Chapter 8
Eight days later, when I heard the news of Megan’s death, I was watching the little duckling taking its first steps.
The news came from a regular customer of mine.
She admired the flowers and sighed at how unpredictable life could be.
I joined her in her thoughts, remembering Megan and Blake. Those two names felt like they belonged to another lifetime.
“Caroline.”
A voice suddenly rang out. I turned around, and my expression instantly became cold.
Blake was approaching quickly. Just as I closed the store door, he shoved his hand through the gap.
Instantly, his fingers turned purple.
He gritted his teeth, sweat beading on his forehead, but he refused to back away.
“Can I have a word with you?”
Blake’s voice was almost pleading.
The customers around us all looked over.
I had no choice but to open the door and let him in.
After calming the customer, I poured a cup of coffee and placed it in front of him.
Only then did I take a good look at him.
In just a month, he seemed to have aged ten years.
His hair was streaked with gray, and his dark circles were heavy. It was clear he hadn’t been doing well.
But I didn’t understand. He loved Megan so much. I had already stepped aside for her, so why was he still struggling?
“Caroline, do you really not love me anymore?”
Tears welled up in his eyes as he began with that question.
I stared at him without speaking.
I didn’t even know how to respond.
Perhaps, from the very beginning, I hadn’t fallen for him at all. What I loved was the version of Blake he had crafted, the one who deeply loved Caroline.
Everything I had done, staying by his side all this time, was for that version of Blake who loved me.
2:24 PM D
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Seeing that I didn’t answer, Blake seemed deeply hurt.
“Caroline, if, if in the future, I’ll never let you suffer again… If I really fell in love with you, would you still be willing to come back with me?”
He looked at me, full of hope.
I instinctively leaned back in my chair, putting some distance between us.
“Are you planning to find another innocent girl to replace me? To let her end up like I did before, like Megan now, dying tragically?”
Blake’s eyes widened. He stared at me in disbelief as though my words had struck him deeply.
“In your heart, is that really who I am?”
I remained silent.
What else could I say?
Did he think of himself as something special?
He was just someone who fancied himself deeply romantic but turned into a demon who inflicted all the pain on others.
When he loved, he loved with his whole being, sacrificing everything.
When he didn’t love, he showed no mercy.
Blake suddenly avoided my gaze.
We sat in silence, not speaking, until the sun had set.
As the last trace of red faded, Blake let out a long sigh.
“Caroline, I guess this is the first time I’ve really watched a sunset with you.”
I looked at him in surprise. I hadn’t expected him to remember my old wish to watch the sunset together.
Back then, Blake would give me anything except for time.
Now, that time had come, but I no longer wanted to experience it. In fact, all I felt was a pain in my lower back.
Blake once again avoided my gaze.
When he reached the door, he suddenly turned around to look at me.
“Caroline, I’m willing to give up everything. My identity, my wealth, everything. I just want to live anonymously with you, traveling to the ends of the earth, watching the sunrise and sunset, planting flowers, raising chickens, cooking three meals a day. Would you still want that?”
He trembled as he spoke, just as I had when I once said those words to him.
But this time, I was the one who refused.
“I’ve already done it, Blake. The things you’ve lost can never be regained. You go after your beloved, and I’ll pick up my sixpence. That’s how it was before, that’s how it is now, and that’s how it will always be.”
The version of Caroline, who once loved Blake so deeply, could never come back.
Blake once again avoided my gaze.
This time, he left in such a hurry that he didn’t even wait for me to finish speaking.
