Share

Chapter 2

Author: Longing Wish
That pot of herbal dregs was something I'd brewed for Luke over a thousand times.

Now, he'd cooked up the exact same batch and placed it before me as an apology.

It was as if he were casually projecting the habits of catering to another woman directly onto me.

He hadn't even bothered to figure out whose stomach actually needed tending to.

I picked up the clay pot, but my hands froze over the trash can.

Muscle memory made me instinctively want to grab a spoon to skim the dregs floating on the surface.

In seven years, I had served him over a thousand bowls of soup. The motion was carved into my very bones.

I paused and stared at my hand suspended in midair, feeling the sheer absurdity of it all.

The entire pot of soup, liquid and dregs, went straight down the drain. The rushing water spun the herbs into a whirlpool until they vanished.

After getting ready, I took a cab to Luke's photography studio.

After pushing open the breakroom door, I found Luke reclined on the couch, clutching his stomach.

Phoebe sat beside him, carefully resting a steaming washcloth against his shirt. "Luke, is it too hot?"

"It's just right."

Phoebe glanced up and saw me. Her wrist trembled, and she dropped the hot cloth onto Luke's lap.

He snapped his head up.

The moment he saw me, a flash of panic crossed his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a subtle, expectant look.

He saw the box of targeted stomach medicine peeking out from my bag's side pocket.

It had been seven years.

I had carried that box of pills for him for seven long years.

Whenever his stomach flared up, no matter how angry I was or how fiercely we fought, I would always cave in the end, popping a pill from its foil and holding it to his lips.

He was dead certain this time would be no different.

I walked over to the couch.

Luke instinctively sat up straight and parted his lips slightly.

Just like every single time over the past seven years, he waited for me to pop the pill and hand it over.

I reached into my bag and gripped the box.

My fingertips could still recall the sensation of pushing pills out of the foil for him late into the night.

However, my eyes fell on the cup of warm water beside him, stamped with Phoebe's lipstick mark.

When I pulled out the box, Luke's eyes lit up.

Then, right in front of him, I let my wrist go slack.

With a soft snap, the medicine box landed squarely in the wastebasket at his feet, mixing with a few crumpled sheets of paper.

The spark in his eyes shattered that very second. "Anna, let me explain…"

Phoebe scrambled to her feet in a panic.

I ignored her, nor did I look at Luke's instantly pale face. "I just realized how pointless this all is."

I dusted off my hands, though there was no dirt on them. My voice was flat and devoid of emotion as I said, "This medicine can cure his stomach, but it can't cure what's wrong with his heart."

I turned and walked out.

The sunlight came in through the floor-to-ceiling window, stretching my shadow long across the floor.

I suddenly couldn't remember the last year Luke told me he loved me.

Maybe he never had.

I opened the front door to find a massive cardboard box sitting in the middle of the living room.

This was the silk wedding dress I had ordered two months ago from Ithren's haute couture workshop. It was just delivered today via international express shipping.

I sliced open the sealing tape with a utility knife.

The pristine white satin shimmered, and its neckline was encrusted with delicate crystals.

I didn't reach out to touch the fabric.

Instead, I pulled out my phone and made an overseas call to the designer in Ithren.

"Hello, this is Anna Parker. I no longer need the wedding dress. Please proceed with the cancellation process."

The customer service rep paused for a few seconds. "Ms. Parker, this dress was tailored entirely to your measurements. If you cancel now, your ten-thousand-dollar deposit will be non-refundable."

"That's fine. I'm not getting married anymore. Just discard it."

After hanging up, I folded the box back up and kicked it into the corner.

Just then, my phone screen lit up with a WhatsApp message from Luke. "I'll pick you up later to try on wedding rings at Holbrook, then we'll hit that restaurant you've been dying to try. Stop throwing a tantrum, okay? Love you."

Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App

Latest chapter

  • The Lucky Charm That Never Blessed Me   Chapter 9

    From a distance, the ambulance sirens drew closer and closer.I picked up my suitcase, turned, and walked into the rain.Behind me, the silver token slipped from Luke's fingers, falling right back into the mud.I didn't look back.…The ward was dead quiet.Luke lay flat, hooked up to an IV.The nurse said that days of high fever combined with that downpour had spiraled into pneumonia. It took three days of continuous fluids just to break the fever.I didn't come to visit him. I came to settle the very last tab.Hearing footsteps, Luke forced his eyelids open. A flicker of light suddenly returned to his dull eyes. "Anna… you came."Without a word, I walked straight to the nightstand.He pushed himself up against the mattress, trying to reach for a cup of water.The straw was bent, and his hands shook so violently he couldn't align his mouth with the straw no matter how hard he tried.Almost out of pure instinct, I leaned over.It had been seven years.That warm glass of

  • The Lucky Charm That Never Blessed Me   Chapter 8

    Pointing to the wall, I said in the exact tone I'd use to ask for directions, "The photos in this booth feature my portrait without my consent. Please take them down."The staff member blinked in surprise.The last trace of light in Luke's face faded. "Anna, I—""I am not yours, so I shouldn't be up on your wall," I said.I didn't call him by his name.For seven years, I had called his name countless times, and even the "get out" I screamed during our worst fights still carried the warmth of his name.However, now, to me, he was reduced to nothing more than "this booth".His mouth hung open, but no sound came out of his throat.His hand instinctively pressed against his shirt pocket. Through the thin fabric, the outline of a small, round object was pressed hard against his chest.I walked right past that wall lined with my back, heading straight for the exit.Behind me came the soft clatter of photos being unhooked one by one. Their aluminum frames hit the floor.I didn't lo

  • The Lucky Charm That Never Blessed Me   Chapter 7

    I said, "Not a single event written in that journal ever came to pass. As for that medicine, I have even less use for it. The person who needs it has always been you."Luke opened his mouth, speechless.I continued, "Expired things are still expired, even when you bring them back."He lowered his head, staring at the journal he'd dug out of the trash and spent three days drying out.Then, he looked at the box of medicine he'd gone out of his way to buy for someone who had never had a stomachache in her life.It was as if he had finally understood something.It wasn't about money, but if he'd brought millions of dollars, I might have at least laughed it off.Instead, he brought back the very things I'd painstakingly built up, only for him to dismiss them so casually. Now, he'd gathered them all up, dried them off, and remembered every little detail.However, it was far too late.I turned and walked upstairs.The painter leaned out from her room. "Ma'am, who's the guy downstair

  • The Lucky Charm That Never Blessed Me   Chapter 6

    The message was riddled with a couple of typos.I didn't yell at Luke, nor did I call security. I just stared at that line of text for a long time before finally sending a reply. "The rain in Doveridge is nothing compared to that typhoon night in 2019. That rain was freezing."The moment my message was sent, the figure down below froze solid.Through the roar of the downpour and the blurred glass, I saw him lower his head to look at his phone. His shoulders trembled violently.It was as if Luke had finally decoded the meaning behind those numbers. I had spent three full hours standing in the rain that year.His knees buckled, and he sank straight into the mud puddle.Rain lashed against his back, but he didn't dodge, nor did he send a second message.I held my mug, the steam making my eyes sting just a little.I didn't open the door. I simply reached out, grabbed the heavy blackout curtains, and pulled them shut in front of him, blocking out the rain and the man outside complet

  • The Lucky Charm That Never Blessed Me   Chapter 5

    By the time the plane touched down in Doveridge, the sky had turned pitch-black.The wind whisked away the stifling heat of the cabin, along with the musty weight of the seven years I'd spent in that city.I popped out my old SIM card, snapped it in half, tossed it into the trash, and slipped in a brand-new number.…Days in Doveridge flew by.I took over the lease on a two-story house by Elkhaven Lake and turned it into a guesthouse.The previous owner had left behind a complete mess, so I bought paint to roll over the walls myself and headed to the market to get wholesale bedding. The heavy physical labor of hauling mattresses and washing duvet covers every day filled my days completely.Two weeks later, in the dead of night, a new voicemail appeared on my phone, which was set to block calls from unknown numbers.Luke had called from a brand-new number to bypass my block list.I tapped play.The background noise came first, with a deafening rumble of thunder followed by the

  • The Lucky Charm That Never Blessed Me   Chapter 4

    "Let's go," I said.I pulled our birth certificates from under the coffee table. "To City Hall."I had only been testing Luke, but to my surprise, he actually followed me there.The lobby was buzzing with noise.We sat down on the iron waiting chairs with two numbers ahead of ours.Luke sat beside me. His back was rigid as if awaiting a verdict.In five short minutes, he checked his phone 17 times. Even with the screen dark, his thumb mindlessly stroked the edge of the frame over and over again.I counted.On the 18th time, the screen lit up.A notification popped up on his lock screen. "The lights are broken again. It's so dark. I'm scared to be alone."It was accompanied by a pitch-black photo where nothing was visible except a faint glow filtering through the curtains.As if burned, Luke instantly flipped the phone face-down on his lap.Then, to cover it up, he reached out and grabbed my hand. His palm was slick with cold sweat, and his voice was unnaturally tender. "Ann

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status