Chapter 23
Paisley handed in her resignation.
The manager, who had scolded her on the phone many times, was shocked. He said that he didn't mean to ask her to leave.
Paisley gave her resignation letter to the manager, "I want to resign, not because of you but because of my personal will. Thank you for your care since I worked here."
After walking out of the manager's office, she said goodbye to her colleagues, "Thank you for taking care of me."
She didn't have too much stuff. After handing materials to HR, she threw away the rest of her small items.
Paisley wanted to leave Oakwood. Perhaps she wouldn't come back again for the rest of her life.
She had no friends in this city except Dawson Grant. The friendship between them was pure.
Dawson had a psychological clinic in Oakwood. It was easy to find him. Paisley went to say goodbye to him after she had thought about it for a while.
The relationship between Paisley and Dawson was very strange. They almost didn't contact each other for several months. But Dawson could understand Paisley as long as she said a word. Dawson knew her, Paisley thought, and he should be her bottom friend.
Paisley returned a small piece of wood to Dawson, "Here you are. I'm going to leave."
On the front of the piece was the words "Goodbye forever". On the back was the words "We'll meet again." However, the back had been completely painted out by Paisley. This time, she couldn't meet Matthew again. So she just kept the words "Goodbye forever" on the front side left by Dawson.
In fact, she should have said goodbye forever to Matthew long ago.
Dawson had already taught her "goodbye forever" long ago. But she didn't understand the meaning of the words until now.
Dawson was stunned when he saw the piece of wood. He frowned and asked, "What happened to you and Matthew?"
Not long ago, he came across them and saw them holding hands and going shopping. Later, Paisley told him on the phone that she and Matthew were together again. He still remembered that. At that time, her tone was full of expectation and yearning for the future. She said at that time, "You are right. I cannot live in fear. Dawson, I want to have a try because I trust him."
She did not believe in love but trusted him.
But within a few days, the news about Matthew and Stella's engagement party was published in newspapers. Almost everyone in this city knew it.
Dawson did not know what had happened to them. The only thing he knew was that their love was over again. He used to selfishly want them to be together. Everyone talked about love frequently. He wanted to know whether love indeed existed. Paisley and Matthew had proved that it did exist, but they lost it later.
Paisley produced a forced smile and shook her head, "We are over."
Though Paisley pretended to be calm as if she didn't care about it, Dawson felt that she was going to cry.
He sighed, "Paise, you don't need to be so strong in front of me."
She had known him since she was ten years old. When she met him at first, she was in the most helpless situation. At that time, she told him everything that made her heartbroken. She could also do that now. Time could change many things. However, Dawson was the only one she could trust, though he was not good at comforting her.
As soon as he finished his words, Paisley's eyes turned red. She lowered her head with tears dropping on the table. She clenched her fists and choked, "Dawson, I'm so sad."
Even if she reminded herself again and again that it was his conspiracy, she still felt sad and didn't want to believe it.
Her heart would ache as long as she recalled Matthew's name. He would become her nightmare which would disable her to fall in love again in the future.
Dawson sat next to her and patted her gently on the shoulder, "Paise, it will be gone. It will be gone."
It would be gone, Paisley thought, but it wouldn't be better.
In the long years to come, she might not be able to recover from the breakup with Matthew.
Paisley stayed in Dawson's clinic for a long time. Like when she was a child, she talked about her pain, Matthew's tender behaviors, and his conspiracy.
Even if she had grown up, she still couldn't get used to hurt, pain, and impermanence of life. Maybe in her life, she couldn't accept the truth that Matthew didn't love her. She had to endure the pain for a long time until she was able to get used to it. She was unable to resist the so-called fate. So she needed more time to recover from the pain.
This time, even Dawson did not know what to say because it would be in vain to comfort her.
Paisley said goodbye to Dawson, "I should not come to Oakwood again."
"What do you plan to do next?"
"I don't know. I'll go back to Plence first. Maybe I will go to live with my mother or just stay in Plence."
They didn't say some pleasantries like "Let's keep in touch." Before leaving, Dawson hugged Paisley and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Paise. I'm not a good friend."
They had known each other for so many years. But he was still a bystander. He neither protected her nor guided her. Even if he knew that she was so depressed today, he couldn't give her any help.
Paisley shook her head and whispered, "I'm lucky to have such a friend like you."
Paisley indeed thought that the relationship between them was good and very safe. She was very close to Matthew, which made herself easy to be hurt by him. In the end, her heart was broken completely and her love also died.
Paisley had already bought a ticket to Plence, as well as a new mobile phone and a phone card.
Four years ago, she only told her mother and Dawson her new phone number. But she didn't expect that she would still tell her new number to the same people four years later.
She got a seat this afternoon. It was still some time before departure. Paisley thought for a while and went to Malcolm's school. She wanted to say goodbye to her brother, though he did not know that she was his sister.
When she went there, the school was not over yet. Paisley stood outside the gate and waited for him. Suddenly, her face felt something cold. Paisley touched her face and found there was water on her face. She looked up and realized it was snowing.
It was the first snow of this year in Oakwood.
The snow was quite heavy. Snowflakes were fluttering about. Paisley opened her hands. A piece of snowflake fell on her palms and melted, as if the sky was weeping. When she was a kid, she always liked to use the words "My eyes rain tears" in her article to express her sadness. It was great for a kid to use such words. But it took her a long time to understand the meaning of these words.
Paisley stood in the falling snow and her eyes rained tears in her heart. She liked snow very much because many beautiful and happy memories of her were related to snow, especially about Matthew. But she did not expect that these beautiful memories would turn into arrows piercing her heart one day. Now the snow in the sky covered her body and made her heart cold.
Fortunately, Paisley was an adult who couldn't act like a spoiled child. She had to restrain her emotions.
After the bell rang, Paisley immediately saw Malcolm in the crowd due to her good luck. He was still not tall with a heavy schoolbag on his back. Paisley waved to him, "Malky!"
Malcolm was very happy to see her and ran over excitedly, "Paisley, I haven't seen you for a long time! Where have you been?"
She was busy decorating their home with Matthew hopefully a few days ago. How could she have time to talk with Malcolm? Now Paisley was guilty, "I've been busy with my work recently."
"Really?" Malcolm looked at her and said with dissatisfaction, "I hate adults like you guys most. Mom and dad always said that they were busy with work when they ignored me. Now, you also said the same words."
"I'm really busy." Paisley patted his head, "Come on. I'll buy you an ice cream to make it up to you."
Malcolm walked to their favorite ice cream shop directly.
Paisley handed him his favorite ice cream. Malcolm immediately grinned from ear to ear.
Paisley looked at him and thought children were easy to be satisfied and always felt happy for a little thing. When they grew up, they wanted more, such as love, freedom, houses, and luxury cars. But they still felt empty after they had all of these things. She remembered Malcolm's words. He said last time that it was hard to please adults because they were always unsatisfied with what they did and unhappy with what they had.
She looked at Malcolm's smiling face and felt a little better. She asked, "Is it delicious?"
It was indeed cold to have an ice cream on snowy days. Both of them were a little shivering. Malcolm nodded and said contentedly, "Yummy. I'll treat you next time!"
He said, "Paisley, I haven't seen you for a long time. I miss you so much."
His words were so heartwarming. Paisley looked at the boy in front of her. He had been spoiled by his family since he was born. He was short and looked like a little baby, though he had been a junior high school student. The voice of other boys had started to break at his age.
Unfortunately, she couldn't wait for Malcolm to grow up. Paisley said, "Malky, I'm here to say goodbye to you. I'll leave Oakwood."
"Why?" Malcolm opened his eyes wide in shock and forgot to eat his ice cream.
"I'm disappointed in love. So I'll leave Oakwood." Paisley told the sad thing to Malcolm easily for no reason.
Malcolm was stunned for a long time. He asked, "Do you want to leave this sad place as the TV said?"
Paisley nodded.
Malcolm looked at her sadly as if he was going to cry the next moment, "Do you have to leave? Does this place make you so sad?"
What made her sad was not this place, but the person here. She would miss him when she saw this familiar city. So she could not live in a city full of memories about him.
Paisley nodded, "Yes. I cannot live here anymore. I'm so sad when I see this city."
Malcolm was about to cry and even didn't feel the ice cream already melted on his hand. He begged, "Paisley, can you not leave? My mother always controls me and doesn't allow me to make friends. She said that other people who wanted to be close to me just tried to get my money because I was rich. If you leave here, I'll have no friends. Don't worry. I'll grow up soon and hit the person who bullies you. I'll protect you."
"It's true. I'll grow up soon." He added as if he wanted to prove something, "I drink one bottle of milk every day now. I can have three bottles in the future. Paisley, please don't go. As the TV said, it's not a good way to escape and we must face difficulties directly if we want to overcome them. Paisley, please don't leave me!"
Malcolm held Paisley's hand and begged. Paisley was touched a little. He was the child of Victoria Tyler and Greyson Logan. But he was not as snobbish as Victoria, nor was he as mean as Greyson. He was naive and kind. Did every child look like an angel at the beginning? Why did some of them become insatiable, do bad things and hurt people after they grew up?
Paisley bent over so that their eyes were level, "Sorry, Malky. I don't have the courage to stay here. But don't worry. We'll meet each other again in the future. You don't have to be worried that you don't have friends. Let me tell you. When I was your age, I didn't have many friends, either. But later, I find that making friends is not so difficult. As long as you treat other people sincerely, others will also treat you in the same way."
Paisley knew that she was lying. Sometimes, one who treated other people sincerely wouldn't be treated sincerely in the same way, and even might be hurt by other people. But Malcolm was still young. She didn't want to ruin his innocence at all.
She patted his head, "Malky, I'll leave now. Remember to drink more milk, read more books, and watch less TV."
Paisley straightened up and was about to leave. At this time, she was pushed hard by a woman. The woman stood in front of Malcolm to protect him and glared at Paisley, "Who are you? What do you want to do to my son?"
"Mom, you have misunderstood her," Malcolm shouted urgently behind the woman. "This is my friend."
Malcolm's mom?
Paisley was shocked. She looked at the woman in front of her. It was Victoria Tyler.
She once threw sand at her and said she was an adulteress. But now she could barely recognize her.
They hadn't seen each other for many years. Paisley looked at the woman who was still well-preserved with exquisite makeup and hardly recognize her.
When she escaped that year, she hated the woman so much in her heart. Unexpectedly, she couldn't recognize her today. It was really ridiculous. She used to hate her extremely. But she didn't have too many emotions when she met her again. Would both love and hate go away as time went by?
Paisley nodded at Malcolm. She didn't want to talk with Victoria about the past things now.
Gripping Paisley's bag, Victoria looked at her in confusion, "Are... are you Paisley Logan?"
"No. You must be mistaking me for someone else."
"It's impossible. I remember you. You're Paisley Logan!"
As they were talking, another sound came from another side in surprise, "Paise, why are you here?"
It was Greyson Logan. He was free today and came with Victoria to take Malcolm home.
Victoria smiled angrily as soon as hearing Greyson's words. She screamed, "Why do you deny it? Paisley, why are you close to Malky? Do you regret and want to get your dad's money because you find that Greyson's business gets bigger and bigger these years? Listen, your custody has been granted to your mother when you were a kid. So you cannot get your father's wealth now."
Standing next to them, Malcolm was in a daze and asked, "Mom, what did you say?"
"What are you shouting about?" Greyson gave Victoria a disgruntled look. He turned to Malcolm and said kindly, "Malky, don't you remember? This is your sister, who often came to play with you when you were young!"
Malcolm still looked blank. Victoria sneered and said meanly, "Malky, she is the poor relative who came from the countryside to ask for money! Do you remember her? She is your sister, Paisley Logan, who once hurt you and wanted to throw you downstairs!"
Malcolm looked at Paisley in disbelief. Paisley felt she was abused in public.
"How could you say that?" Greyson said angrily, "Don't listen to your mother, Malky. Paise is your sister. You had a good time with her when you were young."
Victoria mocked as if she  heard a funny joke, "You're lying, not me! How could they play with each other happily? Malky's scar on his face was caused by Paisley."
She didn't do that, Paisley thought. When she was a child, she hated Greyson very much and wanted to die with Malcolm, so that Greyson would lose all of his kids. But she never hit or hurt Malcolm.
Victoria continued, "You don't trust me. But Paisley hasn't contacted you for so many years, and never admits Malcolm as her brother. Why did she come to see us suddenly? Did you think about that? She must try to get your money!"
Victoria's words were wrong, Paisley thought. It was just an accident for her to be close to Malcolm. She never wanted to get anything from him.
Paisley stood there and should have refuted Victoria's words one by one. But she was too tired to argue with Victoria. Besides, she didn't want to explain to them at all. She just wanted to leave here without talking with Greyson or Victoria. She just wanted to say goodbye to Malcolm quietly.
Malcolm was still confused. He looked pleadingly at Paisley, "Are you my sister?"
Paisley was hesitant. After a while, she nodded. Suddenly, she saw the boy, who just said he would protect her, step back and look at her warily. His eyes at her were full of scrutiny. It seemed that he wanted to be close to her, but he was also afraid of her. Paisley thought, "Does he also distrust my motives for being close to him?"
Paisley felt it ridiculous. She was disappointed at Malcolm's wary eyes, though he did nothing.
Paisley didn't want to say anything more. It was shameful to argue with families and expose each other's shortcomings on the street when it was snowing.
She looked at Greyson calmly and said, "Dad, since I see you, I want to tell you that I'm leaving Oakwood..."
Before she finished speaking, Paisley heard a cry of "Run" nearby!
She looked up and saw that the ice cream billboard was more and more magnified in her eyes. It was falling down on Greyson.
Paisley ran to Greyson and pushed him away, "Dad, be careful..."
Greyson was pushed out. He opened his eyes wide in shock, "Paise!"
Paisley raised her head and saw the billboard still falling fast. She instinctively wanted to avoid it. But she paused for a while.
Due to the moment of hesitation, the billboard had already hit Paisley's head heavily and pressed on her body.
Greyson had been pushed aside without being hit. He was shocked and stared at his daughter dully. Malcolm was the first one who realized what had happened. He rushed to her and shouted, "My sister! My sister!"
Paisley vaguely heard someone calling her, but her head was very painful. This time, she couldn't see anything and felt it was dark.
She was lying on cold snow and felt that her body was surrounded by cold. Something hot and warm was flowing out of her body quickly. Paisley opened her eyes. The last scene she saw was the falling snowflakes all over the sky, like flying fairies, pure and white.
How beautiful, she thought! She still remembered that a person said he would kiss her in the first snow, and he did it. She also remembered that he had told her that he would love her forever till death parted them. But now she didn't know where he was...
Paisley closed her eyes slowly. She thought she was going to die. But she didn't care.
There was nothing in the world she wanted to have. Everyone would live well without her.
To her surprise, she didn't want her father, Greyson, to be hurt, though she hated her very much.
Was this love? She thought it was indeed unreasonable.
Paisley was lying on the cold ground. Greyson tried to push the billboard away crazily.
The billboard was very large and heavy. It could not be moved by him alone. Some kind-hearted passersby came to help him. After they finally moved it, the place where Paisley lying had been stained red with blood. Under the flying snow, if they overlooked this place from the sky, they would see the blood was still spreading, like a blooming white rose dyed red with blood.
Greyson held Paisley's cold body and his calm face was full of fear now. He desperately shouted.
"Ambulance! Ambulance! Help my daughter!"
The blood stained his hands and expensive suit. The temperature was so low and her blood was very cold.
At this moment, Greyson held his lifeless daughter and finally realized that his daughter had grown up. She was no longer the little girl who always hung around his neck like a spoiled child, ran to him when she saw him coming home, chased him, and didn't let him go. She grew up and became an adult like him. But she was also a child, who needed a father and wanted to be seen and cherished by someone...
At the same time, Matthew's grand engagement ceremony was held in a large hall of Pearl Tower.
Matthew in a suit and Stella stood together to welcome guests. Their families were famous in Oakwood. So their engagement ceremony was very grand. However, Matthew always felt uneasy and looked upset when he was standing next to Stella. Whenever a guest came, he just said "thank you" with a forced smile.
His smile was not sincere at all. Stella tried to stand it, but finally failed. She couldn't help but whisper when there were no guests, "What's wrong with you? Do you regret getting engaged to me?"
"Of course not! I was a prisoner. No one will like me except you!" Matthew said dejectedly without thinking too much. When he saw Stella's sad eyes, he changed his words, "I'm sorry. Stella, I didn't mean that."
"Matthew, what did you mean?" Stella felt she would lose her reason soon.
In the beginning, he promised to get engaged to her and stay together with her. But why did he say that at present? If Stella didn't love him, she wouldn't allow him to stay together with his former girlfriend again and watch them go to a furniture center hand in hand to decorate their new house. He said it was a fake play for revenge. But why did he look so upset in their engagement ceremony?
Another guest came. They pretended to smile immediately like good performers.
After the guest went in, they had nothing to say and the air between them was very strange, which made them depressed for no reason.
Matthew looked out of the window. It had been snowing. She liked it most and would look like a child with smiling eyes when she saw it. He liked her smile the most. Matthew thought of it and said in surprise, "Paise, look. It's snowing..."
But he bit his tongue immediately. Seeing Stella's painful eyes, he stammered regretfully, "Stella, I..."
"You still cannot forget her, right?" Stella admired herself very much because she could be so calm and sober to analyze his feeling at this moment. She continued, "In fact, you didn't pretend to be together with her again. You wanted to chase her, be her boyfriend, and live with her in that house, didn't you?"
"No!" Matthew quickly denied it. His tone was very firm. But he dared not look into Stella's eyes.
"No?" Stella smiled. But her smile looked sadder than her teary eyes. "Matthew, dare you to look into my eyes while you're saying the word?"
Matthew gave up his dignity and almost begged, "Stella, can we talk about this later?"
"No," Stella shook her head. Her eyes were red. She stared directly at Matthew and asked, "Why don't you never kiss me? Why don't you never hug me? Matthew, do you really want to stay with me or just want to take vengeance on Paisley when you promise to be engaged to me? Or you don't care about who your wife will be if you couldn't marry Paisley?"
Matthew couldn't answer. When he was in prison, Stella came to see him and said she liked him. She treated him so well. So he agreed to be her boyfriend without thinking too much. He thought that he and Stella had known each other since they were young. They were close friends and didn't have any secrets. Stella was better than Paisley who was a heartless and evil woman. But at present, he didn't know why his heart ached when her name was mentioned.
"I'll go to a bathroom." Matthew escaped guiltily and hid in a bathroom.
He locked the door and leaned against it. Suddenly, he wanted to smoke a cigarette. He touched his empty pocket and finally realized that he had already quit it.
"I quit smoking and try to forget all my memories about you..." Matthew thought.
But why did he still miss her? He missed her crazily. In recent days, he tried his best to control himself not to go to see or call Paisley. He told himself that it was over. But he couldn't stop missing her when he opened or closed his eyes, and when he did something. When he stood with Stella to welcome guests just now, he also thought it would be better if Paise stood next to him. Paise would look so beautiful and charming at that time that no one could take their eyes off her.
Matthew was about to be driven mad by himself. He planned to make her fall into his trap. But he found that he had fallen into his trap and was unable to get out.
He remembered that he was smiling when Paisley called him. For the past four years, he had been thinking every day about when to say these words back to her. But when he said these words to her, his heart ached so bitterly as if it was pinched hard by someone. After he hung up the phone, he had already sweated all over, leaning against a table and unable to breathe.
He missed her, but could not help hating her. He thought Paisley was so cold and heartless because she didn't say anything after calling him twice. She even didn't argue with him face to face. She once said that she loved him. But he thought that she didn't have him in her heart and just loved herself.
They had known each other for six years. But she was unwilling to ask him not to be engaged to Stella even once!
He was right, Matthew thought. She was such a cold person who could even kill their child. It was unworthy of him to feel sorry for her.
Matthew comforted himself in the bathroom, and went out to be sober by washing his face. He told himself not to think about Paisley again. Since he decided to be engaged to Stella, he should be together with her. Stella had been his friend since they were young, and she could be regarded as his childhood sweetheart. He usually got along well with her. If they got married, they would have a closer relationship and a better life.
Matthew told himself to look happier and to apologize to Stella sincerely when he came back.
He even managed to produce a smile in front of a mirror. But it was very dim when he saw his smile.
Matthew gave up. He turned to walk out of the bathroom and suddenly bumped into a person. He quickly caught the person, "I'm sorry..."
When they raised their heads to look at each other, they were both shocked. It was Madison. He hadn't seen her for four years.
Madison was also a little surprised. She saw Matthew wearing a suit and a tag on his breast. The word "bridegroom" was on his tag.
She looked like she had realized everything. She was a little unpleasant, "Are you engaged? Matthew, congratulations!"
Matthew was unhappy when he heard her congratulation. Maybe it was because that he was guilty after he had done something wrong. He asked casually, "Ms. George, why do you have time to come to Oakwood?"
"What's the matter?" Madison smiled with a cold face and mocked, "I've been driven out of Oakwood by your family. I just have a meeting here. Is your family so powerful that everyone here should listen to you?"
Matthew was embarrassed. He thought Paise was not like her mother at all and she would never mock him like this.
Madison regretted a little after saying that because it was not useful to be angry with him. She said, "Go ahead. Don't let your fiancee wait for a long time."
She was giving him an out by saying that. But he seemed to be enraged and asked her, "Ms. George, don't you care who I am engaged to? Maybe I'm together with your daughter again."
"How could it be?" Madison shook her head and laughed, "I've predicted that you would marry another woman when Paisley called the police four years ago. But Paise is so stupid and even said that she would wait for you..."
Before she finished, Matthew stepped forward and pulled Madison, "What did you say? Paisley will wait for me?"
Madison looked at him with a strange look, "Paise once visited you in the prison. Didn't she tell you that?"
"Say what?" Matthew was nervous and remembered that on the snowy night, Paisley's tears almost made the clothing on his back wet and she said that their baby died. He had a headache and said anxiously, "She came to tell me that she had aborted the child."
This time, it was Madison's turn to be shocked. "Did she tell you that?"
Matthew nodded. Madison stood still in shock for a long time. She sighed, "Paise is really a fool..."
Four years ago, Madison had known that everything was over from the day when Paisley called the police.
She wanted Paisley to be together with Matthew. He was only twenty years old at that time. His impulsive behavior was forgivable because he was young. Besides, they loved each other and it was unnecessary for her to break up with him. Madison understood Paisley's feeling. But if Paisley forgave him at that time, they would have a bright future.
However, she did not expect that Paisley called the police to put him into jail.
Madison was angry with her daughter's decision. But what made Madison angrier with her daughter was that Paisley wanted to give birth to the child after Matthew was in jail. Paisley wanted to wait for Matthew to get out of prison because she forgave him. She said that she would still be together with Matthew after he was let out of prison.
"She is such a fool. Who does she think she is? How could Anderson allow her to be his only son's wife after she put him into jail?"
"She wanted to give birth to the child before she passed her twentieth birthday. She couldn't even support herself. How could she support a child without a husband? She even wanted to wait for you. How ridiculous! She doesn't know the truth of love. It is more fragile than human passion. You are sentenced to three years. But you might love another one within three months. She thought that you would accept her if she waited for you to out of the prison. But she forgot that she had already informed on you and put you into jail!"
When Madison talked about the past, she was still very sad because her offspring did not live up to her expectations, "I couldn't persuade her to have an abortion. I really didn't know what she was thinking. She was so foolish and stubborn. She lived in the dream of love and thought that she would love a man forever without being hurt. But she didn't know that you wouldn't force her if you really cared about her and loved her."
Matthew's eyes turned red when he heard that. He asked, "So you forced her to abort the child?"
"Yes, my daughter was crazy, not me. I couldn't allow her to do such a silly thing as her mother." Madison looked at him and said, "Matthew, don't hate me. You'll understand me when you become a father. Would you let your child become an unmarried mother at the age of 20? You and Paisley had hurt each other in the past and your father treated me like an enemy. How could I believe that you and Paisley would get married?"
Madison sighed, "I didn't make her abort. I told a lie to Paisley that I would take her for a pregnancy test. But I've secretly contacted a doctor to abort her child. Unexpectedly, Paisley found my plan and escaped. But she ran away so fast that she fell down the stairs. Two of her ribs were broken and her child was also aborted. It's her fate, and even God doesn't stand on your side."
Matthew couldn't bear to hear her words anymore. His eyes were so red. "How can you do this as a mother?"
"I am a mother who brought up Paise alone. So I know how hard it is to bring up a child. I can't bear Paise to suffer this like me!" Madison screamed and looked at Matthew coldly, "How can you be qualified to blame me? You did something wrong. But you let Paise bear your father's anger. Do you know what your father has done to us?"
Matthew's heart was broken. He remembered that day when Paisley came to see him. She lost a lot of weight and her clothes didn't fit her because she was too thin. She said calmly to him, "I've had an abortion." He started to hate her from that moment on.
But he wondered why she didn't tell the truth. She would rather suffer the pain alone than tell the truth to him.
"After the baby was aborted, Paisley seemed to accept her fate and didn't say the silly words like waiting for you to out of the prison." Madison continued, "You know, Paisley is a very indifferent person as if she never cries. But when she woke up that day and found that she was aborted, she cried so sadly and couldn't be able to stop crying."
Madison's eyes were red. "But she shouldn't cry loudly. If she cried, her chest would hurt so that she couldn't breathe due to her broken ribs. I told her not to cry. But she didn't listen to me and scolded me. She said she hated me for killing her child. When the child was aborted, her belly had already been bigger due to the pregnancy. Paisley took good care of her child and even told me, 'Mom, I'm going to be a mother, too.'"
"Each mother is born to love her children. She was so young at that time, but she also loved her child. I couldn't persuade her. But I didn't want her to be insane. If she continued to cry, her broken ribs would not be cured forever. I had no way to stop her from crying. So I asked a doctor to inject her with a sedative. Then she calmed down and slept. After she woke up, she cried again and the doctor had to inject her again."
"After several times of injections, she stopped crying and just shed tears silently. She refused to say a word to me. I took care of her in the hospital for half a month and never slept well, but she didn't say a word to me. She must hate me very much! How heartless she was!" Madison stared at Matthew fiercely, and her emotion got out of control. "Matthew, think about it. If you were me, would you do the same thing? I couldn't allow Paise to give birth to a child before she got married because her future would be ruined by this child!"
Matthew could not answer. He didn't hate Madison.
He couldn't imagine how heartbroken Paise was at that time when she was not allowed to cry loudly.
"She doesn't stop hating me until now. She only sends me a text message on New Year's Day and is unwilling to call me." Madison shook her head, "Later, I couldn't stay in Oakwood and wanted to leave with her. But she refused and decided to stay here. I know that she is still waiting for you, though she never mentions that. How silly she is! What is love? Love is a lie. It looks like a beautiful crystal ball. But it will be broken as long as one lets go. It's more fragile than everything. How could a woman believe her love is firm because of a man's diamond?"
Matthew understood that Madison didn't blame him. But every word she said was like a slap across his face and made him ashamed.
Madison looked at the falling snow.
"Paise liked snow best. But I shut her out that year. I have nothing after the divorce. She is my only daughter. Whenever I want to treat her well, I make her dislike me more and more. Paise was not like this when she was a kid. At that time, she was outgoing and always smiled. She liked to share her feelings with me and always called me first whenever she came home. But later, she changed and started to be afraid of me. Now she doesn't need me and allow me to be close to her. She treats everyone she meets coldly." Madison stared out of the window with a tear slipping across the corner of her eye, "After divorce, I become insane and make Paisley insane, too."
Matthew couldn't hear that anymore and ran out of here suddenly. He thought he was wrong. He wanted to find Paisley.
Stella shouted behind him, "Matthew, where are you going? The ceremony is about to start!" Matthew stopped. He took off his tag and said, "Sorry, Stella. I can't get engaged to you. I love Paise." He seemed afraid that she could not understand it. So he repeated, "I still love Paise."
He regretted it and realized that he was wrong. He thought the plan he made was all for revenge. But when everything went on as he imagined, he was not happy at all and suffered from insomnia when he slept alone in the still of night. He recalled late at night over and over again that she said she loved him so much with watery eyes when she was lying in his arms.
He also loved her so much. Though he made a plan for revenge, he treated her sincerely.
"Matthew!" Stella was going crazy. She screamed hysterically, "Don't you care about our friendship for 24 years? If you dare to go out today, we won't even be friends in the future!"
"I'm sorry." Matthew had a look at her deeply and then ran out directly.
Stella looked at his back in despair. They had known each other for twenty-four years. She could not tell how many years she had loved him from afar. She thought that she finally could be together with him. But unexpectedly, he still ran away. Stella would attract everyone's attention wherever she went. But Matthew just treated her as a passerby. She was not even his back-burner girl. How ridiculous!
A waiter asked her carefully, "Miss Tucker, is the engagement ceremony still going to be held?"
"Of course! Why should I stop it?" Stella cast a stern glance at the waiter coldly. Then she went with head high and chest out to the waiter like a queen, "Start the ceremony now!"
Since he loved Paisley, Stella would let all people in Oakwood know that Stella Tucker had been engaged to Matthew Waylon!
If he made Stella sad, Stella would make Paisley bitter. If he made Stella heartbroken, Stella would destroy Paisley's love.
Before entering the hall, Stella ordered again, "You! Bring me a truck of white roses immediately! Spread the whole hall with them for me!"
She wanted the picture of white roses to be put on the front page of all newspapers in Oakwood tomorrow.
She wanted Paisley and Matthew to feel the pain she had suffered. She wanted them to hate each other and not to be together forever!
"I finally lose you," Matthew said.
"But I never thought I would lose you."