All Chapters of The Turned-Over Umbrella: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Outside the hospital, the rain was coming down hard. A strong wind blew toward me when I opened my umbrella. The wind flipped the old umbrella over. I stood on the stairs and tried to flip it back. The umbrella’s rib sliced my finger, yet it was still not upright. Rainwater trickled down my shirt from the umbrella. Liam Anderson walked past me, holding his black umbrella. He was holding a cake box in his other hand. Lucian Sterling walked behind him, holding a huge bouquet of sunflowers. Both of them saw me and the broken umbrella in my hands, yet they walked up the stairs without stopping. Isla Brown was standing at the top of the stairs in her hospital gown. “Isla, why did you come down?” “I saw your car from the window, so I came down to see you a bit sooner.” Lucian hurried over and wrapped his jacket around Isla’s body. Liam tilted the umbrella to shield Isla, and his exposed shoulder was drenched from the rain. Last week, when I had a high fever, I called Liam.

The next morning, my grandmother gave me a video call. She told me that the town cultural center was in need of a dance teacher. The manager of the cultural center was her old friend’s son. After hearing that I had gotten an offer from a dance academy before, he wanted to hire me. “They say they’ll still evaluate if your technique is good enough. Esme, if you want the job, go for it. Otherwise, we can look for other things to do too.” My fingers clenched around my phone, and I did not say a word. I had not danced in six years. After my offer letter was torn apart, I buried my dance shoes in the deepest corner of my wardrobe. I did not even dare to listen to music because I was afraid that I would start dancing. My grandmother was laughing on the other end. “Esme, when you were young, you always danced in my garden. You’d spend the whole afternoon dancing. What do you think? Do you still have the passion?” “Yes.” After I ended the call, I took out my old dancing shoes. T

The third time Liam called me, his mother, Harriet Anderson, had already served the food. The call went straight to voicemail. He put his phone face-down on the table and smiled. “Esme must be stuck in traffic. Let’s eat first. I think she’ll arrive shortly.” His father, Dorian Anderson, did not pick up his fork as he glanced at Isla. “You told us that you’re bringing your girlfriend home, yet you brought her younger sister over?”Isla was holding a bowl as her face paled. Her voice was very soft. “Dorian, Harriet, please don’t misunderstand. Esme agreed to this. She takes pity on my poor health, and she’s letting Liam be my fake boyfriend. It’s my dying wish.” Harriet put down her spoon. “Did Esme really agree to this? Where is she then? Shouldn’t she tell us this personally?”Liam clenched his fists under the table. He had requested that I join dinner to clarify the situation, but I had slid the ring back to him and said that I would not be going. Liam thought I was

Liam rushed back with the ring in his hand. When he arrived at the house, my mother was peeling an apple for Isla. He charged into my bedroom and opened my closet. It was half-empty—the coat and sweaters I usually wore had disappeared. In the deepest corner of the closet, where a shoe box had been stuffed, only a dusty outline remained.He had seen my old dance shoes once. In the first year of our relationship, I took them out of the box and showed them to him. The tips of the shoes were extremely worn out. I had told him that I could not bear to throw them away. He opened the second drawer of my desk. The hair clips, pill box, and movie tickets were still there. Isla’s bucket list was still inside the drawer, yet the offer letter tucked in between the pages was gone. [I want to join a dance academy.]When he saw the tiny smiley face, pain shot through his heart. Hugo walked in and saw the half-empty closet. His face fell as he quickly turned around to rummage through the

On Monday morning, Liam accompanied my mother to the police station. After listening to the situation, the police officer pulled up the records and read through them. Then, he looked up at Liam and my mother. “She packed her own things and left with her ID. She was also the one who registered for a new bank card, right?” My mother nodded. The police officer closed the file. “She’s a legal adult who left on her own, so this doesn’t count as a missing person case. “Our records showed that she went online yesterday afternoon. That indicates that she’s fine. If it’s a family conflict, perhaps you should head home and think about why it happened.” After they left the police station, my mother was cursing as she walked down the stairs. She cursed me for being ungrateful and cruel. Liam listened quietly. He knew that I went online yesterday afternoon because he saw me leaving the group chat. The text messages that he sent me could not get through because I had blocked him. Aft