There’s nothing I could say. It seemed like the situation had reached a stalemate and there were no clear boundaries between the causes and effects of everything that had happened.
Who was to determine what was right and what was wrong? That was the way life was.
After a moment of silence, I looked up at her and asked, “Have you eaten?”
Slightly taken aback by the sudden change of topic, Emery shrugged and answered, “Not yet!”
“Let’s get something to eat then!” I said as I got up and headed to the kitchen. Life had to carry on no matter what.
We did not have a housekeeper and only had a part-time cleaner who was not around at the moment. While I cooked some noodles, Emery leaned against the door and spoke, “I heard that Ashton was admitted to the hospital. Are you intending to visit him?”
I was in the midst of chopping some vegetables and froze when I heard that. Immediately after, I asked, “Did he catch a cold from last night?”
“Yup,” Emery answered briefly before walking over to help me. “He continued to stay in the snow after you left. We know that this was his way of punishing himself. He hoped to redeem himself by doing that. As such, we did not try to stop him. He truly loves you, but he had indeed hurt you along the process. There’s nothing we can do since whatever happened has already happened.”
I pursed my lips tightly and didn’t respond. I suddenly felt a stinging sensation in my eyes as a layer of mist formed on them. I guess it was from the spicy peppers I was holding.
After blinking a few times, I tossed the spicy peppers into the noodles and asked placidly, “Can you take spice?”
Knowing that I was intentionally avoiding the topic, Emery did not pursue and simply replied, “Yup, I’m OK with it!”
She left after we finished the noodles. It was still snowing heavily outside and I sat in a daze in the living room. After a while, I decided to add some wood to the fireplace and build a fire. When it was ready, I got myself a blanket and a book and started reading in the living room.
Should I visit Ashton? It seemed like it was best that I did not.
He did that in order to atone for his wrongdoings so that he could feel better. If he saw me, he would be reminded of his guilt once again and I would also be reminded of the pain. It wouldn’t do us any good.
Even though the damage had been done, it was not easy to say for certain who was to blame for it. Perhaps, God had decided to play a joke on us.
I was surprised to receive a call from Camelia in the afternoon. However, I had also kind of expected it.
“Can we meet for a chat?” The frostiness in her voice was a stark difference from the charm she exuded when we first met.
What a joke!
“I don’t think there’s a need for us to meet,” I replied indifferently, but not to the extent of being cold.
There was a moment of silence on the other side of the phone before she said, “Of course, there is a need. There are some things we have to face ultimately, don’t you agree?”
I pursed my lips at her words. Camelia was definitely a match for Marcus in terms of their stubbornness. No wonder they said that people who were similar were more likely to be attracted to each other.
“Sure then!” I agreed and we decided on the meeting venue.
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