I sneered and wiped the coffee off my face with a tissue, “Innocent? If Steven Pearson is innocent, then the people he killed are even more innocent. Don’t you know why he was sentenced to death? Is Sam Bates innocent? All the money he made these years and all the bad things he had done to other people. How can a man like him be such a high official? How many innocent people do you think are behind him? Your mother is innocent? This is even more ridiculous. You don’t know how she made me lose my baby? After all these years of climbing so high, have you ever considered how much dirt she’s been up to?”
At this point, I was laughing even colder, “As for your brother, yes, he was smart enough to know he didn’t have much time left, so he entrusted you to Dennis. It was no one’s fault that he died. It was his destiny. But he also ruined Dennis’s life. You love Dennis, but have you asked him if he loves you?”
Olivia bit her lip so hard that I smiled just by looking at her. “You know Dennis doesn’t love you, right? Because of the responsibility your brother gave him, so even though Dennis hates you so much, he still takes care of you and helps you. Because he promised your brother that he’d take care of you no matter what. Your brother is so cruel. One word from him has dragged Dennis down his entire life. Is he innocent?”
“Nonsense!” She was very excited. “It’s not what you said. If you hadn’t shown up, Dennis would have married me and taken care of me for the rest of my life. It was you! Your coming out of nowhere put him on the spot.”
I wanted to laugh, “Put him on the spot? If he had stood firm enough when Grandpa George asked him to marry me, would Grandpa have let him? Do you think, given his character, he would really be forced to marry me, as Grandpa said? It’s only been three years. Three years and he can’t let me go. And how about you? Do the math yourself. How long have you been with him? Why didn’t he marry you all those years ago? If he had even the slightest affection for you, he would have married you before I came along, wouldn’t he?”
“You…” Olivia was already sobbing. I knew the words were like knives, each cutting into her weak side.
“Leave my mother alone. You’ve done what you wanted. I’m not going to haunt Dennis, and I’m not going to be part of your marriage. I quit, please do not hurt my mother, let alone the Lewis family. We will never speak again. You and Dennis can move on.”
Olivia was in a bad mood. She knew better than anyone that Luna wouldn’t be spared, but she begged me anyway.
Maybe she really loved Dennis and gave her heart and love to him. Maybe she just loved Dennis for his kindness to her, but all of these had nothing to do with me.
I looked at her and said, “I will have a good life with Dennis. I appreciate you not getting involved, but as for your mother, I’m not letting her go either. After all, I’m just at the beginning. There’s a long way to go.
”
Olivia went pale and crumpled. “Clara, I’ve left you all alone, so why do you keep pushing me? You know damn well that if I continue to badger Dennis, he’ll never get rid of me because of my brother. Unless I let it go, my shadow will haunt your marriage for the rest of your life. You can live with that for a year or 10 years, but Clara, can you really live with having me in your marriage for the rest of your life?”
I pressed my lips, my fingertips pierced my palms. What a difference a dead men could make! She was right! Dennis’s responsibility to Olivia was the same as those disgusting consents that couldn’t be cut.
Looking at her, I sneered. “If you don’t mind risking the happiness of your life, I can live with that. At least I have Dennis with me in the dead of night. You know damn well he has no feelings for you. You’ll spend your whole life with a man who doesn’t love you. You’re not even a third party. If you are willing, what am I to care?”
I continued, looking at her discolored face, “Your presence only occasionally interferes with our relationship. But you, on the other hand, will spend the rest of your life in this meaningless entanglement. But once you leave Dennis, it will be a different story. You are beautiful, you come from a good family, there are many people who can give you happiness. Marcus Thomson has been with you for so long, you can’t have missed it. If you stay with him, you’ll be able to take care of Luna even if she ends up with nothing. The Lewis family has a deep foundation. Even if I could move, I could not uproot it. So, as long as you leave, I still can’t hurt you in the future.”
That was true. Once Olivia quit, even if I wanted to hurt her, it was only a small act, not a threat. But with her obsession with Dennis all these years, she was not leaving. It was habit, not love.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Please Love Me, Mr. George