After all, she had called Jackson and told him that she would be out for business. They seemed to have taken her lie in a stride.
“You’re back just in time, Eveline. Your dad suggested going on a family trip yesterday, thinking that we could forget about the depressing past.” She sighed, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I know it hurts, Eveline, but we can’t change the fact that Lily’s gone.”
Eloise reached out to hold Niamh’s hand affectionately as the latter remained quiet.
“We can talk more when we get inside, Eveline.” Eloise then pulled Niamh into the house.
At the mention of Lillian, Niamh felt her eyes burn.
She remained in place and parted her lips to speak calmly, “My memory’s back.”
Eloise’s footsteps came to a sudden halt.
Niamh could feel Eloise’s hand grow cold in her grasp at her words, almost as if she was afraid.
Eloise turned around to look at Niamh with unease. “You… remember everything, Eveline?”
Niamh nodded with certainty. “Yes, I do.”
“That’s great.” Eloise was relieved, but she quickly let go of Niamh remorsefully.
She knew that Niamh hated her parents before she lost her memories because of how deep they had hurt her while the Niamh without her memories had called them ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’. Eloise was grateful enough as it was and did not dare to hope for more. She was merely disappointed and sad.
“Do you really remember everything, Eveline?”
“Yeah, everything.” Niamh’s eyes were mirthful. “I remember how you two hit and insulted me to protect Nevaeh. I remember how you turned a blind eye to the truth just to defend her heinous actions and shifted the blame to me.”
Eloise no longer had the courage to meet Niamh’s eyes. Guilt made her want to bury herself into the ground.
“I’m sorry, Eveline. We’re so sorry…”
Eloise apologized sincerely. She had resigned herself to silence as a response and was shocked to hear Niamh continue…
“Indeed, I do remember everything, but I also remember that you truly loved me and took care of me during the time I lost my memories. I saw the effort you put into making it up to me. I remember that too.”
“Eveline…” Eloise’s eyes brimmed with tears as her heart tightened with love and hurt.
Niamh gave Eloise a soft smile. “Mom.”
She had called Eloise her mother with the admittance that came from the depths of her heart.
Unable to believe her ears, Eloise’s tears came falling like the rain. “Eveline!” She rushed to hug her daughter as she sobbed against her shoulder.
Niamh’s tears fell too as she hugged Eloise back. Her heart felt full from the love her mother was giving, but it also reminded her of Lillian who she had not taken good care of.
She could understand how Eloise felt. The blind doting she and Sean once gave Nevaeh was truly out of the yearning they had for their daughter.
It was only by visiting the hospital that Kendrick came to know Niamh had been discharged.
He had not dared to disrupt her the entire time she spent in the hospital.
This was because she would pretend to be asleep every time he went to visit her as she did not want to see him.
The disappointment hurt him, but Kendrick still wanted to try his luck again.
He refused to believe that the woman who willingly took a bullet for him did not love him.
Niamh had just entered the house when a servant informed her of Kendrick’s visit. Rather than entering the house, he was waiting for her by the gates outside.
This time, Niamh accepted his visit.
She washed her face and recollected her emotions before she walked out to stand generously in front of the man with a calm look in her eyes. “We have nothing to talk about, Mr. Waldburg.”
“Don’t be so cold to me, Nia. I know you still care about me. Why else would you take the bullet?”
Niamh was calm. “If that’s why you’re here, Mr. Waldburg, I can tell you the truth behind it.”
For some unknown reason, the indifference on Niamh’s small face brought unease.
He had prayed to see the admiration and reluctance to let go in Niamh’s eyes, only to be faced with a pond of uninterrupted calm.
Cutting the quiet, Niamh parted her lips. “You went blind because of me, Mr. Waldburg, so I decided to save you when you were about to get into an accident back then at Glendale University.
“You saved me when I slipped and fell into the water on the island where I almost drowned at sea, so I saved you when you were in danger this time.”
Niamh explained the two times she had risked her life to save Kendrick.
“Do you understand now, Mr. Waldburg? I didn’t do it out of love. I merely don’t want to owe you anything.”
Dazed, Kendrick refused to believe her.
“No, Nia. That’s not it.” He denied it.
“That’s not it? Then how do you want it to be, Mr. Waldburg?” Niamh chuckled. “Did you think that I’ll still be foolish little Niamh who’s head over heels in love with you?”
“Nia.” Kendrick stared sorrowfully at the features of hers he loved deeply. “Can’t we start over?”
“Start over?” Niamh rolled the words off her tongue only to laugh at them after a moment. Her eyes were growing wet against her will.
“Please, Nia. Don’t reject me so quickly. As long as you can remember the past, I promise you’ll remember how much you used to love me.”
Niamh replied nonchalantly as she stared at the thick layer of hope in Kendrick’s eyes. “Perhaps. I truly loved you in the past, so much so that I lost my sense of self. It went to the point where I’d just sit there and take it even when you hurt me.”
Kendrick felt his heart clench painfully as his eyes filled with regret. “Nia…”
“But I’m sorry, Mr. Waldburg. I no longer remember, nor do I wish to remember the time you spoke of.” Hiding the fact that her memory had returned, Niamh continued, “Lillian’s gone. We can’t go back to the past and change it, let alone start over, Mr. Waldburg. This is it between us. This is where it ends.”
Having said her piece calmly, Niamh turned and left.
Kendrick strode up to hold her from behind.
Despite sharing their body heat, warmth could not seem to thaw her frosted heart.
“Nia.”
His heartbreaking voice sounded by her ear.
“It’s because we’ve lost Lillian that we have even more reason to start over again. We can’t change the past, but in memory of Lillian, shouldn’t we live better now and into the future?”
“I think I’d live even better without you.”
Niamh stated coldly as she reached out to push Kendrick’s arms away.
“Goodbye, Mr. Waldburg. I hope we never meet again.”
She walked away coolly, her figure vanishing from his sight.
‘Goodbye… I hope we never meet again.’
Kendrick stood frozen in place as he felt searing pain spread to every corner of his body.
‘Are we just destined to part forever, Nia?’
Nia returned to her bedroom to stand by the floor-to-ceiling window.
From her spot, she watched Kendrick stand in a stupor by the gates of Montgomery Manor for a long while. She suppressed the heartache in her heart and swallowed the tears that threatened to fall.
Scenes of years past where she had loved him all consumingly flooded her heart.
She could still remember his warm smile when she had crashed into his arms when they met again in university.
‘However, your love came too late, Kendrick.
‘There is no way we can turn back now.’
She turned her face away from him and decided that she would go on a trip overseas with her parents and Jackson to forget the past.
Niamh returned after the better half of a month, evidently more cheerful than before she left.
Although Felipe had contacted her while she was away, Niamh made no move to reply.
Kendrick, however, had remained silent.
As if he understood her desire, he no longer disturbed her.
The few days after her return, Niamh dealt with matters of her work before bringing a signed check and a few documents to Felipe’s villa.
Felipe did not seem to be present when she arrived. Niamh walked in and was met with Cathy sitting despondently on the couch. Her complexion was horrible and she did not seem to be in the best mental state.
“Are you alright, Cathy?” Niamh approached and asked.
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.