“What did you do to Kendrick? Why doesn’t he recognize me?” Niamh asked, going straight to the point.
Felicity did not have the time to respond when Kendrick’s magnetic voice drifted from inside. “Who’s out there?”
Felicity’s expression immediately changed into a tired and frustrated one. “Why are you here again, Miss Montgomery? I’ve told you multiple times before that I’m the person Kendrick loves. It’s because we look similar that Kendrick took a liking to you as my replacement. Kendrick and I are back together now, so would you kindly please stop bothering us?”
Niamh was certain that Felicity was acting at that point. She wished to rip apart the woman’s mask when Kendrick suddenly appeared in her line of vision.
Kendrick stared calmly at Niamh with his deep and analyzing peach blossom eyes before averting his gaze to look at Felicity as he spoke in a warm tone, “Pack your things quickly. Our flight back to Glendale is in three hours.”
“Alright.” Felicity nodded, the provoking tint in her smile deepening.
Niamh could not believe her eyes as she watched Kendrick ignore her. He even closed the door in her surprised face without giving her another look.
Not only did he fail to recognize her, but he was also being cold and disdainful.
It reminded her of how they started.
However, in comparison to the ruthless person he once was, it was evident that this version of him still loved her deeply.
Niamh knew that there had to be a reason behind Kendrick’s attitude, so she took a cab toward Baby’s Breath Manor to look for Felipe without another thought.
Felipe was indeed at the manor. In the garden, the man was sitting casually with a cup of black tea and a book in his hands.
Niamh stood before him and spoke curtly, “The plane crash, the missing, and the dying were all fake. You had Felicity and your bodyguard drag me into the car just so that Kendrick and I wouldn’t meet. You separated us so that you could do as you wish, didn’t you?”
Felipe placed the teacup down nonchalantly while his otherworldly appearance remained unfazed. “Your heart must’ve hurt so much when you found out that he died, hmm?”
Felipe sneered at Niamh’s silence. “It never crossed my mind that you’d still be so in love with him, Eveline.” He stood and leaned toward Niamh, his voice deep and bewitching when he spoke, “It must hurt, hmm? Watching the man you love so deeply ignore you to defend another woman.
“Do you know how I feel now, Eveline?”
Niamh understood it more or less. “You did all of that just so that Kendrick and I would never get together? You even killed Lillian, the little girl who called you her daddy, just to get what you want!”
“I didn’t hurt Lillian.” Felipe proceeded to deny it. “You’ll know soon enough that while I can be ruthless to anyone, I will never disappoint you.”
Felipe then made a move to leave only to have Niamh stand in front of him. “What did you do to Kendrick?”
His smile was faint as his eyes glowed with a deluding tint. “He wouldn’t be flying back to Glendale to get registered with another woman if he loved you so much, would he?”
Niamh had indeed heard Kendrick telling Felicity that they were boarding back to Glendale in three hours, but could they truly be going to get registered?
What happened to the man who claimed that he loved and only had feelings for her?
Niamh immediately booked the same flight back as well.
She and Kendrick had already spent too many years suffering. She refused to let the two of them miss each other again just because of someone else’s purposeful interference and schemes.
Niamh was sitting two seats diagonally from Kendrick.
She watched Felicity stare elatedly at Kendrick’s face as she sat next to him.
After roughly an hour, Niamh found that Felicity had fallen asleep. She was shocked to see Kendrick cover her with a blanket as if in fear of her catching a cold. He then slowly stood up and went to where she assumed was the bathroom.
Suppressing her own emotions, Niamh immediately rushed over to hold the door just as Kendrick was about to close it.
Kendrick had not the time to react when the door was wrenched open. She marched into the bathroom and the door then closed behind her with a click.
Kendrick looked shocked, but Niamh held him by his collar and pressed him against the isolation board before he could open his mouth to speak. She stared into his eyes. “Let me ask you, Kendrick Waldburg. Do you truly not recognize me at all?”
The man suddenly reached up to hold the hand on his collar and squinted his eyes. “I do. Of course, I recognize you.”
Niamh’s eyes shone with hope at Kendrick’s response. “You remember me, Kendrick? Then why did you—”
“Felicity told me that you’re one of my crazy fans who did plastic surgery to look like Felicity just to get my attention.”
Niamh initially thought that Kendrick only said such words before to get closer to Felicity so that he could investigate the truth of her identity. She thought that he was just pretending that he did not recognize her, but his reply proved her wrong.
Niamh had no other option but to accept such was the fact as she stared into Kendrick’s cold eyes. The Kendrick before her no longer recognized her.
“I hope you’ll be more rational, miss. Feelings are not something to be forced. Even if you’ve done plastic surgery to look like Felicity, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re not the person I love,” Kendrick added.
Letting go of Niamh’s hand, he turned and left without looking back.
His cold rejection was a replica of how he used to be.
Staring at his retreating figure, Niamh spoke calmly, “I don’t know what they did to you to make you forget me and think that the person you love is Felicity, but everything I’m going to say next is the truth, Kendrick. Ever since we first met over a decade ago, the only person you’ve ever cared for is me.
“Over the past few years, we’ve both become victims of the other’s schemes and plots. You’ve made a horrible mistake once, causing our family to break apart, and for that, you’ve also knelt in front of me and apologized. I gave you the chance to make up for it. Are you really going to make the same mistake again today?”
Niamh walked toward him.
“I can tell you with certainty, Kendrick, that you’ll regret everything you’re doing and saying to me right now should you wake up one day and remember the past we shared.”
Kendrick’s footsteps halted at the word ‘regret’.
His fingers were on their way to open the door, yet they seemed to have frozen mid-air.
Realizing that Kendrick seemed to be persuaded by her words, Niamh walked to stand behind him. “You refused to believe whatever I said back then, Kendrick. Are you going to reject me again now?”
“Believe.” Kendrick rolled the two syllables over his tongue in thought. Frowning, he left anyway without another word.
Niamh’s heart grew cold. “Kendrick, you…”
She called out only to lose her footing as the airplane slanted suddenly. Falling on her side, she knocked onto the isolation board.
“Ah!”
Niamh exclaimed in pain.
The plane seemed to have run into turbulence for it began to jostle about.
Kendrick had half the mind to grab onto the railing when he saw Niamh wobbling on her feet before knocking into the isolation board. Without a moment of hesitation, he dashed toward her to hold her in his arms.
While the woman in his arms was far from familiar, Kendrick felt the cells in his body celebrate upon making contact with her.
“Are you alright?” he asked caringly before he realized what was going on.
With effort, Niamh finally got onto her feet and looked up at the man who was holding her tightly. Her lips parted as she wanted to reply only for the plane to sway. Weightlessness overcame them.
Niamh could hear passengers screaming in fear outside.
Were they truly about to crash?
In a moment of panic, Niamh felt Kendrick’s arms tightening around her. His warmth and scent engulfed her. She had never felt safer despite the danger of their current crisis.
Niamh suddenly curled her lips into a smile.
She reached out to loop her arms around his waist, tightening them slowly as she pulled the man into a tight hug.
She had wished countless times over the past many years that she would get to hug this man in such a way and to feel the warmth of a sincere hug from this man.
She had never expected this moment to come so late.
This was their first and perhaps their last as well.
“Kendrick,” she called out his name in an unusually calm manner.
The man averted his deep peach blossom eyes to meet her, the long alluring slits staring into her flawless appearance that was mere inches away from his. Her glossy eyes were mesmerizing.
“It’s okay, it’ll be alright soon. It’s just turbulence.” He comforted softly.
Then, he found his own behavior weird.
After all, in such a situation, should his priority not be to protect Felicity? Why did he find it so difficult to let go of the girl in his arms and let her face the danger herself?
Within him came a persistent voice reminding and telling him to protect Niamh, to ensure that nothing would happen to Niamh.
Niamh smiled. Looking at his face now, she found no more traces of the heavy hatred in his eyes.
“There’s something I need to tell you now, Kendrick, or I might never get the chance to tell you anymore.” She stared at his lips. Despite the weightlessness from the jostle of the plane, Niamh had never felt more fearless. She only had one goal in mind.
Kendrick looked at her. “What is it?”
She parted her lips mirthfully and said, “I don’t hate you anymore.”
‘I don’t hate you anymore.’
Kendrick was shocked. The words were incomplete without any context, yet his heart seemed to understand what she meant. Relief flooded the inside of his chest, threatening to burst out.
“If this is how our story ends, I don’t think I’d mind it too much. If we get the chance to meet again in our next life, Kendrick, I only hope that you believe everything I say and won’t hurt me again. Don’t make me suffer because of my love for you anymore, okay?”
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.