Bloodstains on the floor caught Calla's eye, and she frowned. The scene of Mercer walking over the glass shards in his shoes flashed in her mind. Could the blood be from his foot being cut by the glass? The thought startled her.After a few seconds of shock, Calla found herself running toward the door. She dashed to the hospital entrance but couldn't catch up with Mercer. Looking around, there was no sign of him. With a forlorn turn, she drifted through the hallway like a ghost.Back in her room, doctors and nurses soon came to examine her. They congratulated her on regaining her hearing.Calla knew Mercer must have told them. Despite his anger when he left, it seemed he still cared about her.A nurse then brought Calla for a full body check-up. By the time it was all done, it was already afternoon. Outside, the sky was ablaze with a riot of colors. Calla sat on the edge of her bed, gazing at the orange sunset, feeling a jumble of emotions.Would he come tonight? Probably
"Goodbye." Calla was utterly listless. She lowered her eyes and spoke softly, not lifting her head again.Seeing this, Simon left the room and closed the door behind him.Opening the package, Calla took out a white, ultra-thin phone. She inserted her SIM card and turned it on. She stared at the screen, contemplating calling Mercer. But she hesitated, not knowing what to say to him.At that moment, Calla wished her hearing hadn't recovered. Then he might be sitting in this chair keeping her company now.After a long while, Calla sent Mercer a text."Is your foot alright?"But the message went unanswered, disappearing into the void. The entire night passed with no reply.…The next morning, Calla's eyes were puffy, likely because she hadn't slept well the night before. She realized Mercer probably wouldn't respond to her anymore.Maybe it was for the best. If they could part ways and live their own lives, it might not be a bad thing. Yet, the words Mercer shouted at her that
After Mercer sat down, Calla felt a bit awkward and quickly said, "I'll make some tea." Without waiting for his response, she turned and walked into the small kitchen.She hadn't boiled water yet, so she hurried to do so, then took out a tea bag and placed it into a cup. She never expected him to come by today and felt incredibly nervous, like her heart was about to leap out of her chest.The small apartment was quiet, with only the sound of the boiling water. The person outside remained seated on the couch, likely feeling the same way.After a few minutes, Calla finally emerged from the kitchen with a cup of hot tea."Have some tea." Calla placed the cup in front of Mercer with both hands."Thank you." Today, Mercer was particularly polite, even a bit aloof. With his sunglasses on, it was impossible to read his emotions.Calla couldn't see his eyes and stood there feeling a bit at a loss. Mercer seemed to notice her discomfort. He reached into his pocket and took out a ban
After a moment of silence, Mercer finally spoke, "It's just a minor injury. It's almost healed now.""That's good," Calla said with difficulty, gazing at his back.When he didn't hear another word, Mercer lowered his head and announced, "I'm leaving."Calla frowned at this. As Mercer started to walk away, Calla could no longer control her emotions. She took a few steps forward and bumped into his back, wrapping her arms around his waist.Mercer felt the embrace from behind, paused for a moment, and frowned.With her head resting against his back, Calla murmured, "Mercer, I don't mean anything by this. We probably don't have a future together, so I just want to express my feelings.""What do you want to say?" His deep voice came."No matter what brought us together, even if our paths diverge in the future and we never meet again, I just want to tell you one thing." Calla's eyes welled up with tears as she spoke. "I once loved you."This was her most genuine feeling, one she had
Hearing this, Mercer looked at Calla and nodded. "Yes, you're right about everything.""You..." Calla looked at him, bewildered and somewhat irritated. If she was right about everything, why did he still entangle himself with her?The next moment, Mercer fixed his eyes on Calla and said seriously, "I admit I loved Sophie. I even wanted to marry her at one point. But that was in the past, and those feelings faded away years ago. "Does a person only fall in love once in their life? Haven't you loved someone before? You just said you loved me, so haven't your feelings for someone else faded away too?"Calla was speechless because Mercer was right. She had loved Tim once, but he had long been erased from her life. Although she occasionally thought of him, she no longer loved him.Mercer grasped Calla's shoulders as he continued with an intense gaze. "Everyone has a past. We all have special feelings for certain things, especially for someone we once loved. "I keep Sophie's photo no
Calla believed what Mercer said. He was a proud and arrogant man, likely never believing he could fall in love with such an ordinary woman. Sophie came from a prestigious family. She was beautiful and glamorous, and a graduate of a top university. She carried herself with the grace of a well-educated lady. Conversely, Calla was only an ordinary but resilient woman. Even she couldn't believe Mercer's confession. In truth, she was on cloud nine right now. How could someone like him, who was always the center of attention, fall in love with her?"And what about Sophie? I don't want to be the other woman!" Weren't he and Sophie together? Calla didn't want to come between them, even though she disliked the arrogant and haughty Sophie."You frustrating woman, did you even listen to what I was saying earlier?" Mercer frowned, asking with irritation."I—" Calla was about to question why he thought she wasn't listening, especially when he was hanging on to his every word! But as so
Hearing the truth, Calla stared at Mercer in disbelief. She never imagined Sophie would have a life-threatening illness. Sophie was always so beautiful and imposing. Who would have thought she had severe asthma? It seemed everyone had their own share of troubles and hardships. Perhaps Calla had been fortunate enough to have good health. At least she was not sick or suffering from any illnesses."So you've been taking care of her all this time?" Calla asked.Mercer nodded. "Her health is poor, and so is her financial situation. I rented her a house, and Jasmine has been by her side taking care of her. I've done what I can, but I can't provide her with the emotional support she needs."For a moment, Calla felt a mix of emotions.Mercer was undoubtedly a man of compassion and loyalty, but sometimes he was so clueless. Why hadn't he explained this to her all along? And why had he let her misunderstand? Was it because he hadn't yet faced his true feelings for her?The next moment,
Hearing this, Mercer rubbed his nose and asked, "How many more days?"Calla smiled as she replied, "About three more days.""Alright." Mercer frowned, then forced a smile.Calla quickly pushed him away, looking outside the window, where the city lights were already brightly lit. She asked, "You must be hungry, right?""Starving," Mercer replied, embracing her again."I'll go make dinner. Stop messing around." Calla struggled to push him away, then hurried into the kitchen.She found ingredients in the fridge and started preparing their meal. As she washed and chopped the vegetables, her face flushed red. Today felt as fleeting and unreal as a dream, but she was in such a good mood. The darkness and sorrow in her heart seemed to have vanished, replaced by pure joy and delight.While she was chopping vegetables, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist from behind. Calla laughed. "Go watch some TV. Dinner will be ready soon."But the person behind her refused to leave. "I'd rath
Seeing Pierre's expression, Calla realized that a few words wouldn't dispel his suspicions. She reached into her bag, unzipped it, and pulled out the knife.Pierre's eyes widened as he noticed the gleaming knife Calla was pulling out of her bag. He furrowed his brows in concern. "What are you—"Calla explained, "Mercer told me that Casper is my son, that he wasn't stillborn as I was told. I didn't believe him at first, but I was afraid he might be telling the truth, so I went to his house to see him."But I was afraid he might have ulterior motives toward me. As a woman, I'm naturally no match for him. In a moment of desperation, I had to grab this knife from the kitchen for protection. If he dared to do anything to me, I wouldn't have hesitated to use it on him."Her expression was intense, reflecting her genuine fear and resolve.Pierre looked deeply at Calla, then gently touched her cheek. He took the knife from her hand and placed it on a nearby table.Calla then rushed into
Suddenly feeling Mercer's hand on her shoulder, Calla instinctively recoiled. She swatted away his hand and shouted, "Don't touch me, Mercer!"The harm he had caused her was too profound. Even though she now understood his desperate reasons, she still felt immense aversion toward him."Fine, I won't touch you." Mercer retracted his hands and left them suspended in the air."Don't think you can use Casper to threaten me, Mercer. I will never be manipulated by you!" Calla shouted at him.Mercer's expression turned pained at her words. He took a step back, and his eyes filled with profound anguish. "Do you really see me as someone who would use my own son as a bargaining chip?""Yes," Calla replied sternly.Mercer's body swayed slightly, then he turned away in dejection. "If that's the case, then you should leave."Seeing his forlorn figure, Calla felt a pang of sadness, but she couldn't bring herself to trust him again. She turned and walked out of the house.She stumbled out of
At this moment, Mercer clenched his fists. Even with his resolute nature, his eyes seemed misty."This is where I feel most sorry toward you and Clover. Clover is my daughter too. Of course, I wanted her to come into this world healthy. But I couldn't let Casper disappear from this world either."His condition worsened so severely at that time. I was afraid he wouldn't make it to your due date, so I had to take drastic measures..." Mercer struck his fist hard against the wall.Seeing the despondent and remorseful Mercer before her, Calla felt a twinge of compassion, but she still couldn't accept all his explanations.Glancing at the reports in front of her, Calla placed her hand on her cheek. She could feel her fingers trembling.Suddenly, she looked up and asked, "You kept searching for me in Greendale to get me pregnant so you could use the baby's umbilical cord blood to save Casper?"From the timeline Mercer had explained, Casper's condition must have been severe by then.Cal
Mercer smiled bitterly. "I knew that you wouldn't believe me, so I prepared a copy of Casper's medical reports. You can take a look." He pulled out several thick envelopes and set them on the coffee table. Calla frowned upon seeing those envelopes which were all an inch thick. She opened one of them and flipped through the documents inside, frowning as she read. The envelope held reports of Casper's hospitalization in both the city and state hospitals, spanning two years, starting from when Casper was a year old. They were records of Casper's illness and his recovery process.Calla couldn't help thinking about his adorable, chubby face, and she felt her heart clench. She wondered how Casper had managed to triumph over his illness after two years. She couldn't even fathom how painful and difficult the process must have been.Suddenly, Calla noticed something in Casper's surgery reports—a note about how a newborn baby's umbilical cord blood was miraculously compatible with Casper.
"My heart is already in pieces because of you. So what if I hit, cursed, or even stabbed you now? What's the point of doing all that? I beg this of you, Mercer, please let me live my life quietly and stop bothering me!"Stop making up all these ridiculous justifications too. I'm tired—exhausted! I don't want to deal with you anymore," Calla sobbed, tears running down her face.She knew that she shouldn't have cried in front of him. It wasn't just a sign of her weakness, it might also fuel his assumption that she still cared for him. However, she couldn't control it. Whenever she thought of the suffering she'd gone through in the past couple of years, tears ran uncontrollably down her face."I want nothing more than for you to let me tell you the truth in its entirety. I want you and Casper to not miss out on the chance to reconnect as mother and son. "I promise that I'll respect your choice once I'm done telling you everything, and I won't bother you again in the future!" Mercer l
Calla's eyes widened as she remembered everything that had happened in the past. She stumbled over her words as she said, "B-But we were going to get married after we were back on good terms with each other, and I'd already met Casper at that point. Why didn't you tell me about him back then?"Mercer looked at Calla meaningfully. "Do you remember when I told you, on the day we were about to get our marriage certificate, that I had a big surprise for you?"Calla thought about it, then nodded. He had indeed said that he'd prepared a big gift for her. Could the gift have been Casper?Facing Calla's doubtful look, Mercer nodded. "Yes. I wanted to tell you after we received our marriage certificates, but I didn't expect something else to happen on that day."Calla sneered. "'Something else' is a nice way of putting it. You didn't go to get the marriage certificates done with me, because you chose to hold a press conference with Sophie instead, announcing your marriage with her."When
Mercer's face fell. He sat on an armchair before asking Calla, "Do you dislike me that much? Are you not even willing to stay by my side for one minute?""I don't dislike you—I hate you. Also, one minute is too long—I can't even bear to stay by your side for one second!" Calla replied without hesitation.As memories—filled with love and resentment alike—flashed in Calla's mind, she felt an intense hatred for Mercer. If not for Casper, she would never have stepped inside this place again, much less take a seat across Mercer to have a conversation.Calla's words hurt Mercer. He sat there for a while with his head lowered before lighting up a cigarette and taking a long drag.Calla couldn't help coughing when the acrid smell of smoke entered her nose. Realizing that he'd made her cough, Mercer quickly stubbed the cigarette in his ashtray. Calla didn't want to waste any more time with him. She asked impatiently, "Why did you have me come here? Who is the woman you had Casper with?"
Calla finished getting ready, slung her bag over her shoulder, and walked over to Clover. She gave her a quick peck on the cheek and then turned to Fiona. "Fiona, I'm going out to meet a friend.""Okay," Fiona replied with a smile, then continued feeding Clover some water.Calla left the apartment and was about to press the elevator button when Pierre emerged from the opposite door."Hey, aren't you supposed to be off work today? Where are you going this early?" Pierre asked, noticing Calla was heading out."Oh, I'm meeting Alicia. She's going back to work tomorrow, so we're hanging out later," Calla replied hastily, avoiding eye contact with Pierre. She had never been good at lying."She's going to be your bridesmaid. It's only right to express our gratitude," Pierre said with a smile, walking into the elevator with Calla."Where are you meeting her? I can give you a ride," Pierre offered."We're meeting at the department store. It's not on your way, so you should get going. I'
Calla was initially certain that Mercer's goal was to use Casper to ruin her marriage with Pierre.But as the night wore on, Calla's doubts grew. She couldn't shake the feeling that maybe—just maybe—Mercer was telling the truth. Perhaps Casper was indeed her child, the one she had given birth to all those years ago.She couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope. What if her child had not died? What if he was still alive and well?As the first light of dawn crept into the room, Calla made a decision. She would go see Mercer, no matter what his motives were. She had to get to the bottom of it.Calla gazed at Clover, who was still fast asleep. She gently stroked her daughter's cheek. "Clover, don't you think it would be wonderful to have an older brother to share your toys and adventures with?Clover's chubby face didn't move. Calla's eyes lingered on her for a moment before she spoke again. "I have to get to the bottom of this no matter what the outcome is. I have to find out if Casp