The Past Has Melted

The caregiver asked Elara Newman if there was anyone she would like to see for one last time.

As she stared at the withered sycamore tree through the window, she clung to her final shred of hope and dialed Orion Baron’s number.

When the call connected, she heard a flurry of noises that suggested the call had been answered by mistake.

Soon, she heard the anxious voices of her two children.

“Daddy, let's take a family picture with Aunt Cyrene after we eat the cake.”

“Sure.”

Elara felt a sharp throb in her heart and dropped the phone to the floor, causing it to break into pieces.

She was taken over by a boundless wave of despair. She felt as if she was drowning in the depths of the ocean as she closed her eyes and surrendered herself.

...

When she opened her eyes, she was twenty-seven years old again.

The first thing she did upon realizing she had been transported back in time was to draft the divorce papers.

Then, she took the drafted documents to her husband's unrequited lover, Cyrene Payton.

“I’ve decided to divorce Orion,” Elara announced calmly as she set the divorce papers on the table, “If you can get him to sign this, you can be the next Mrs. Baron.”

Evident by the flicker of shock in her eyes, Cyrene was quite taken aback by this.

“You’ve been married to him for seven years and even have two children with him. Are you sure you’re willing to call it quits?”

Elara immediately recalled her painful memories from her past life.

Then, she stated calmly, “Orion never managed to move on from you. Besides, the children like you more than me. You can all be happier if I leave.”

Around the same time, Elara’s phone rang.

As soon as she answered the call, she heard the sharp squeal of her children, Cliff Baron and Emilia Baron.

“Mommy, save us!”

“The scary uncle is going to kill us!”

It was immediately followed by the kidnapper’s abrupt, merciless shout, “I have your kids! If you want them to live, you better bring me ten million dollars, or else…”

“Go ahead and kill them.”

Elara hung up before the kidnapper could finish his sentence.

Cyrene's expression fell. “Wasn’t that Cliff and Emilia calling for help? Aren't you going to do anything to save them?”

Elara felt a chill run through her as she dismissed Cyrene. “It's just a prank.”

This was the same thing that happened in her past life.

In her past life, upon finding out that her children had been kidnapped, she tried to get in touch with Orion, who controlled the family’s finances.

When he would not pick up, she grew desperate and begged everyone she knew before finally managing to scrape together ten million dollars.

She drove to the designated location and even crashed into a guardrail on the way there, injuring her head in the process. Even when she was bleeding, the only thing on her mind was her children’s well-being.

All that just to find out that it was her children who had orchestrated the whole thing.

They did it so they could swindle ten million dollars from her to buy Cyrene a birthday present.

She was not going to be fooled again. With that, she picked up her bag and left.

Upon getting home, she threw away the scarves she had knitted for Orion and the children. They were meant to be their Christmas presents.

Her marriage with Orion was merely a strategic marriage.

The entire time, Orion could not move on from Cyrene, who was his first love.

Their families were in the midst of discussing marriage when Orion’s family found out that Cyrene’s family was involved in some seedy businesses.

After the inopportune discovery, they forced the couple to split.

After that, Cyrene went abroad while Orion fell into depression for half a year.

Eventually, he agreed to marry the daughter of the Newmans.

On their wedding day, Orion had told Elara quite bluntly, “Our marriage is nothing but a business decision. Other than the title of Mrs. Baron, there’s nothing else I can give you.”

At the time, Elara expressed that she was fine with it, but she still naïvely clung to hope.

She believed that with enough devotion, she could organically inspire some love into their loveless marriage.

She learned to make Orion's favorite food and took care to iron every shirt in his wardrobe. Over time, she remembered each one of his and their children's preferences.

Despite all her efforts, he never cared much for her other than when they slept together every week.

He never replied to her messages nor answered her calls. All in all, he never cared about her or anything to do with her.

When Cyrene returned to the country, he kept in touch with her. Over time, Cyrene started to grow closer to the children.

Now that Elara had a second chance at life, she vowed she was not going to waste her life away for a loveless marriage.

Then, she heard a steady round of footsteps behind her, soon accompanied by Orion's detached voice, “What are you doing?”