"Are you still here to think about your past?" Sara looked at Jacob with infuriated expression on her face. She couldn't help but feel her anger welling up as she thought about what Alice had done.
"No, I had a dream just now." He placed the photo back down into the desk.
"Humph! I know you still have feelings for her." She looked at him with dissatisfied eyes and took a few steps back. She looked pitiful as her teary eyes tried to escape his gaze.
"I don't, Sara. Who do you think I am?" he harshly explained. Then he took a look at her face and gently but playfully pinched her nose.
"Let me go. You always answer my question like that. Humph!" She kept turning her face away from him, and the anger in her face was gradually intensifying.
"Hey, Sara. Why are you angry? I really didn't mean it that way. I sent Alice abroad in the first place, remember? But when I fell asleep just now, I dreamed that her body was covered with blood. That's why I thought of her when I woke up,"
he explained further.
"Oh? Is that right?" She was skeptical, but she couldn't find any sign of lies as he explained his side. So she decided to let it slide for the time being.
"It's true. Why would I lie to you? I swear that if I don't tell you the truth, I will be hit with a thunderbolt every single day." He raised his hand as gesture of his promise.
She put her hand on his mouth, and stated, "Are you a fool, Jacob? Why would you swear something like that? If there really is a thunder outside coming for you, I could only imagine what you would do."
"Are you not angry now?" He took a glance at her and shrugged his shoulders in disappointment.
Despite her mellowing out a little, a pout still persistently appeared on her face. She remained in silent as it was actually much easier for her to get provoked at a time like this. He must have spoiled her.
She raised her head and saw his chin, along with the sharp features of his face. She stared at him for a long while, and creepily didn't even blink once.
"Am I beautiful?" He gazed over to playfully look at her.
"You're full of yourself. Why would I envy your face?" She rolled her eyes at him to play along, but her heart skipped a beat.
"Why don't you admit it? Are you embarrassed?" He threw another question at her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and she paused as she stepped back.
"If you have something to say, say it now. Just don't touch me." Her face turned red, and that confirmed that she was indeed embarrassed about this whole fiasco.
"Ha-ha! Sara, you are really…" He didn't get to finish his words as he fixed his eyes on her.
She realized that something would happen so she turned her face away again like last time. "Well, let's go out for dinner for now, shall we? Winnie must be already there, anxiously waiting for us."
Jacob scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed expression, and replied, "Really? Okay. Let's go see mom after dinner."
She nodded her head in agreement. Then she silently turned around to swiftly walk out of the study. If she had stayed in the room for a few more seconds, there was no telling if she could even get out of there at all.
Now Sara felt that he seemed to be her first love. She felt a sudden rush of warmth in her heart. In the past, she couldn't get any sort of acceptable response from him, despite the fact that he was always good to her. Now she could feel that he was starting to take interest in her.
Jacob was acting totally different now. She held his hands and walked downstairs with him.
He picked up food for her from time to time, and Winnie was certainly happy to see them getting along. There was nothing that would make her happier knowing that they were making up with each other.
Jacob was stunned as he observed her eating. It didn't matter what she did—eating or doing literally anything, he felt that her actions were a sight to behold.
Shortly after dinner, both of them went out together as expected. It was already in the evening, so it was just the right time for them to send some food to Tasha.
Sara went ahead and called her father. After making sure that the two of them hadn't eaten anything yet, she put some food in a thermal lunch box and headed for the hospital.
The two of them went upstairs with a big smile on their faces. The moment they walked through the long corridor, the smile on her face faded in an instant. She only hoped that she could control herself upon seeing her mother.
As soon as she reached the ward, she heard the chattering of the conversation between her parents.
"Do you still hate me after all these years?" Her voice was practically a void—an empty set of words devoid of any emotion. It had been a long, long time since she left. She shouldn't have asked such a question in the first place but she wanted to know for sure.
"Let bygones be bygones. I know that time will heal the deep wound in my heart," Carlos comforted her with his words.
"I know how stubborn I was for so many years. I'm basically like a child who is always grumpy. But you've always been good to me and you always allowed me to do whatever I wanted. At the end of the day, we still separated. These things I know by heart."
She stared at Carlos with blank eyes. He was the only man who loved her the most. If it weren't for her own stubbornness, she would have still been in a happy family.
Indeed, there were just some people who refused to grow up. Tasha might be one of them, but one couldn't say that she felt no sense of regret.
She just wanted to go out to have a look at the world at first, but in the end, she still refused to go back. The world was one big, sticky quagmire. Once you fell in it, it would be extremely difficult to get out of it.
"No, it's my fault. I ignored my family. I ignored you. I shouldn't have put all my energy into the company at that time. All these years, what I felt was regret instead of hatred."
Carlos stepped forward and held Tasha's hand. It might have been too late for him to express his regret, but it felt almost like being rid of a chip on one's shoulder. Even though his lover grew old and her beauty faded away overtime, he was still waiting for her like a loyal lover.
"I'm sorry, Carlos. If I hadn't been so stubborn at that time, maybe we could've ended up together still. If only I hadn't made the choice that only served my selfish interests...if only I had given you more consideration, maybe…"
She couldn't finish her words as emotions welled up inside her. Reminiscing about the good old days only made her feel tortured. She always felt a deep sadness in her heart because she couldn't go back home. Besides, the man she had been with after she separated with Carlos was not enough to make her happy. She felt as if she was always paying off a great debt when she was with him.
Tasha finally understood that what she got from one person would soon be lost in another person. Among the relationships between people, the principles and laws of conversion of energy could still be applied like a general rule.
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