Chapter 6

Luke glanced at him faintly and opened his thin lips lightly, saying, "You think I'm like you, courting women everywhere. Be careful of catching HPV."

Liam was rendered speechless.

‘Damn it.’

Why was he speaking so viciously? If it weren't for the little girl being here and he was afraid of scaring her, he would have already fought with Luke.

Although he always lost.

But to say him catching HPV in front of the little girl was something else.

"You’re so mean. Your wife might punish you for this," said Liam.

Really, sometimes he felt ashamed of having such a sharp-tongued childhood friend like Luke.

Emily paused when she heard this.

Had he gotten married?

This realization made Emily feel as if her heart was grabbed and torn by an invisible hand, the pain almost making it explode. Tears uncontrollably rolled down her cheeks.

Liam noticed that something was wrong with Emily and quickly reached out to support her, asking with concern, "Are you okay, Miss?"

Emily froze for a moment, her eyes red as she looked at Luke, her voice trembling as she asked, "Why didn't you come back to find me when you were alive?"

Luke sighed helplessly, took out a handkerchief, and handed it to Emily.

"Alright, stop crying."

Liam, who was standing nearby, was a bit confused. "Damn, Luke, what's going on?"

Luke explained, "She is Emily Sanders."

Liam was stunned for a moment, then looked at Emily and Luke in disbelief. "The little girl who followed you back then?"

Luke nodded. "Yes."

Liam was shocked.

"Damn, the little girl has grown so much."

He smiled and approached Emily. "Emily, it's me, Liam, do you remember me?"

Emily shook her head, not having any impression of this garishly dressed man.

Liam immediately revealed his arm tattoo.

"Look, do you remember now?"

Emily's gaze landed on his arm tattoo, and some memories came back.

She had seen him a few times when she was younger, the older boy who often went to find Luke to play.

Before Emily could speak, Liam continued on his own, "Tsk tsk, the little girl really has changed, growing more and more remarkable. Come, add me on WhatsApp."

He took out his phone.

Seeing this, Luke reached out and swatted his hand, his face serious as he said, "Liam, do you have a death wish?"

Liam awkwardly put his phone away. "What, it's been years since we've seen each other, what's wrong with adding a contact?"

Emily stood there in a daze, thinking to herself. ‘Years? Exactly five years and eight months.’

The first time she met Luke was during the third year of middle school, when a group of bullies cornered her in an alley after school. Luke appeared and scared the bullies away.

Later, she found out that her family and Luke's grandmother were neighbors, and Luke had been sent to stay with his grandmother during the second semester of 13th grade.

Young Luke was just as the others said, carefree and rebellious.

But ever since meeting Emily, who tagged along with him everywhere, he started to change.

Liam knew that Luke had been sent to his grandmother's place by his father. When he came to visit him, Luke was patiently tutoring Emily in math.

Liam was amazed. "Damn, Luke, did you come to your grandmother's house and turn over a new leaf?"

Luke gave him a faint glance, then looked at the tattoo on his arm with disdain. "What's that on your arm?"

Liam said proudly, "A tattoo, I got it yesterday. A soaring eagle, isn't it cool?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "A little bird pretending to be a big eagle? You think it's cool?"

Liam wasn't convinced. "What little bird? It's clearly an eagle."

"Go away, don't come back, you'll scare her."

Later, Liam came to visit Luke a few more times, either to hang out at a bar or to get into fights.

Luke rejected him every time.

Liam laughed and teased him, saying that he was now into cultivating his little girlfriend.

Luke chased him away. "Go, stop talking nonsense."

It was also from that time that Emily's feelings started to grow stronger. Her possessiveness toward Luke increased.

Especially when she heard that Luke had a girl he liked, Emily, enraged and out of control, directly confessed to Luke.

The result was as expected.

Luke didn't take it seriously at all.

He ruffled her hair and said, "Emily, how old are you? You want to fall in love so early?"

At that time, Emily wasn't discouraged. She innocently told him to wait for her to grow up.

But later, Luke rarely appeared in front of her again.

Even Emily, as innocent as she was, understood what that meant.

Luke didn't like her.

So he avoided her.

Youthful feelings were always passionate and intense. Luke didn't show up, but that was fine. She would go find Luke.

So every day after school, Emily would appear at Luke's university entrance.

His classmates and friends would tease him when they saw Emily. "Luke, your little girlfriend is here to see you."

"Don't talk nonsense, that's my little sister."

Liam also chimed in, "Yeah, my Luke has a girlfriend, don't say random things."

When Emily heard Liam's words, her eyes immediately turned red, and tears uncontrollably trickled down her face.

Luke hated to see girls cry, especially Emily.

Her tears seemed endless.

He awkwardly comforted her, "Alright, stop crying, you don't look good when you cry."

Emily choked out, "Lu... Luke, will you wait for me to grow up? I will grow up, please."

Luke didn't say anything, just let out a soft sigh.

Emily stubbornly continued, "Please, I will grow up, will you wait for me?"

"Okay!"

Luke's pleasant voice came through.

Emily, with tears in her eyes, looked at him and smiled brightly, remembering what Luke had said.

At that moment, she eagerly wanted to grow up quickly so that when she became an adult, she could openly stand by Luke's side and confess to him.

But then, Luke disappeared.

During that time, she felt like a headless fly, desperately searching every corner of the Oceanfield for him.

The result was the news that Luke had passed away in an accident.

She felt like the sky was collapsing. Emily had never been religious, but she began to pray. Begging the gods that as long as Luke could come back alive, she would do anything.

But year after year, Luke never appeared again.

It was then she realized that there were no gods in this world, so how could her wish be granted?

Her mother's extremism and Luke's departure caused her to fall into depression and have suicidal thoughts.

After visiting her father, who had become a vegetable, in the hospital, she stood on the Ocean Bay Bridge.

It was Jake who saved her, the young man whose face had a few similarities to Luke's.

She knew that Jake wasn't a good person. He was a playboy, had a bad temper, a chaotic personal life, and most importantly, he didn't like her. But Emily didn't care.

What she cared about was Jake's face.

Only by looking at his face, which resembled Luke's, did she feel like she was still alive.

"Don’t cry, Emily."

Liam's voice brought Emily back to her thoughts.

She raised her eyes, looking at the man standing behind Liam, and suddenly understood something.

It wasn't necessary.

There was no need to fake death to escape her.

If he didn’t like her, all he had to do was say so and she would stop liking him.