}
Chapter 20
After
After I fainted, Antoine shot himself.
When he died, he tightly held a diamond ring in his hand, which I believe was meant for me.
When Bryson handed me the ring, I didn’t take it.
The diamond was dazzling and eye–catching, but unfortunately, it was not what I wanted.
“Can you help me sell it and then donate the proceeds to the welfare home?”
Bryson pondered for a moment and asked me, “Are you sure?”
“Um.”
Besides this ring, Antoine also edited a long Line message to send to me before he committed
suicide.
Starting with “I’m sorry” and ending with “I love you“, in between is a long confession.
I glanced quickly and deleted it.
I no longer wanted to waste time on these trivial matters.
My life gradually returned to calm.
Fingers could no longer play the piano, so I chose to open a flower shop, which could be considered
freedom.
Because I often had to go to the hospital to accompany Dawson, I hired two girls to help me take
care of the store.
Bryson used to come to the hospital in his free time, no, now we should call him Braylen Hopkins.
I have to say, the police uniform suits him better.
That day, he suddenly clenched his fist in front of my eyes and said, “Guess what’s in my palm
I was a bit confused, “How am I supposed to guess this? Could it be a coin? Or maybe it’s candy?”
Braylen shook his head and slowly opened his hands.
The tiny diamonds sparkled in his palm. It was the pair of firework earrings that Alan had given me.
Antoine’s house was built at the foot of the mountain, with bushes outside the window. Surprisingly, he helped me find my way back.
While Antoine was away, I secretly searched for a long time,” he smiled, “I didn’t dare give it to you then, afraid of giving away too much. Later, I got busy and forgot about it.”
1/4
“Thank you.”
This is probably the second happiest thing for me recently.
The first happy thing was that Dawson finally woke up.
Maybe the heavens finally took pity on me and returned Dawson to me.
I didn’t tell him about what happened during the time he was unconscious, but that day he suddenly
hugged me and said, “Noemi, I’m sorry for making you suffer alone. From now on, I will protect
you.”
It was Braylen who told him.
I actually minded a bit, “Dawson had just woken up, and I didn’t want him to be affected by these
things.”
Braylen said, “He was seventeen years old. He had become a man. As you saw, stronger than you imagined, wasn’t he?”
Yeah, my Dawson has already grown into a towering adult.
he was much
Dawson returned to school to study again. Two years later, he took the police academy exam and said he wanted to become an excellent police officer like Braylen.
I was very pleased.
On Alan’s birthday, I drove alone and took many fireworks to the countryside.
Just as I opened the trunk, I heard a familiar voice behind me, “Noemi, you came to set off fireworks without bringing me!”
I turned around and looked at Dawson and Braylen walking towards me side by side, with surprise.
“How did you guys follow?”
“Braylen was worried that it would be unsafe for you, being a girl, to light the fire.”
The two of them walked up to me and stood still.
Braylen took out a box of milk from his coat pocket and handed it to me.
I hesitated for a few seconds, “Thank you.”
Dawson joked, “Braylen, why were you so biased towards Noemi?”
Braylen remained noncommittal.
fter a while, Braylen told me and Dawson to stand further away and moved the fireworks to the
center of the lawn.
2/4
After he lit the firework with a lighter, he walked back with big strides.
After a moment, fireworks competed with each other to bloom in the sky, and the pitch–black night sky was dyed with various colors, splendid and dazzling.
Alan, did you see the fireworks I gave you?
In an instant, memories surged.
I remembered his determination when he said he wanted to keep the fireworks for me. I
remembered his wish he made for me when we reached the top of the Ferris wheel. I remembered
how he carefully removed the fish bones for me. I remembered every painting he made for me. I
remembered him saying he loved seeing me smile.
remembered the look on his face when he asked me if he could hug me, it was so humble.
If time could flow, I would definitely, without hesitation, hold you tightly.
I looked up and restrained the urge to cry.
I promised you that I would no longer cry in the future.
But, Alan, I really missed you.
Extra
Antoine’s final message was as follows.
“Noemi, I’m sorry.
“I know you hated me, and I hated myself too.
“Why couldn’t I let go of the hatred earlier and be with you properly?
“I always wanted to make up for the harm I caused you, but it was ultimately too late.
“It was me who destroyed your trust and love for me.
“Getting to this point today, it was all my own fault.
“Let me walk this road to the underworld alone.
“I really didn’t want you to see what I looked like when I died, so I chose to let you have a good
sleep.
“When you woke up, I was already gone.
In the days to come, may you be happy, healthy, and worry–free for a hundred years.
“Even though you no longer care, I still want to tell you that I loved you.”
