Sometimes when a person says something, they do not have a specific intention. However, the person listening might read between the lines, and take it to have the meaning that they were hoping for. At that time, I did not know the whole story. Now that I do, I felt that I shouldn’t hold on to this bracelet.
I didn’t say much as I stroked the bracelet absent-mindedly. I just smiled faintly.
Emery’s phone rang. She answered it while I just stood and looked around the mall. The hustle and bustle made me feel suffocated.
It was kind of stifling.
Leaning against the railing and looking at the shops on every floor, I was reminded that R Province did not have shops like these. The vendors usually set up stalls along the alleys. You could just buy the items you wanted on the way home from there.
I was lost in my thoughts when Emery placed her phone to the side of my ear and teasingly said, “It’s for you.”
Taken by surprise, I took the phone by reflex and responded with an automatic “Hello?”
“It’s me!” a deep voice reverberated from the other end. The familiarity of the voice had me rooted firmly to my spot. “A-Ashton?”
A low chuckle could be heard. “Why is your phone switched off? Did you wear enough clothes to keep yourself warm? Ms. Moore said you are only wearing a thin coat. Do you feel cold?”
Despite being very busy, he still made it a point to call and check up on me. Only Ashton would be so meticulous when it came to caring for me.
My face reddened when I noticed Emery smirking at me. I hurriedly replied, “My phone battery died so it turned off completely. I’m absolutely fine. The mall has a heating system, so it’s really warm in here.”
“Good,” he said, “I will come for you after work. I have transferred some funds over to you. No need to hold back. I am perfectly capable of letting you spend as much as you’d like.”
I giggled, which attracted Emery’s curious stare. Holding it in, I replied, “Okay, I’ll hang up now. I’m perfectly fine!”
After I had hung up, I passed the phone back to Emery and said, “Thank you!”
She took her phone, shrugged her shoulders, and said with a grimace, “I feel like I’ve just been forced to listen to the both of you being all lovey-dovey.”
I responded with a smile and didn’t elaborate on it.
As we continued with our shopping, Emery suddenly said, “You know, Scarlett. Ashton really loves you.”
I was stunned for a bit, not knowing where this came from all of a sudden. I gave her a side-eye glance and she continued.
“Three years ago, I saw him at the Imperial Hotel. It was 3 a.m., and he was awfully drunk. As he walked out of the hotel, I could see that he was holding a bottle of liquor in his hand,” Emery recounted. “At that time, Nancy didn’t really look like you. If one were to insist, you could only say that she had eyes that looked like yours. He looked at Nancy and called out your name again and again. He was crying like a child, begging you not to leave.”
She paused as she said this, as if recalling what she had seen at that time.
I was quite shocked and at a loss for words.
She was silent for a while, then went on, “Well, he’s the president of the Fuller Corporation after all, so I asked someone to send him home. The next day he came to me and asked if you were back. When he realized that he had mistaken someone else for you, he sunk into deep despair,” Emery paused for a bit and continued, “Nancy had her nose fixed to look just like you. After that, she frequently appeared around Ashton. Having a great body and features that were similar to yours, she had been cruising through life for the past three years. If only she had known her place, she would not have caused her own demise.”
“Is there anything that you would like to eat later?” I interrupted. The past is in the past. Those who were constantly stuck in their own memories would only suffer. I did not wish to recall, nor did I wish to hear about others’ memories.
Emery noticed my aversion to what she had said, so she didn’t speak any further. We just continued with our shopping.
The mall was absolutely crowded. Therefore, when we ran into Joe and Rebecca, I didn’t realize it at first.
Joe had an especially marked change. He had become more mature and composed. Perhaps it was due to this change that I failed to recognize him from the first glance.
In a tone that was quite neutral, Emery spoke first, “What a coincidence. The two of you are here to shop too?”
Joe’s gaze landed on me, and he took his time to respond. After a while, he uttered a single “Yeah.”
Rebecca was intimately holding onto his arm. Noticing this, I was fairly surprised.
Did this mean they were now together?
Since this was not really my concern anyway, I neither asked nor thought much about it.
“When did you come back?” Joe asked me.
I replied nonchalantly, “Some time ago.”
We were acquaintances after all. It would have been too pretentious and inappropriate if I had acted as if I didn’t know them at all.
“Let’s have dinner later,” Joe suggested. He hesitated a little and then said, “Ashton should be done with work soon. We should all meet up. I… I’ll call Jared too.”
I was caught off guard by Joe’s invitation. My lips tightened into a line as I considered the situation. Because of Summer, Ashton had more or less become distant from Jared.
I fully understood Joe’s intentions. He was hoping that the two friends could patch things up instead of letting a child interfere with their friendship.
“Sure!” I nodded, indicating my agreement as to his proposal.
Emery was looking at Rebecca. The two of them were not on good terms, so it was inevitable that some shots were fired.
“Wouldn’t it be so much better if you knew when to give up and be contented?” Emery jeered, clearly taking a jab at Rebecca. “You just had to drag everyone else into the mud before finally knowing what’s good for you.”
Rebecca paled a little and glared at Emery. However, she did not scream and shout like she used to whenever she got angry. After a few years of not seeing her, it seemed that she had better control over her temper.
