Chapter 7

After checking out of the hotel, I returned home to pack my luggage.

When I pushed open the door, I saw a pair of shoes that belonged to Alan placed nicely behind the door. My shoes were pushed to the extreme corner and looked like they had been stepped on. The picture of Rose and me had disappeared from the living room and was replaced with a family picture of Rose and Alan hugging Jay.

I laughed self-deprecatingly as I was reminded of a question I used to ask Rose. "How long would it take for you to forget me if I ever left you?"

Rose laughed and hugged me, promising that she would never forget me, but her actions today gave me a new answer to the question. The change took only two short days.

When I was about to enter the bedroom, I heard the door being opened. Rose and Alan entered side-by-side, and Alan's eyes lit up when he saw me. He approached me cautiously and said, "You're back, Walden. Have you… Have you forgiven me?"

I looked at him coldly and did not answer.

However, Alan took my silence as an affirmative, and he started tearing up. "Rose told me everything. Thank you for giving us a month. Don't worry. I promise I'll leave after a month. I'll make sure I won't leave any trace of my existence, and I'll never bother you again."

I looked at Rose. She was standing nearby with a look of conviction, agreeing with everything Alan said. I could not believe my silence was translated as consent in her eyes. Where did she get the confidence from? Did she really think that she was some sort of rare treasure?

Was a woman who cheated on me, divorced, and had a baby with someone else worth me accepting all her terms without question? I was not bothered to explain myself and went straight into the room to continue packing.

Alan continued trying to pacify me as he spoke to me through the door. "You haven't had dinner yet, have you, Walden? How about if I made you your favorite ribs?"

Not long after, I could hear pots and pans clanging in the kitchen.

I had just zipped up my luggage when I heard the fire alarm go off shrilly. This was followed by Alan's panicked shouting, "Fire!"

Thick smoke was coming out of the kitchen when I ran out of the bedroom. Alan had accidentally caused the fire while cooking because he was distracted. He knocked over a spice rack in panic, causing the flame to hit the wall, and it started burning the range hood and ceiling.

Sparks of flame kept falling to the ground. The smoke was so thick that Alan and I could not stop coughing violently. Soon, a board put up as a house decoration fell from the flames and separated Alan and me.

"Rose!"

Alan looked pale as he waved her over with reddened eyes. I was closer to Rose, but she ran past me without hesitation to grab Alan's wrist. "Don't worry. We'll get out of here together."

With that, they leaned against each other to dash out the door without giving me a glance. When the anti-theft door closed in front of me, I snapped out of the shock and stumbled into the bathroom to grab a wet towel and put it over my mouth and nose.

A loud crash came from above me when I ran into the living room, and the burning cabinet door fell hard on my arm. I fell to the ground, and I tried my best to put out the fire with the wet towel. I crawled to the door on all fours, but I could no longer hold on and passed out.

…

When I opened my eyes, I was in the hospital bed. The nurse was changing my bandage with a frown. "That burn on your arm is serious. Your wound might not completely heal. Once your situation has stabilized, you might want to consider skin grafting."

I looked down at my arm, covered in bandages, and shook my head. "It's fine."

The nurse did not understand it. "You're still young. Leaving such a huge scar on your arm is pretty horrible."

I stared at the ceiling with a glaze over my eyes. "It's fine to have a scar. I need something to remind me of the lesson I learned today."

It was a reminder to never bank all my happiness on one person, regardless of love or friendship.

That was when I received a text from Rose: [How are you doing? Alan suffered a fright too, and I can't leave because I need to accompany him and Jay. Text me once you've been treated.]

I did not want to reply and was about to turn off my phone when the property management office called me. "Mr. Scott, the house has been burned pretty badly, and you probably need to renovate it. All of the furniture and your personal items are mostly burned."

I had put so much effort into designing the house, but the news of it being burned to a crisp did not upset me much at all. It was just as well. Everything in the past had been burned to the ground and given me a clean slate.

Fortunately, my passport, identification card, and credit cards had been packed earlier. Nothing could stop me from leaving now. I stayed another night in the hospital before taking a taxi to the airport by myself the next morning.

The earliest flight to Lunshire that morning would take me away from this city filled with hate and love.

Outside the taxi, I could see the sun slowly rise, and the mist gradually dissipate. However, it was not just the mist that vanished completely under the morning sun, but also the six years I had with Rose and the ten years of friendship I had with Alan. There was no turning back.