Sober Rebirth

“I will plead the case to Mr. Liddell. The Gordon family will also do its best to find a way out of this marriage agreement.”

Connor looked at the document in my hand and suddenly laughed. “Willow, were you trying to beg your father to make me marry you? He must have made you come out here because he’s so troubled right now.

“Go inside. Once I make sure Wendy is safe, I’ll marry you as agreed. You no longer have to worry about this matter.”

After saying this, Connor turned to look at me tenderly and patted the back of my hand gently.

He behaved just as he had when he was a boy.

Perhaps he may have liked me as we grew up together.

However, after living through everything in the previous timeline, I knew that he truly loved Wendy.

We would inevitably torment each other and run into bad ends.

“You don’t have to worry about me.” I moved away from his touch.

Connor frowned and grabbed the document from me to take a peek.

“What are you talking about, Willow? Haven’t I worried about you plenty growing up?”

That was true. Our mothers had arranged for us to marry in the future. Thus, we grew up together.

After my mother died, I relied on him more and more.

But it was long past time that I woke up from my daydreams.

I pushed his hand away and took the marriage agreement away. “We’re all grown up now, Connor. This time, we’ll all get what we want.”

“What are you talking about? The marriage agreement is set in stone. Who else would you marry?”

I looked at him silently.

In this timeline, I would be the one to leave. Thus, Connor would not die in that horrible flood.

Even though I knew that everything in the previous timeline would only end in pain and heartbreak, the love and trust I felt for Connor was not so easily vanquished.

In the end, I could not withstand the heat of the day and fainted.

Before I fully lost consciousness, I saw Connor worriedly pull me into his embrace.

When I woke up, I smelled the hospital’s disinfectants.

Connor was sleeping in a chair beside the bed. A hand rested on the corner of my blanket.

As I looked at him in that state, I would have believed that he really loved me, too, if not for his last words in the previous timeline.

As if he could sense that I had woken up, Connor quickly awakened as well. He frowned and asked, “What’s the matter with you? I was just telling you to chill out, and you fainted from the heat. Don’t you know your body’s always been weak?”

“Connor.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember the amusement park we always went to as children?”

“Of course. The first time you got on the carousel, you even cried. You only stopped bawling after I bought you some candy.”

I looked at him and smiled. “Take me there one more time, please?”

Connor looked a little displeased. “Why are you talking like that? We can go as many times as you want after we get married in the future.”

‘There’s no more future for us,’ I told myself. But I did not say that out loud.

Surely it would be a huge surprise to him when Wendy marries him.

“Let’s go this evening. I feel fine now.”

“Alright, just this once. After that, I still need to deal with that marriage agreement between your family and the mafia in Hurac.”

Connor did not stay long. He returned to the office to handle some matters after making arrangements to meet me at the entrance of the amusement park.

I went back to my apartment to pack up some things.

After my mother died, Dad took Wendy and her mother to Lidell Manor. I moved out.

Before Wendy showed up, Connor would make me a carved figurine every year for my birthday.

These figurines came in various shapes. One was a dog I used to own, and some others were delicate bouquets of flowers. There was even one of my mother and myself.

This only lasted until my eighteenth birthday, when Wendy was taken in.

From then on, the figurines went to Wendy. The gifts I got were half-hearted things his assistant bought.

I kept the figurine of my mother and myself on my person. The rest were shipped off.

After it was all done, I stood at the rendezvous and waited for Connor.

But even after all the lights were turned off at the amusement park, Connor still did not show up. There were also no messages or calls on my phone.

It started to rain, but I did not have an umbrella with me. I also did not have a driver to pick me up.

The rain soaked my clothes and drenched my hair. As it did, I recalled the flood of the previous timeline.

My heart clenched painfully.

I took one last look at the amusement park behind me, the place where Connor and I had shared so many happy memories.

‘Goodbye, Connor. I hope we never see each other again. I hope you’re happy in this life,’ I thought.

Before I even turned to go, something hit me hard from behind.