Chapter 20
Time is the best medicine.
One year later on Christmas, Jeffrey, who had been away from his home country for a long time, stepped into the house where Bella
used to live.
Due to his instructions, the room was constantly being cleaned and maintained.
י
Even a small ornament was not allowed to deviate from its original position, and every corner of the room still bore traces as if Bella had just left a few minutes ago.
Jeffrey gave the hourly worker a day off in advance and then personally picked up the cleaning tools, intending to tidy up the room for her.
The letter was delivered at this time, and the deliveryman had already left. Only the words on the envelope could be recognized to determine the origin of the letter.
Jeffrey took a few steps outside, wanting to find the delivery person to confirm the sender’s contact information, but he came up empty–handed and had to return to the room in vain to open it.
The email content was very simple, it was a sealed postcard
Jeffrey suddenly remembered that Christmas was only two days away.
No matter what happened in previous years, he and Bella would always spend Christmas together.
But since last year, only he remained.
The assistant happened to bring him the cleaning tools he needed at this moment. Seeing him standing at the door, staring blankly at
the emails, the assistant didn’t dare to disturb him rashly. Instead, the assistant stood beside him and waited.
He cautiously asked, “Mr. Castro, is this sent back by Miss Bella?” until he reacted first.
Jeffrey held the letter and photo in his hand very delicately, as if he was afraid of breaking them.
The photo hung slightly, from the assistant’s perspective, clearly showing the protagonists inside Bella and Liam, wearing Santa
Claus costumes, standing closely together, posing with a playful expression in front of the Christmas tree
Both of them were clearly making funny faces, but they were both very cute.
It’s over.
Mr. Castro was greatly stimulated.
The assistant thought this way, looking at Jeffrey with increasing caution, not daring to say a word of persuasion, afraid that a single careless move would cause trouble.
Jeffrey’s condition was unusually normal.
“Bella said that she was doing well now. She also mentioned that she had indeed been confused, desperate, and even on the verge of giving up at one point. But just when she couldn’t hold on any longer, Liam appeared. He gave her hope and gave her the strength to keep going”
He was both relaying Bella’s words to his assistant and telling himself – she was doing well, and the last thing she needed was his
disturbance, but his voice gradually started to tremble.
A year had passed, and he had once thought that he had truly made it through.
The assistant asked concernedly, “Would you like to sit down and have another look?”
Jeffrey suddenly realized that he had been standing for who knows how long. He reached out and grabbed the edge of the table, sitting down in a nearly stiff posture. His back pressed tightly against the sofa, as it all his strength had been instantly drained away.
Bella also said that she hoped I could soon move on from the shadows of the past and embrace my own happiness, instead of being trapped in self–imposed limitations. She truly sees me as a brother.”
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He looked at Bella’s photo and wanted to smile at her, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t do it.
Finally, he raised his hand and covered his face, hiding all his emotions.
The assistant, afraid of him repeating the same mistake as a year ago, pondered and came up with a solution: “Mr. Castro, if you give me the address, it will only take ten minutes for us to confirm Ms. Arnold’s whereabouts. Even if she has already left, we will at least know where she went.”
This was the best way.
Jeffrey was instantly smitten. He raised his hand, intending to instruct his assistant to do something, but ultimately shook his head and lowered his hand to pick up the photo again.
“No need, she had already started living the life she wanted, I am fine, really tine.”
After he finished speaking, he raised his head again and said to his long–time assistant, “You should also go home and celebrate Christmas, consider it as taking a break.”
The assistant did not persist any longer. He put the things away and turned around, leaving the room that held memories of Jeffrey and Bella.
Jeffrey sat still for a long time, and time gradually became blurry. He seemed to see Bella push the door open, but it was all just an illusion
His hand kept rubbing over the familiar handwriting of Bella.
She wrote: Merry Christmas, brother.
After an unknown period of time had passed, he personally took out pen and paper and wrote a simple reply: “Wishing you a happy marriage, sister.”
