s face carefully, as if to question whether the person in front of her was actually him.
However, from Niamh’s response, Kendrick felt even more remorseful.
He knew that the injuries and damage he inflicted upon her was far too great.
He wondered what he would need to do to make atonement.
Kendrick brought Niamh to the nearest hospital from the mall. After seeing the doctor, he realized that the doctor was Adam Brown.
Even though Adam went to school with Kendrick previously, he was good friends with Daniel, so Kendrick was a little wary of him.
“When did you become a psychiatrist?” Kendrick questioned.
Adam had a slight grin and casually took out a card from his drawer. The card said that he was Dr. Adam Brown, a psychiatrist.
“I just had nothing better to do and did some research and studies. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
Kendrick was speechless for a while. He was about to explain Niamh’s condition when Niamh suddenly said, “Kendrick, can you go outside for a while?”
Her request confused Kendrick a little, but he did not question her and went outside.
As soon as Kendrick went out, Niamh made a straightforward request. “Dr. Brown, I think Kendrick knows about my illness. If he asks about it later, can you keep it a secret for me?”
Adam was taken aback. When he looked into Niamh’s sincere and clear eyes, he had an inexplicable ache in his heart.
After a while, the door of the consultation room opened and Niamh looked at Kendrick with a relaxed face. She told him that she wanted to go to the bathroom and asked Kendrick to wait for her in the parking lot.
When he saw that Niamh kept looking at him, he pretended to turn around and leave. When Niamh stopped looking at him, Kendrick returned to Adam’s office.
Kendrick told him about Niamh’s condition. After Adam listened to what he had to say, he came to a clear conclusion. “After preliminary consultation, it’s most likely that she’s suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder from trauma. This means that she has cognitive impairment in terms of her identity. Based on what you told me, it seems that she has two personalities as of now.”
“Two personalities?” Kendrick was surprised, and his heart ached.
Adam narrowed his eyes solemnly. “We still have to continue to observe her situation. From what I can tell, Niamh’s current memory is still stuck on the day she got sick which was six years ago. When she asked you to leave just now, she wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t tell you about her illness.”
After he said that, the air became still and quiet.
Kendrick felt as if his heart had stopped.
Tears formed in his eyes instantly.
When Niamh found out that she was sick six years ago, she chose to bear it alone.
At that time, he was indulging Nevaeh, the demon, who was intent on destroying her already fading body.
At that moment, the fragments of the past seemed to be pieces of broken glass that were dumped into his heart. The pain of his crushed and mangled heart was so intense that it made it hard for him to breathe.
He waited for Niamh in the parking lot in a daze and pretended that he had never gone back to look for Adam.
Niamh returned to the car shortly afterward and saw Kendrick standing there waiting for her. She felt that he was faking it and started to get even more frightened.
Kendrick endured the pain in his heart and opened the car door for Niamh before sending her back to the villa.
The docile and meek Niamh who obeyed his every word made him feel somewhat bittersweet.
Just after arriving at the villa, Kendrick received a call from Eloise.
Kendrick did not hang up that time. He answered the phone and admitted that he had taken Niamh.
Without saying much, he hung up the phone. He then packed up some clothes and drove away, taking Niamh to the beach of April Hill.
He checked into a room in a small hotel by the beach and brought Niamh in.
Niamh was confused and followed Kendrick into the room. When she felt the warmth of Kendrick’s hand holding hers, her heart jumped for joy. “Kendrick, why did you suddenly bring me here?”
Niamh asked in disbelief and looked at Kendrick carefully.
In her head at that moment, this was the man she loved but who did not love her back. In fact, he hated her.
Kendrick saw Niamh’s perturbed gaze. He held her hands and looked at her lovingly. “Nia, don’t be afraid of me. I’ll never do anything to make you sad ever again.”
Niamh stared at Kendrick blankly, unable to believe that those words had sounded from his lips.
Not long ago, he was fierce and angry when he grabbed her by the neck and said he wanted to avenge Nevaeh. His icy eyes had pierced through her bones. They were like ice picks, but now…
“Kendrick, a-are you okay?” Niamh was worried.
Kendrick looked at her with a pain in his chest. “Nia, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have believed Nevaeh’s lies. I’ve wronged you. I shouldn’t have broken your heart again and again.”
Niamh’s eyes lit up. “Kendrick, are you saying that you finally believe me? So you believe that I didn’t hurt Nevaeh?” she asked him repeatedly, and there was a strong desire to be trusted and understood in her eyes.
Kendrick felt the immense guilt in his heart again.
His heart hurt even more, but his eyes are full of warmth and determination. “Nia, I believe you. I’ll believe every word you say in the future. Forgive my ignorance before. Please, will you let me make it up to you?”
Niamh’s eyes turned red as tears flickered in her eyes.
As she looked into Kendrick’s devout and earnest eyes, she nodded. “Okay.”
Kendrick thought he would be happy after receiving her forgiveness, but there were only ten folds of the pain and hatred in his heart.
He was hurting for Niamh and the hatred was directed at himself.
Why should she forgive him for all the pain she had endured because of him?
How much love did she have for him that she could love him without any hesitation?
He got another call. Even though it was an unknown phone number, Kendrick could guess who it was. He simply turned off the phone because he just wanted to enjoy his time alone with Niamh.
At dusk, the ambiance in April Hill seemed simple and tranquil.
The breeze blew gently as the waves beat against the white sand. It was the same scene that they saw years ago.
The only difference was that they were all grown up now.
Kendrick held Niamh’s hand as he walked her to the beach. The breeze in April was soft and dreamy. With the smell of sea salt in the air, it brought back memories of the past.
However, Kendrick was not sure if the current Niamh still remembered their first meeting.
When he turned his head and saw the faint smile on Niamh’s face, he could not help but smile. “Nia, do you remember when we first met here?” he asked tentatively.
Niamh turned her head quickly as a hint of excitement showed on her beautiful and clear eyes. “Kendrick, have you finally remembered what we did here the last time?”
Kendrick gave her a gentle smile. “Silly girl, how could I forget? Even though it’s been more than ten years, I’ve never forgotten you nor have I forgotten our promise.”
Niamh’s eyes widened in surprise. Images of Kendrick treating her coldly and his disdain for her flashed in her head. It was completely opposite to the Kendrick who was standing in front of her at this moment. She frowned, saying, “But Kendrick, previously…”
“Nia, I’ve done a lot of wrong things. I’m not in the position to ask for your forgiveness, but there are some things that I’ve kept inside for a long time that I must tell you today.”
Kendrick interrupted her and brushed her picturesque eyebrows with his warm fingertips. There were deep sadness and guilt overflowing from his eyes.
If Niamh’s memory had gone back to six years ago, then it would be as if God had given him a chance to redeem his sins in the past.
“Nia, after I broke off with you years ago, I’ve always thought about you ever since. I’ve even tried looking for you but I could never do so.
“12 years later, I accidentally met a girl on campus. The girl slammed into my arms ignorantly. When she raised her head to apologize to me, I had butterflies in my stomach for the first time, and that girl was you.
“But I was foolish. I was so stupid that I didn’t recognize that the girl was the little Nia I’ve promised to spend the rest of my life with. And at that time, a bad girl appeared and told me that she was little Nia, so I was fooled…
“In order to fulfill my promise to little Nia, I forced myself to avoid you, treat you coldly, and pretend not to like you. I even indulged the bad girl who impersonated little Nia willfully but ended up hurting the actual person who I really loved.”
At that point, the tears formed in Kendrick’s eyes had already blurred his vision.
Through the tears, he saw that Niamh’s eyes were also red.
“So the bad girl posing as me was Nevaeh?” Niamh said her guess out loud.
Kendrick nodded slightly with regret. “I’m sorry, Nia. I made you suffer.”
He embraced her with sincerity, love, and apology.
Niamh broke down and leaned against Kendrick’s chest. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. “So the reason you treated Nevaeh well was because you thought she was me…”
She pursed her lips that were wet with tears. “Even though it was just a naive and childish thing I said, you took it seriously and kept it as a promise. I’m very happy, really.”
Niamh did not blame him for what he did and that made Kendrick feel even worse.
She should blame him. Even if he had gotten the wrong person, he should not have been so cruel to her, and neither should he have deceived himself after meeting her again and falling in love with her.
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.