He set his jaw, then mumbled, “Don’t get dive ced
My eyes went wide. I thought I must have mi
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He said again, “Let’s work on our relationship first.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. He seemed so childish all of a sudden.
“Don’t you have someone you like?”
“You… knew about that?” His voice was tense. A flash of panic crossed his eyes, completely unlike his usual calm demeanor.
“Of course. I don’t mind if you spend time with the woman you like. You can go shopping and have meals with her.” I teased him, “I’ve seen that woman once. She’s quite pretty. You have my support.”
“Which woman?”
“The one you had dinner with yesterday.”
He was quiet for a long time, then covered his face with his hands.
I thought he was embarrassed and was about to give him some space to collect himself.
Just as I started to turn away, he suddenly grabbed my arm.
His face was more serious than I’d ever seen it. Then I heard him say slowly and clearly:
“Amber, you’re the only person I’ve ever liked. It’s been that way for a very long time.”
I was stunned. A thousand thoughts raced through my mind. My heart felt like a little drum, pounding away.
“How… you… weren’t…” I stammered incoherently.
“If I didn’t say it, you probably never would have known.”
“Don’t you remember? We used to be close. Why are we like strangers now?
That’s right, we were in the same class for all three years of middle school. We just lost touch after the entrance exams for high schoo
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I calmed myself down. “Didn’t you have a crush on someone? You confessed but got rejected, right?”
“You didn’t see it?”
I hesitated. “See what?”
“The necklace pendant. The graduation gift I gave you.” He smiled bitterly. “I never saw you wear it. You must have thrown it away.”
The necklace pendant?
Of course I didn’t throw it away. To keep him from finding out, I’d had Ethan hold onto it for me.
I really liked that pendant, so I’d kept it all this time. But I was worried he’d feel awkward if he saw me wearing it, which is why I gave it to Ethan.
“On the back of the pendant, there’s an engraving with both our initials.”
“You never responded, so I thought you were rejecting me.”
He let out a self–deprecating laugh.
“The woman I had dinner with yesterday is Nathan’s new girlfriend. She came to the office looking for him, but he wasn’t there. He was worried about her safety, so he asked me to take her home.”
“I’ve never liked anyone else. Only you.””
“There’s one more thing Ethan doesn’t know. He’s not actually my biological son. Back then, I thought I’d never get married, so I adopted him.”
My eyes trembled slightly. “But I always thought we’d just live our lives peacefully like this. I never considered love or anything like that.
“And no matter whose child Ethan is, I’ve accepted him. He’s my son now. We can still continue living like we have been,
21:12 Sat, Dec 7
♡ A
Seeing his expression turn disappointed, my heart clenched painfully.
Unable to look at him, I blurted out some words of comfort. “Let’s ride the Ferris wheel
one more time. The ninth time.”
After getting home, I thought about a lot of things.
That evening when Ethan came back from preschool, Nathan had gone to the office to
handle some urgent matters.
“Ethan, are you still wearing the necklace pendant Mommy gave you?” I asked.
“Yes, it’s Mommy’s gift to me. I really like it.”
“Can Mommy take a look at it?” I asked eagerly, desperate to know the truth.
After Ethan handed it to me, I immediately opened it up.
The front had a weapon insignia, with no pattern on the inside. I’d never thought to open
it before.
On the back were two engraved letters – AQ.
I’d even made fun of his taste back then, giving a weapon–themed pendant as a gift to a
girl.
Weapon.
