Chapter 15
Nathen had a very long dream.
In the dream, he went back to when he was four years old, and a new family moved in next door. He met a younger sister who was three months younger than him.
He really liked this girl with a ponytail, who appeared calm and quiet, but in reality, she was a lively and energetic little girl.
She would pull him downstairs to swing on the swing, even if he tried his best, she would ask him to exert more force and say she wanted to fly to the sky.
She used to secretly buy a lot of snacks with her pocket money, and she would give him half, saying it was the best thing to eat in the world.
She would cause trouble and when the adults found out, she would bravely step forward and take responsibility for everything, even if it meant getting punished, she would never betray him.
He followed her every day, from the streets to the alleys, from being an ignorant child to a blossoming young man, from being good friends who promised to be together for a lifetime, to becoming a married couple walking hand in hand into marriage.
She once, without hesitation, sacrificed her future full of infinite possibilities for him.
He also, under the gaze of all his relatives and friends, made a vow to love only her for the rest of
his life.
Nathen thought this was the end.
After all, in all fictional stories, childhood sweethearts who have overcome countless difficulties.
and obstacles to finally become a couple, it’s just the end.
But the world he lived in was not a movie or a novel, it was a real world.
He was not an omnipotent protagonist, nor did he have a golden finger.
His life was still moving forward.
The church, filled with flowers and balloons, carrying blessings and love, turned into a besieged
city in the next second.
A plaque engraved with marriage, a cage hidden from the daylight.
The love and indulgence that he once thought would last a lifetime were slowly worn away in the day–to–day routine of life.
One thought extinguished, one thought born, a constant cycle of growth and decline.
The guilt and pain that tormented him, keeping him awake at night, grew and spread
1/4
uncontrollably within the deteriorating temperament of his beloved, and could no longer be
restrained.
He could not prevent the tragedy from happening, just like he could not prevent the death of
Melanie’s parents.
He couldn’t make Melanie recover her health, just like he couldn’t go back to the moment of the
accident and change the outcome.
His heart rotted slowly in the dark and damp reality, eventually turning into a pile of mud, no longer recognizable.
The story did not stop.
But the dream ended. Nathen opened his weary eyes and saw his mother right away.
He didn’t know if he had escaped from that hellish nightmare or where he was, he could only instinctively call out “mom“.
It was supposed to be a simple two–word phrase, but when he shouted it out, his throat felt like it
was being torn apart, causing him to grimace in pain.
And the usually loving mother, upon hearing his somewhat aggrieved voice, had no reaction at all.
She bent down, and Nathen saw her swollen eyes and the misty tears in between.
He heard her ask a question. “Did the police say that Melanie passed away? Is it true?”
Did Melanie pass away?
The little girl in his dream, the bride he promised to take care of for a lifetime, passed away?
Nathen was a bit confused and instinctively shook his head.
“I didn’t know, Mom.”
Upon hearing these words, Tara could no longer control her emotions. She grabbed her son’s hand,
tightly, her voice becoming sharp and piercing.
“You didn’t know, how could you not know? She is your wife, how dare you, how dare you say you
didn’t know…”
With a tearful tone of questioning, carrying along those temporarily forgotten memories, they all
rushed into Nathen’s mind.
He woke up.
Before he fainted, the despair and suffocating feeling that made him feel unbearable crawled all
over his body like ants.
2/4
Bit by bit, it consumed him.
He was acutely aware of the pain that came from his limbs, torso, and nerve endings.
