CHAPTER 4

Tessy’s body froze for a second before she suddenly raised her voice.

“You lost what?” she asked, her eyes widening in disbelief. 

Her voice showed she did not understand how it could happen. 

That necklace was not just jewelry to her. It was the only proof that the promise was real. She had kept it for seventeen years.

 It was the only thing she had from the boy who made her a promise.

 

Tears gathered in her eyes, but she blinked hard, refusing to let them fall in front of Jessica.

 Tessy held the remaining necklace tightly against her chest like she was afraid to lose that one too.

Jessica leaned back on the bed like nothing serious had happened at all.

She said, crossing her legs. 

“It’s already six in the evening and he hasn’t come, I don’t think he is coming anymore.”

Tessy stared at her sister, disappointment slowly filling her eyes.

She could not believe how heartless her sister could be.

But in the end, she managed to utter,  

“If he doesn’t come today, he can still come another day.

Jessica waved her hand slightly, showing little interest.

“Forget the necklace and the boy… or whatever he is,” Jessica said casually.

 I will advise you to choose one of those rich men who have been chasing you.”

Tessy did not reply, her fingers gripped around the necklace so hard that her knuckles turned pale

She stayed silent for a while, her chest stiff,  then turned and walked out of the room.

She went into her room, closed the door behind her, and finally let the tears fall softly. 

She didn’t come out of her room throughout that day. 

Jessica remained in her room too. She opened the shopping bags and looked through the expensive items Eric had bought for her.

 She spent time admiring them one by one.

A small satisfied smile slowly formed on her face. 

She told herself that her life was now moving in a better direction. In her mind, she was no longer on the same level as Tessy.

 She will soon leave this godforsaken place for Tessy and their father.

Talking about their father John Stone, he had been sick for a long time and was still in the hospital.

Because of the smell of the hospital room, 

Jessica hated going there to see their father.

Tessy visited him whenever she could, sitting beside his bed quietly and holding his hand when he was awake.

Jessica never went, whenever Tessy brought it up, Jessica would always refuse.

“No way I’m going to see that sick, smelly old man,” she said, wrinkling her nose in disgust  as if she could already smell the hospital through the idea alone.

Tessy would not argue with her. She would just leave it and go on her own. 

A few days later, Jessica was quietly picked up by a private jet heading to Springfield.

She did not tell anyone where she was going, not even Tessy.

Jessica sat back in the soft leather seat of the private jet.

 The material felt smooth under her skin, and the he cabin had a quiet, expensive stillness that made everything feel far away from her old life.

Her shopping bags were placed neatly beside her, the scent of new fabric and perfume faint in the air.

 As the plane lifted off the ground, a gentle vibration passing through the floor and up into her body.

She looked out of the window as Puma slowly became smaller below her. 

As town shrank into a patchwork of roofs and roads, fading into distance. 

She did not feel nervous. Instead, she felt excited, like her life had already changed.

Instead, she felt excited, she ran her fingers slowly across the soft leather seat and smiled to herself. For the first time in her life, she felt far away from everything she hated about Puma. 

She was finally going to Springfield, the city of Eric Edison.

A flight attendant walked past, and offered drinks and snacks. Jessica took a drink, cool against her lips, and leaned back comfortably into the seat again.

Her eyes drifted to the shopping bags. Jewelry that caught the light even in the dim cabin, perfume bottles with sharp, sweet scents, clothes folded neatly in branded packaging.

A small smile stayed on her face. This is my life now, she thought. No more small town air that smells like dust after harmattan. 

No more waking up to the same narrow streets and familiar noise. 

In her mind, a completely new life had already begun.