Met You Before Sunrise(3)

7

When Sarah came to see me with the fruit, Bertram was still angry. He sat by the ward window and lowered his head to play with his mobile phone.

The atmosphere was awkward.

Sarah noticed this. After showing concern for my health, she strode up to Bertram and snatched his phone away without saying a word.

"If you have something to say, just say it. We're not mind readers. How are we supposed to know what you're thinking?"

As far as I knew, Bertram was a cold-faced man, and Sarah was a sweet little sister.

However, at this moment, it was as if they'd swapped roles.

Under my stunned gaze, Bertram stood up and walked toward me with a serious expression.

"Julian, you shouldn't feel so guilt-ridden. Do you think he will be grateful if you don't pursue the matter of Thomas' father? You need to get a grip. Weak people will always be bullied. Do you understand?"

Her tone was stern, and she even added some hand movements, which made her look like a parent who was exasperated at her child.

I tightened my grip on the corner of my shirt and listened quietly. I lowered my head.

"I didn't want him to be grateful to me. I just..."

Most of the time, the reason why people did good deeds was not because of kindness but to make themselves feel better.

Moreover, I really didn't have the courage or the energy to challenge public opinion. I didn't want countless people who didn't know the truth to stand on the moral high ground and criticize me.

This was all so exhausting.

"I want this matter to finally end so I can start a quiet, low-key life."

Bertram leaned over and pressed down hard on my shoulder.

Through the thin fabric of his clothes, I could feel the thickness and warmth of his palm, and my heart suddenly beat faster.

"Julian Belle, look at me."

After hesitating for a few seconds, I carefully raised my head and met his sharp gaze, allowing him to examine me.

"You didn't kill them." As if he could see through my heart, he said firmly and slowly, "The people responsible for their lives are the ones who took them, not you."

I stared at him blankly. The words "not you" kept echoing in my ears, and I lost the ability to think.

It was not until the person in front of me raised his hand to wipe away the tears on my face that I suddenly came to my senses. I grabbed his hand tightly and asked in a trembling voice, "Is that true?"

"It's true," he said seriously.

"In the future, you two need to be open with each other. You have to communicate with each other if there is something happens. Do you understand, big brother?" She patted him on the shoulder with relief and raised her eyebrows at me.

It sounded like she was persuading a couple.

I smiled unnaturally.

"So, can you sue Thomas' father now?" Suddenly, Bertram changed the subject and returned to the original question.

I sighed long and said, "I'm sorry, I still don't want to pursue the matter. He just drank too much and lost control of his emotions."

Bertram was disappointed with my behavior and left angrily. He didn't come to the hospital for several days afterward.

I was too nervous to send a message to disturb him.

Sarah asked for leave to take care of me. She told me a lot about her brother.

She also said that I was the hope of their whole family because Bertram had never cared about any girl as much as he cared about me.

I listened in silence, too unsure of myself to reply.

Because at that time, I thought that Bertram was just pitying me.

On the fifth day of my hospitalization, I suddenly had a low fever. The doctor finished checking and said that the wound was inflamed.

Sarah exaggerated the matter and told her brother about it.

In less than fifteen minutes, her brother appeared at the door of the ward. There were beads of sweat on his temples, and he breathed quickly. It seemed that he had run a long way.

I was surprised, but I was also happy.

After learning that Sarah had tricked him, Bertram was not angry. He just looked at Sarah and me helplessly. After a while, he said, "You two look like sisters conspiring."

"I'll go back and get some clothes to change into. Bertram, please stay with my sister for a while."

Sarah secretly winked at me and skipped out of the ward.

Facing Bertram alone, I didn't know what to say. I could only pretend to be asleep.

Bertram didn't say anything and cleaned up the messy table beside him.

The phone next to my pillow rang without warning. I was so scared that I shivered. I was getting timider and timider.

The word "Mom" was displayed on the screen. I looked at it quietly. My finger hovered above the answer button for a long time before I tapped on it.

The familiar voice and tone made my eyes turn red instantly, and I felt a spasm in my heart.

After exchanging a few greetings, my mother suddenly asked, "I've been feeling uneasy recently. Did something happen to you?"

I tried to suppress my surging emotions and pretended to be calm as I said, "I'm fine."

Mom breathed a sigh of relief. After caring about my daily life, she asked, "When will you and Thomas meet his parents?"

As if I had been hit in the head, I hung up the phone in a panic, buried my face in the pillow, bit my lower lip, and cried bitterly.

The next second, someone patted my back rhythmically, comforting me.

He patted me for as long as I cried. His movements were gentle and slow.

After calming down, I thanked him in a hoarse voice.

He pursed his lips and blinked his long, narrow eyes quickly as if he had made up his mind. He put his feet together, straightened his chest, and raised his head to salute me.

"Julian, let's talk."

"Why does he look a little silly right now?" I thought.

Looking at his blushing face, my heart started to race.

After a long while, Bertram awkwardly put down his hand and said, "Then I'll think of another way."

His cuteness inexplicably attracted me.

8

That night, I thought about what Bertram had said for hours.

He said we made up just to make concessions, but it didn't mean he understood my difficulties and supported my decision.

Then why did I force him to get along with someone he didn't like?

My heart was constantly troubled, and a single thought gave birth to countless entanglements.

I couldn't control my emotions and often broke down.

Sarah tried her best to make me happy. She gave me lipstick, bags, dresses... She even forced her brother to sing for me and tell me jokes.

Bertram had a cold nature. I was surprised he humored her wishes at all.

At the same time, I felt more guilty for the warmth and enthusiasm of the brother and sister.

I understood that I had to pull myself together quickly, but I couldn't find a direction for the time being. I could only pace back and forth in the abyss.

"I can't believe it."

One day, an old friend sent me a message, which completely floored me.

"Are you not going to forgive Thomas' father because of a guilty conscience?"

She pretended to care, inquired about me, and finally expressed her feelings.

At that moment, my world became dark. I stood in the boundless wilderness, looking at the surrounding scenery that was cracking inch by inch into snowflakes.

I knew that I was done for.

In the evening, for some reason, my mother kept calling me and making video calls.

I felt uneasy and had no courage to answer the phone.

My intuition told me that she must have known something.

"Julian Belle, they are your parents. Don't be nervous," Bertram said.

"Because they are my parents, I know that they will definitely believe me and love me. So I can't tell them about anything to make them worried"

I was so nervous that I suddenly had a heavy headache and felt nauseous.

But because I hadn't eaten much in the past few days, I couldn't vomit anything. I just kept retching.

Bertram hurriedly took care of me. Suddenly, he held me tightly in his arms, rested his chin on the top of my head, and said in a low and hoarse voice, "Don't be afraid. I'm here."

In an instant, I became calm.

When I felt his warmth and heartbeat, greed rose in my heart. I raised my hands and wrapped my arms around his waist tightly.

"Bertram, you've been so free recently. Did Thomas' father really report you?"

"It's good to be responsible, but you can't take everything on yourself." After a while, he replied.

I didn't ask any more questions. I already had an answer in my heart.

Early the next morning, I packed up my things and secretly left the hospital. I was ready to leave the city.

This was the best solution I could think of.

Since Thomas' accident, I told myself that no matter what, I couldn't admit defeat or run away.

But I didn't expect that Thomas' mother would also die.

All kinds of websites in the city were involved in this matter. Some were talking nonsense, some were ambiguous, and some were exaggerated. The public opinion was getting more and more terrible.

What's more, they even made my personal information public.

Even if I could overcome my own psychological trauma, I would not be able to endure the rumors.

I couldn't be hiding under Bertram's protection and trouble his life.

As soon as I got in the taxi, I received a call from Bertram.

"Julian, where are you?" he asked directly.

"Mr. Chaucer, it's time to say goodbye," I said with a smile as I watched the buildings outside the car retreat. "In fact, If I left earlier, his mother might not had died."

The driver looked back at me hesitantly.

I smiled even more brightly. "I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"As a police officer, it is my duty to not let go of a bad person. However, due to my selfishness, I allowed someone to commit a crime in front of him.

There was a long silence. Just as I was about to hang up, he spoke.

"Julian, I've seen too many dark sides of human nature. I'm actually afraid of interacting too deeply with people, but I think you're different. You're too lazy to care about complicated things."

There was another burst of silence.

"Julian, don't go. Let's have a talk."

I quickly hung up the phone and had to refrain from thinking too much about it.

Soon, I received another call from Bertram.

I didn't dare to answer it.

He sent me a message, saying, "Don't turn off your phone. I have something very important to tell you. It's about the death of Thomas' mother."