Chapter 10

The watch Thomas gave me was the one I had my eye on before but couldn’t bring myself to buy.

Yet, upon receiving it, I didn’t feel the joy I had imagined.

Why a watch?

Shouldn’t it have been a ring?

If that ring wasn’t meant for Valentine’s Day, and our anniversary had long passed, was he planning to wait until the end of the year when we got our marriage certificate?

The wind on the rooftop was strong. I held up my hand to look at the watch, and the more I looked, the more my head ached. I didn’t even notice someone approaching from behind.

Amelia handed me a cup of coffee and waved her hand in front of me, “Why are you daydreaming here instead of having lunch?”

I snapped back to reality, a lump in my chest, glanced at her, shook my head, and asked how her blind date went yesterday.

“Not well. I can’t forget that person, and I can’t start a new relationship unscathed.”

She laughed self-deprecatingly, “Lately, I’ve been thinking, if I had been more determined back then, tried to consider things from his perspective, would things be different today? But alas, there’s no medicine for regret in this world.”

I couldn’t help but ask, “Didn’t you say your family was quite satisfied with him at first? Why did they change their minds later? Did he do something wrong?”

Amelia shook her head.

“He didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just…”

“I’ve told you before, my parents were always very controlling, always wanting the best for me. Even after I became an adult, they still felt I couldn’t take care of myself if I went to study in another city.”

“The year I started college, they bought plane tickets to accompany me, saying it was a trip, but really, they just didn’t trust me.”

“I had just started dating my first love, never expected my parents to follow, and had already planned to go to school together.”

“So, I just laid it all out.”

“My parents weren’t happy at first, but when they went to school and saw how well he took care of me, doing everything himself, not even letting me carry my own bag, they agreed.”

I sensed something was off, hesitated to speak.

Amelia looked at me and nodded, “You’re right, they wanted to find me a ‘nanny’ who could take care of me during my four years of college.”

I was momentarily speechless.

“They said he was quiet, honest, and wouldn’t have any bad intentions. Being together, he could take good care of me, the perfect choice.”

Amelia’s eyes were slightly wet, “Actually, I had long seen through their intentions, but I held onto a sliver of hope. Four years of college, so long, who knew what might happen in the future?”

“And you were together for four years,” I chimed in.

“Yes. On and off for four years, he always went along with me. But I never expected my parents to be so realistic, making us break up right after graduation, even meeting him privately to say those hurtful things…”

“Hurtful things?”

“My parents looked down on his family… He came from a single-parent family, and his mother used to work as a maid. Somehow, my parents found out and used it to mock him. He could endure anything, but not when it came to his mother.”

Something flashed through my mind, too quickly to grasp, as I heard Amelia continue:

“He was someone who could endure a lot.”

“To be with me, he worked hard and had saved quite a bit even before graduating.”

“I had long seen his potential and knew he would succeed in the future.”

“But I was used to the days when he revolved around me. When he got busy, I overthought things, didn’t understand his hard work, and often picked fights with him.”

“Even later, despite what my parents said about him, I didn’t try to fight for him.”

“At that time, he probably just hoped I could stand by his side, support him a little… I was too cowardly, couldn’t hold on, and now it’s too late to regret.”

I digested what Amelia said.

As an observer, and as her colleague and friend, I couldn’t judge who was right or wrong, so I asked, “Do you still keep in touch?”

She shook her head, then nodded.

“I couldn’t help it before and called him once. It was late, and I waited for him downstairs at his place, but he told me he was at his girlfriend’s house.”

“…He has a girlfriend?”

“A year after we broke up.”

Amelia looked straight at me, her gaze unusually clear, “But a few days ago, he asked to meet me.”

I looked at her, feeling increasingly strange.

“What did he want? Does he still have feelings for you?”

Amelia smiled but didn’t tell me what she and her first love talked about when they met again.

She only said, “Actually, when we broke up, I just wanted to throw a tantrum like before. He usually coaxed me, and I never thought he would take it seriously. So later, I tried to reconcile with him.”

“Did he agree?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“That time, we argued again. He said my feelings for him were just possessiveness. I couldn’t stand him saying that about me and became sharp-tongued.”

I frowned, “Sharp-tongued?”

“I said, isn’t it because you love me?”

Amelia mimicked the tone from back then, filled with disdain and pride.

I thought, if it were me, I couldn’t stand having my family belittled and then having my self-esteem trampled by someone I liked.

“As expected, he got angry,” Amelia said, her momentum suddenly weakening, “When he’s angry, he’s calm. That was the first time I saw him look at me with cold eyes. He replied to me-”

“Amelia, you’re wrong, I can love someone else too.”