My Rival: The Twenty-Year-Old Me - Chapter 24

Theodore and I stood in the narrow living room.

I could tell that Theodore, with his stern face, was completely at a loss.

I held him and asked, “What’s wrong with Grandma?”

Theodore said indifferently, “She’s too tired from taking care of me. School pick-ups, class drop-offs, and communicating with teachers. I’m picky about food, and every day it’s a struggle for her because of my meals.”

“And then she complains to Dad every day, and Dad gets very angry and yells at her.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty much a cycle like that.”

Theodore touched the sofa, “Did I used to climb on this? I remember.”

He’s a precocious child.

His big eyes were as bright as mine at twenty, and he said, “Mom, the school you went to study abroad is really good.”

“You know?”

He nodded, “I heard Aunt Sophia mention it, so I checked it on my iPad.”

“When I was little, you told me that when I grew up, you’d go study abroad.”

“There was a sister who came to see me before. She looked just like you, but Aunt said she didn’t.”

He rubbed his face against the back of my hand, his eyes slightly curved, “Mom, you used to be so beautiful, so full of life, your laughter so clear, I really liked it.”

“I’m sorry, every time you and Dad were upset, I didn’t know what to say…”

“Mom, is it because of me that you didn’t leave?”

I had just said “No.”

He held my hand, warm and damp, “Fly, fly as high as you can.”

His upturned eyes shimmered with tears, his voice muffled and crisp, “When you come back, just come and see me, okay?”

The small teardrops on the back of my hand burned and made it tremble lightly.

The heartache swelled to the extreme.

My vision gradually blurred.