A Promise She'll Never Keep

Fighting through the pain, I comforted Diana while calling out Rachel's name, hoping she'd look back.After pausing for a second, Rachel did eventually look back, but only to shoot me a hateful glare. "Joel Cantrell, you know Todd has depression! Why would you provoke him like that? If anything happens to him, I'll never forgive you! Consider this a lesson. Stay away from him from now on."With that, she helped Todd into a jeep and drove away.In the end, a kind passerby took pity on me. He helped me to my feet and took me to the hospital. That night, Diana's fever wouldn't come down, and she was rushed into the emergency room.My little Diana, who wasn't even a year old, left me forever on the very day Rachel chose to stay with Todd.Lying in my hospital bed, I couldn't stop replaying the moment Rachel walked away. Tears blurred my vision.I had said to myself, "Rachel, you have my word. From now on, I'll never go near you or Todd again. You're free."The memory faded, bringing

Rachel walked over and raised her hand. But instead of reaching for the drawer, her fingers brushed the corner of my eye. "Were you crying?"She stared blankly at the moisture on her fingertips, seemingly at a loss.With a smile, I casually said, "I'm just worried about Diana since she's sick. It just came out all of a sudden. But I'll be fine."Rachel let out a breath of relief. "Oh, good. I forgot to ask earlier—what kind of charm do you want on the bracelet? How about one with the words 'luck' and 'joy'? Things are pretty strict right now at the base, so it's probably better to keep the design simple."I froze for a second. I hadn't expected her to care so much about the details. If only she'd been this attentive before… "That sounds good," I replied. "You can decide."After hearing my answer, she nodded and turned to leave. But right before closing the door, she asked one last time, "Are you sure you're really okay?"I parted my lips, a tiny spark of hope suddenly ignitin

If the book had landed just a bit further to the right, it would've hit the nurse's eye.The head nurse, Janet Smith, carefully cleaned the wound with a disinfectant swab while asking in a concerned tone, "Lily, what happened here?"Lily Barnett had just started working at the hospital that year. She was only 19 years old and was still single.An injury to her face meant she might be left with a scar that could affect her chances of finding a partner in the future.Lily was well aware of this as well. Her eyes welled up with tears at Janet's concern. "Janet, he threw a book at me."She pointed at Todd, looking hurt.Janet's expression turned icy. "Care to explain, sir? We live in a civilized society. If you attack someone for no reason, you'll be held accountable."Todd had calmed down by then, but his eyes betrayed a flicker of panic when he heard Janet. He instinctively looked at Rachel, hoping she'd speak up for him.When Rachel met his gaze, she reflexively tried to defend

When Rachel got home, she yelled, "Joel! Joel! I was wrong, Joel! I'm so sorry! I got the charm bracelet you wanted! Joel!"But no matter how loudly she shouted, no one answered. A wave of panic washed over her right then.She checked the living room, the kitchen, and the bedroom, but there was no one in sight. A thought hit her, and she opened the wardrobe. Half the clothes were gone.Everything that belonged to me was missing. All that was left was a white dress.I had bought it for Rachel when we got married. She had been 19 then, and she'd said, "Joel, can you buy me a white dress for our wedding? My mother said brides should wear white on their wedding day. That's the only way to guarantee a happy marriage."I'd agreed to it. And on our wedding day, she had worn that beautiful dress. But our marriage had been anything but happy.Rachel thought back to that day when she had braided hair and a shy blush on her cheeks. In front of both our families, she had placed her hand in m