Ashley hadn’t been in an accident, she’d been
crippled to protect him.
Rummaging through the report, he found a
donation certificate.
Ashley had donated her life savings, a million
dollars, to Landis Group.
Mark’s mind exploded. “Wasn’t that Jessica’s
money?”
Why was the truth so cruel?
How could he have hurt her, tortured her, for
the past three years?
He called Ashley.
<
The phone rang for a long time before
someone answered.
“Hello?” a strange voice said.
“Who is this? Where’s Ashley?”
“Who’s Ashley? I just got this number, you
must have the wrong person.”
Mark hung up, kneeling on the carpet,
clutching his phone.
The company and the media were in chaos,
and people were calling him constantly.
But he didn’t want to answer.
Because his Ashley was never coming back.
L
San Francisco was beautiful, and even though
no one knew me, I felt a sense of belonging.
I used to study chemistry, and Mark studied
finance.
He was a business major, but he had a dream of starting a company. To help him, I minored
in finance.
After college, I devoted myself to the
company.
It had been a long time since I’d had time for
my passion.
I had been invited by Professor Ellsworth, my
mentor from college, and over the years, we
had kept in touch, discussing chemistry.
Г
When he heard what had happened, he felt sympathy and pity for me, and offered me a job as his assistant.
I hesitated, worried about being a burden
because of my leg, and afraid of worrying
Mark.
But Professor Ellsworth didn’t care, and after seeing the news from home, he paid for my
plane ticket and arranged a stipend.
Someone was there to take care of me,
something Mark had refused to do, even
refusing to hire a home health aid.
Professor Ellsworth said, “We’ll get you the
best medical care.”
The condition was that I could never leave
San Francisco.
I signed the agreement without hesitation.
Because there was nothing left for me in my
city.
That day, the media was reporting on Mark’s
possible divorce.
He didn’t deny it.
Maybe that was a sign.
Our relationship had crumbled to dust.
I sat by the window, lost in thought, and as
the evening sun shone down on me, I wrote
the last sentence of my report
“The Toronto crystal, with its beautiful, romantic structure, could potentially be used
to treat depression.”
“But even the most romantic things can be
shattered.”
“Why?” A handsome young man stood in front
of me, blocking the light.
I blinked, and smiled.
“Just a thought. A lament about how people
separate for different reasons.”
Joy pulled up a chair, sitting next to me.
He was Professor Ellsworth’s son, and he was
studying at the institute.
Young men are always curious.
“Looks like you’ve been hurt before.”
“But because you’ve been hurt, you should
pursue your own happiness.”
He said it seriously, and I couldn’t help but
laugh.
“You haven’t seen the real world. Get dumped
a few times, and you’ll see.”
Joy didn’t get angry. He was a campus
heartthrob, with admirers lining up from San
Francisco to Cambridge.
“Ashley, a puppy is a loyal animal. If you make
it angry, it’ll be sad.” I looked into his bright
eyes, wondering what he was getting at.
“You’re like an angry puppy, trying to make
up for it.” He laughed.
I stood up, pretending to be annoyed.
“I’m way older than you!”
“Only two years older, you’re still a brokenhearted puppy.” He kept teasing me,
but I was serious.
“Joy, I’m disabled, don’t waste your time on
me.” I couldn’t look at him, because I was
ashamed.
Joy didn’t say anything for a long time, and I
sighed.
