Two days later, Erin went to visit Cherry, bringing some luxury beauty supplements that she'd bought.Roman's BMW that was at Ian's villa had been returned, but Erin did not choose to drive as her knee was not fully healed yet. She took a cab.It was afternoon when Erin arrived at Cherry's villa in the suburbs. Erin knew her mother had already woken up from her nap, so she rang the doorbell and waited for Cherry.Not long after, the door was opened. Cherry was stunned as soon as she saw her, then she said calmly, "Oh, it's you. Stand here and wait for me for a second …"Erin was very happy to see her mother once again, so she said with a smile, "Alright. You may carry on if you're busy. I'll just wait here for you."She did not insist on entering as she figured that maybe Cherry had guests over. Because she came quite suddenly without calling in advance, she felt a little apologetic.Cherry returned to the villa straightaway without saying anything.About five minutes later, Che
Erin came to Cherry with her face covered in tears.At that moment, Cherry's face was as white as a sheet, as if she had suffered an extremely huge blow. Her eyes were unfocused, and her lips were trembling a little. Unable to form a coherent sentence, she asked softly, "Wh-what … are you talking about? Why … can't I understand you …"Erin saw her mother lose control of her emotions. Even after the initial shock, her mother still looked like she was terrified as she could not believe it. Erin gritted her teeth and admitted it once again, "Mom, I'm Erin. I'm back."After Erin addressed her as her mother once again, Cherry's tears immediately streamed down her face. She stared right into Erin's eyes—the eyes that looked just like her daughter's. She had felt a strange sense of heartbreak when she saw them for the very first time, and she finally understood why at that moment.She'd thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, and it was because she missed her daughter too much that e
Cherry finally saw the new features of her beloved daughter for the first time. Even though she did not witness Erin's surgery, she had seen the news reports about Erin's burn injuries. The mere thought of poor Erin's wounds pained her heart. As a mother, she would have offered herself in place of Erin to spare her daughter from the suffering if she could.Feeling sorry and apologetic, she didn't have any better idea to make it up to Erin than to give Erin all her savings, hoping that the act would soothe her guilt.Meanwhile, Erin felt suffocated watching her mom kneeling on the floor. It was unthinkable for parents to kneel in front of their children. "Mom, please get up! You're killing me!"Hearing that, Cherry scrambled up from the floor in shock. She went up to the Mother Mary figurine and prayed, "Holy Mother, it is not Erin's fault at all. I willingly kneeled in front of her. Please bless our dear Erin with abundance and a long life …"Erin felt wistful at the sight of Cherr
At 11 pm, Cherry and Erin had a heart-to-heart talk. Erin was reluctant to bring up memories from the Garden of Eden, and Cherry was sensible enough not to ask because it was a painful memory anyway. The only memories worth keeping were the happy ones.Smiling, Cherry started telling Erin some anecdotes from Erin's childhood. Then, it was Erin's turn to talk about Asa. While listening, Cherry commented that Erin and Asa shared a lot of common traits in their childhoods. The young Erin hated green onions, garlic, ginger, and parsley, which Asa disliked too. The kid seemed to have inherited his mother's odd food preferences.Cherry's eyes were filled with warmth when she reminisced about Erin's childhood. She took Erin's hand under the blanket and refused to let go, as though she worried that Erin might vanish at any time. "Erin, promise me that you'll keep me close no matter what happens to you! I know I'm old and useless, but I can help with laundry and cooking. I'm glad to reduce yo
Clutching her phone, Erin could not come up with a reply. She had wanted to ask if he sent the wrong text, but on second thought, that sounded quite insulting.The silence from the other end suggested that he was waiting for a reply. She looked at her feet and finally confessed, "I didn't know what to reply."The prolonged silence made her a little anxious. For some reason, she couldn't make herself say "I miss you too" back to him. A few seconds later, he suddenly hung up, leaving her sighing at the dark phone screen. She put it away and went back to frowning at the generous reader on her laptop screen. She had the urge to return the money to AsaelPapa. The sheer amount of money weighed on her conscience. She was grateful enough to her readers for reading her work.Five minutes later, the door to Asa's room flung open. Erin looked up with excitement, thinking that Asa was home, but to her surprise, she found Chandler at the door. He stared at her with a complicated look in his eyes
Erin lowered her head, afraid to look at him. She felt annoyed that she found it hard to resist him whenever she saw that expression of his. Right then, her mind was filled with memories of the past, causing her heart to be in chaos.Recalling Alana's warning to her a few days ago, Erin calmed herself and said seriously, "Asa's dad, I hope you can keep your distance from me. You're a married man, after all—"Chandler was angry at how Erin was avoiding him. "What are you talking about? Who's my wife? Are you talking about Alana?"Erin raised her head to look at him. "Isn't she your wife? She warned me to know my place as an art teacher and not harbor any improper intentions toward you."Hearing that, Chandler was quite surprised. Since when did Alana start to meddle in his affairs like this?With a cold expression, he said, "I hate it when people doubt me. But since it's you, I'll explain it to you one more time. I told you at the hospital the other day that Alana is just my good f
Chandler's negativity shook Erin. Seeing him like this, she was immensely panicked. She grabbed a towel and rushed over to him. Looking at the shards of glass embedded into the back of his hand, she was angry and heartbroken. She started to feel regretful about what she'd said earlier; she'd been too harsh and hurt him too badly.Her tears flowed down uncontrollably. She choked, "Hold on now. I'll remove the larger shards first. It's going to hurt."Before she could reach his hand, Chandler backed away. With a pale smile, he said, "Just let me be, Erin. I deceived you once, so I deserve to die. A scumbag like me should just go to hell!"Chandler bypassed her and left; his blood leaving a trail as he trudged away. Looking at the terrifying trail of crimson, Erin felt like she could even taste the metallic scent of the blood right on the tip of her tongue. She was completely at a loss seeing Chandler give up on himself in earnest. With tears streaming down her face, she shouted, "St
Erin ignored Chandler's mischievous message. Nevertheless, a sweet sensation and a feeling of happiness engulfed her heart completely. The man she loved deeply turned out to love her the same despite her absence of seven years. This was no doubt her biggest reward upon returning.Love wasn't something that was completely necessary in life. If there was love in one's life, it would no doubt make life better; but if love didn't come to an individual, life would still go on.Suddenly, Erin realized she shouldn't keep holding on to the past. She'd heard a lot about Chandler's misery during the past seven years from Paulo and Cherry. If she kept holding him accountable for all the misfortunes that befell her, it would only torment him on top of tormenting herself. Why should she let those scoundrels, Tessa and Jack, continue to affect her psychologically? They were both dead now. Everything they did should also be buried in the past following their deaths.Chandler had waited for her f