71: A broken relationship

When Joel had asked Isabelle if she hated him, at that moment, she honestly had no answer — for him or herself. But the day after, when they arrived at school, she had been sure of what to say.

Many times, people did and believed in outrageous things not because they wanted to, but because it's that belief or thing — no matter the source — that gives them a sense of normalcy. 

There was no doubt Joel had done something wrong by keeping his mouth shut. If he had spoken up, maybe Tope would have led a better life.

Or... Maybe if he had, Tope still would have carried on without giving him a listening ear.

But they could never really know for sure and it'd be wrong to keep dwelling on the past.

If we all could try to look beyond the wrong done and, rather, look upon the apologetic heart — as Loveth had done in the hospital — we'd not only cease to save for ourselves the rot, called 'anger' but also