All But a Dream

Claudia listened to Fione's incessant insults and began to shut her eyes.

When Fione failed to draw the agonizing reaction she was looking for, she could no longer keep up the ridicule and smug tone in her voice.

She became upset and raised her hand to hit Claudia. Moments before that, she caught a glimpse of Brett who was approaching them.

A sharp, wrathful look flashed in her eyes. She suddenly tilted her body and made herself fall!

Everything happened so quickly.

Before Claudia even had time to react, Fione was already shrieking and tumbling down the stairs.

She was horrified and immediately looked down the stairs to inspect. Unsurprisingly, Brett was completely beside himself and was charging toward their direction.

“Fione!”

Fione’s complexion was very pale. She pressed herself into Brett’s arm and her forehead was drenched in sweat because of the excruciating pain.

She began by trying to defend Claudia but at the same time sounded like she was accusing her.

“Honey, it’s not Claudia’s fault, she’s having a hard time getting over her husband’s death. I’ll be fine…”

“I didn’t—”

Claudia wanted to defend herself but her sentence was cut off as soon as she spoke.

Brett was completely enraged when he heard Fione holding back the pain in her voice.

He began to lash out without even thinking about it.

“Claudia, you have no right to take out your anger on someone else just because your husband died! Don’t forget that unlike you, Fione has a husband to protect her!”

With that, he carried Fione in his arms and turned away without even sparing another glance at Claudia.

Claudia felt like someone had stabbed her in the heart when she looked at the pair leaving.

There was a phantom pain that remained with her the entire time even after Brett walked away.

The pain was agonizing. She tightly held her chest with her hand until she cried.

Unlike her, Fione has a husband to protect her. How ridiculous!

Brett, you of all people should know whose husband you are.

Finally, she went home by herself. There were only three days to go until her eventual departure.

Instead of staying at home, she went to the places she used to go with Brett when they were still in love.

On the first day, she went to the Lover's Bridge.

There was a saying that couples who hung their lockets together on the Lover's Bridge would be fated to be together forever. This was the place they visited when they were at the height of their “passion” for each other.

It had been so many years ago. When she arrived at the bridge, the railing was completely covered in countless lockets.

She walked to the center of the Lover's Bridge and immediately spotted the locket they put here years ago.

She could still make out the crooked words etched on its face.

[Brett and Claudia. Together Forever!]

At the time, Brett held her hand to scribble those words. He had always been praised for having good handwriting but because he was not used to writing while holding someone else’s hand, it had turned out rather messy.

Claudia teased him about it for a long time after that.

His ear was beet red when he was writing it and he expressed in an uncharacteristically flustered voice, “Claudia, I can’t write properly because you’re all I’m thinking about now! You’ll have to pay for this.”

Then, he kissed her.

Claudia felt her eyes welling up with tears as she reached for the lock with a key and unlocked it. After that, she tossed it off the edge of the cliff, and with that, it was gone forever.

'Brett, you sure are a wonderful actor.

'I never knew you were so gifted at acting, so much to the point where you had me falling madly in love with you. This entire time, you had devoted yourself to Fione instead.'