Hearing this, Estelle immediately refused him in a cold voice, “No, thanks. Just drop me at the next intersection. I’ll take a taxi back home.”
“Estelle, despite our breakup, we still share many cherished memories from our past and have two children together. Must you be so cold towards me? Even if we are no longer a couple, we can still be friends...”
Estelle swiftly interjected, her tone blunt, “No. There is no need for us to be friends. You already have Gretchen, and it seems you will have another child in the future. As for me, I have found someone with whom I intend to spend the rest of my life. Both of us have embarked on new paths. Whether the memories we shared were happy or sad, they belong to the past. It is time for us to move forward.”
“I can’t be as carefree as you, letting go of the past so effortlessly,” Cristofer expressed with a bitter smile.
“If you’re feeling disheartened like I once was, you can also be carefree as me,” Estelle remarked, pointing towards an intersection not far away. “Mr. Hans, please drop me off at that intersection. My... my boyfriend is aware of my every move. If he discovers that I’ll be spending an extended period alone with you, it will upset him.”
“You care about your boyfriend very much,” Cristofer said.
Estelle didn’t reply to him. Her silence was a tacit admission to his words.
Soon, the car stopped at the intersection. Estelle then got out of the car quickly and left without looking back at him. She didn’t care if Cristofer was still there or had driven away.
However, although she had gotten over Cristofer, it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t feel hurt when thinking about their past. And every time she met Cristofer, she would feel sad for herself and her lost youth.
“Watch out!”
Suddenly, someone bumped into Estelle with great force and snatched her handbag.
Estelle was caught off guard and staggered. She ran to chase after the robber, but after a few steps, she had to stop because of the unbearable sharp pain in her incision.
Just now, the robber happened to bump into the incision on her chest.
Estelle’s face turned pale as she gradually crouched down. The pain intensified, reaching a point where she nearly lost consciousness.
“Estelle!” Cristofer rushed over and asked anxiously, “Are you okay?”
“My... My handbag...”
Cristofer frowned and said, “It’s not the time to think about your bag. I’ll take you to the hospital first...”
“No, in my bag there is... there is...”
‘Mr. Mysterious’ tie is in my handbag.’ Estelle thought. She folded the tie and put it in her wallet before.
Cristofer inquired, “What’s inside? Your ID card?” He reassured Estelle, “You can get a new one later. Estelle, please pay attention to me. We should prioritize going to the hospital right away.”
Before Estelle could respond, he scooped her up in his arms and made his way back to his car.
He had wanted to put her in the passenger seat, but to make her more comfortable, he finally put her in the spacious rear seat.
“Take me to another hospital,” Estelle said in a weak voice. “I don’t want my mother to know I’m injured.”
“Okay.”
After taking a brief rest, the pain subsided slightly for Estelle. At that moment, she felt the urge to reach out and call Mr. Mysterious.
‘Mr. Mysterious must have known what happened just now and will definitely call me.’
However, her phone was in her handbag, which was snatched just now.
“Cristofer...” Estelle had no choice but to ask Cristofer for help.
With a worried look, Cristofer glanced at her from the rearview mirror and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“May I borrow your phone?”
“Sure. Who do you want to call? I’ll help you dial the number.”
“I’d like to call my boyfriend. Could you please pass me your phone? I’ll dial his number myself,” Estelle requested.
Hearing this, Cristofer looked away with an unnatural look to avoid her gaze and focused on driving. “I’m driving. It’s not convenient to hand it to you.”
Estelle frowned and asked, “Didn’t you say we could remain friends?”
“Yes, I do hope we can still maintain a friendship after our divorce. However, I would prefer it if you didn’t make calls to another man using my phone in my presence,” Cristofer replied.
“Then forget it.” Estelle shook her head helplessly and then slowly leaned against the backrest of the seat.
“You won’t call him?”
Estelle said coldly, “How can I call him without a phone?”
Cristofer was rendered speechless.
“He always knows where I am and what I have done. It makes no difference whether I call him or not,” Estelle added.
“Then why did you borrow my phone to contact him just now?”
“I... I’m just accustomed to reaching out to him when I feel helpless. In the past, I had to face everything on my own. But ever since I’ve been with him, I’ve grown dependent on him. I understand that being overly reliant is not healthy, but I struggle to control myself,” Estelle explained.
Upon hearing this, Cristofer took a deep breath and inquired, “Are you planning to marry him?”
“I don’t know. He still has something to deal with and can’t marry me now. Besides... I don’t know whether I will relapse and how long I can live. It doesn’t matter whether we get married or not.”
After a few seconds, Cristofer said, “It’s also a good choice not to get married.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Nothing. I just think it’s troublesome to get married.”
Estelle smiled and asked, “Does Gretchen have high wedding requirements? But you are Cristofer, the richest and most powerful man in Hadale. You can give her whatever she wants as long as you are willing to, can’t you?”
“I’m not willing to.”
“What?”
“If I say I don’t want to marry Gretchen and don’t want to meet her requirements, do you believe it?”
“Whatever is happening between you and her is completely unrelated to me. I don’t care, and I have no interest in it,” Estelle declared.
“Estelle, can’t we... can’t we reconcile?” Cristofer suddenly asked.
Shaking her head, Estelle responded with unwavering certainty, “No.”
“If your boyfriend had never appeared, would you come back to me?”
“If he hadn’t appeared, I would have died long ago and wouldn’t be alive now,” Estelle said with a bitter smile.
“...”
“It can be said that he gave me a second chance at life. He also instilled in me the courage to keep living,” Estelle expressed. “Cristofer, because of you, I once felt despair and lost the will to live. If it weren’t for him, I might not have survived when I was pregnant with Yvonne.”
Hearing this, Cristofer sighed heavily with both regret and relief. “You will live a happy life with him for the rest of your life, right?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
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