“Every time I get angry, it leads to serious consequences because I’ll come after you, interrogating you with righteous indignation, making you angry, making you cry, and even hurting you, as if I were the victim. But all of this was self-inflicted. I’m the one who divorced you for another woman, who abandoned my wife for the promises made to another woman. Why should I blame you for being close to Sebastian?” Theodore went on.“Even if you’re close to him, so what? It's my fault I lost you. You met a man who was gentle and caring, who stayed with you when you were in pain and protected you. Naturally, you’d be touched. Rose, tell me. Did Sebastian’s dedication move you so much that you transitioned from being ordinary friends to best friends who would go to great lengths for each other?”Rosalie was silent for a moment before nodding. “Yes, he moved me deeply.”Her heart wasn’t made of stone, so she could feel Sebastian’s kindness. While she didn't feel romantic love for him, love
“I'm the scumbag, but every time I see you with Sebastian, I feel like you shouldn’t be so close to him. Since you both are just friends, why should you be so intimate with each other? I ignored what I had done, and all the painful situations I put you in. At that time, Sebastian brought you so much hope.”“Ordinary friends and best friends are different. If you must compare the two and then use the standards for ordinary friends to criticize all cross-gender friendships, that’s superficial. It just means that one doesn’t understand how complex emotions can get. Such a person is doomed to never have true friends, and even if they do, they will lose them.”“I shouldn’t have measured your friendship with Sebastian using the standards of ordinary friends. I was viewing your relationship from my narrow perspective, so I became extreme and harsh. I hurt you repeatedly, questioned you, and belittled you.”“Foolish and superficial people see everything in black and white, but there are gra
But there were no "ifs" in this world, and he wouldn't get another opportunity anymore. Reality wasn't like a sci-fi drama where you got to travel through time and change your fate.Reality was reality. Once something was lost, it was gone forever.“Theodore...” Rosalie’s eyes reddened. She raised her trembling hand, cautiously reaching toward his shoulder, with the intent to comfort him. Her fingers hovered a few centimeters away before she pulled her hand back. “Don’t be like this. It’s all in the past. Sometimes, letting go is the best way to move on.”Theodore took a deep breath, released the steering wheel, and sat up straight. His eyes were red too. He turned to look at her and smiled, but it was one filled with despair. “Have you already moved on?”Rosalie nodded. “Yes, I’ve moved on because there are many more things in this world that are worth my attention.”Like the child she was carrying, and those who cared about her.As soon as she finished speaking, Rosalie rea
She planned to tell Theodore that she had slowly come to terms with things, but at a later time.Right now, she was still in a nominal marriage with Sebastian. The situation was messy with the three of them involved. Once Sebastian recovered, the divorce would be finalized, and the child would be here. She would talk about it then.If Theodore knew that they had a child, he wouldn’t give up. Moreover, Sebastian couldn’t handle any more stress in his current situation.Theodore nodded. “If you don’t want to hear it, I won’t talk about it anymore. I won’t bring it up again.”“Theo, actually, after what you told me today, I feel like you’ve grown up. You've started to consider things from other people's perspectives. I take back the harsh words I said to you before.”This was the most comforting thing Theodore had heard all day, and it soothed his wounded heart slightly.“Yes, I was immature and foolish before, even blunt and stupid,” Theodore admitted.Rosalie shook her head. “No.
Rosalie nodded. “I approached you very carefully at that time, trying hard to be as obedient as I could. I was worried that if I weren’t, you’d hate me. You held my hand so gently when I approached you.”“You were trembling at that time,” Theodore said. “I could feel it. When I held your hands, they were shaking so badly because you were so scared.”“But you didn’t let go of my hands. Instead, you kept whispering to me, ‘Don’t be scared. You won’t be hurt from now on. I’ll protect you.’ From then on, I stayed with the Spencers and was always with you, going everywhere you brought me. Whenever I encountered a question I didn’t know the answer to, you would teach me patiently until I got it. You were never anxious or impatient with me. “When I was bullied, you were always the first to step forward and scare the bullies away. When I missed my parents, you would stay by my side quietly, saying nothing but simply being there. When I felt exhausted from crying, you would quietly hand me
“Rose.” Theodore turned around, and looked at her. “I’m just so sad. You’re so near to me right now, but I know that I’ve lost you and we can never go back to what we were in the past. I really…really miss you.”Theodore looked down, despondent. “Do you know? On your birthday, I was drinking at Caleb’s place. You came over, and I thought he was bullying you, so I hit him.”Rosalie nodded. “I remember that. You took me as Cynthia.”That memory still made her slightly upset and very uncomfortable. She remembered feeling disappointed and miserable at that time.Theodore smiled bitterly. “I knew it was you. I didn’t mistake you for Cynthia. I deliberately called her name.”“What did you say?” Rosalie said, shocked.Theodore inhaled sharply. “After asking for a divorce, I felt terrible, which is why I kept drinking. I couldn’t tell you about it because at that time, you treated me as a brother and you were happy when I brought up divorce. I didn’t expect you to be at Caleb’s pla
Theodore smiled bitterly. He said no further but lowered his head, looking as though he was crying.Rosalie lifted a hand and patted his back gently, trying to comfort him. She didn’t know what to say right now. Be it comforting or cruel words, she would only end up making him sadder—because she could never go back to him.Even without Sebastian in the picture, she wouldn’t go back to Theodore.Theodore was stuck in a never-ending cycle of sorrow, unable to walk out of it no matter how hard he tried. Nothing she said would be able to help him, unless he managed to figure things out himself and let go of things.“Had you known things would come to this, would you have done things differently?” she asked. People were often like this, never treasuring the things they had and only caring for them when they lost it.Rosalie really didn’t want to go back to Theodore. It was no longer a question of love. Just the mere thought of it hurt her immensely.It wasn’t just the two of them—it
Theodore nodded. “Fine. Forget it if you don’t want to share.”In fact, he hadn’t asked Rosalie because he was clueless. He had asked precisely because he knew Sebastian’s current state. It wasn’t difficult to find out that, apparently, Sebastian had lost his memory. Rosalie was the sole exception, being the only person he remembered.Theodore didn’t believe that was the case, and felt that Sebastian was putting on an act. How could he possibly only remember Rosalie if he had really lost his memories? It was too much of a coincidence.However, he wasn’t sure about his conjecture. Sebastian was probably the only one who knew the truth.Sebastian wanted to keep Rosalie by his side—but come to think of it, they were already husband and wife. There was no need for him to pretend that he lost his memories.Everything was in a mess, and it frustrated Theodore very much.“Rose, I have something to attend to. I won’t go into the hospital. Go on back. As much as you’re taking care of Seba