Chapter 270
“Aaron, has Diana left?” Ellie asked, leading two children over. She paused briefly wlien she saw Aaron’s flushed ears and then broke into a knowing smile.
Everyone knew about Diana’s feelings for Aaron. Although Aaron had feelings for her too, he never really showed them. But since Diana came back, it was clear that he was trying harder.
Diana wasn’t the shy type, and maybe soon, the Thompson family would have a wedding.
“Aaron, why has Jason been away at the military base for so long?” Ellie wondered, realizing she hadn’t seen him since arriving.
Aaron replied, “Jason has gone to the border; he said he was bringing a comrade back to the country.”
Ellie felt a flash of confusion upon hearing about Jason’s trip to the border, but she had always been hesitant to ask more: about Jason.
As Aaron headed off to get the car, Ellie lingered by the roadside with the two children. Suddenly, a soft meow caught her attention.
A mature cat had appeared before her. After looking around and seeing no one else, she crouched down and gathered the cat into her lap.
The cat was about the size of a baby at several months old and smelled nice, like it had just been bathed.
It reminded her of the beautiful kitten Alex once gave her. She hesitated for a heartbeat, then gently set the kitten back on the ground. The children clearly loved it; one stroked its head while the other tugged at its tail.
The kitten didn’t seem to mind and stuck around, occasionally nuzzling Ellie’s legs. Unable to resist its charm, she picked the little creature up again.
The kitten settled against her, nuzzling her cheek and trying to climb onto her shoulder. Ellie laughed and rubbed her cheek against its fluffy head.
“Even though he is a boy, he’s already been neutered,” Alex teased as he approached from a distance. Hearing the playful tone in his voice, Ellie let go of the kitten.
Betty excitedly looked at Alex, but she didn’t dare to greet him. Alex playfully pinched Betty’s chubby cheek, glanced at Oscar, and then turned back to hold the kitten.
Under the streetlamp in the busy downtown square on a warm July evening, Alex and Ellie exchanged glances from across the way. His mischievous eyes assessed her.
Not bothered, Ellie looked away and led the children back onto the sidewalk. “Alex, your dad is waiting; hurry and get in the car,” said Nancy, who had approached quietly upon spotting Ellie with the two children.
She didn’t greet Ellie and made no effort to talk to the kids; her only concern was getting her son to leave. Alex was pulled away by Nancy, holding the kitten tightly as they walked to a luxurious car nearby.
Watching them leave, Ellie guided the two children away. She had always understood the mismatch between herself and Alex.
Despite the love that had filled her youth for seven years, she never considered confessing it to anyone. Even though it felt like a lost cause, she still turned away all possible suitors, choosing to accompany Alex on a journey that had no happy end.
That journey had been long and filled with challenges; she had taken her time with it, enough for it to become so unforgettable that she could no longer regain that initial spark and passion.
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17:25 Mon, 24 Feb
Chapter 270
“Alex, what’s bothering you?” Nancy asked, watching as Alex didn’t get inside the car. He stared longingly a Ellie’s shenter figure, unable to take his eyes off her.
Dressed in a simple, white dress with her hair flowing behind her, holding a child in each hand, the moved dong the sidewalk, radiating a beauty that captured everyone’s attention.
Alex’s memories started to blur, and Ellie’s delicate shape became a vision of a tiny girl from his past–mal and denter. She gave off an air of charm mixed with vulnerability.
Shaking his head, Alex unconsciously reached into his pockets. After searching with no muccess, he isentmindedly enched the ring finger of his right hand, still fixated on that distant figure.
He turned to Nancy and asked, “Mom, have I lost something? Following her son’s gaze toward Ellie and the children. Saucy felt her eyes grow misty.
What her son had lost was someone he had loved deeply, someone he had protected fiercely. It was the person he would undoubtedly miss in this life. Tm so sorry, Alex. Nancy whispered to herself.
She would rather see him live without love than watch him suffer for it. From the moment Alex had forgotten lie, be had in a way, started anew. Everything would surely get better.
“What could you have lost? You brought just a cat. Nancy urged her son to get in the car.
Even as she pushed Alex into the car, he kept riffling through his pockets. “Drive, Nancy ordered the driver as soon as he sat down.
“Mom, I really feel like I’ve lost something important. Please stop the car so I can look for it,” he pleaded. But Nancy remained firm, and the car kept moving east. Meanwhile, Aaron was driving Ellie and the children west.
Ellie rolled up the window, reflecting on how clocks can return to where they started, but they can’t go back to yesterday, seasons may change, but they can’t be retracted. A shattered heart can never be fixed.
She wished for Alex to find peace in the days ahead. She thought to herself, May there be no encounters and no debts between us in another life!
AD
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