They had once been so close. Now, other people could get through to her, could speak with her, while he was blacklisted.

’Was this how it worked? The more you loved someone in the past, the more you hated them now? The gentler you were before, the more heartless you became?’

He couldn’t accept giving up just like that. He couldn’t bear to give up on the woman he’d loved for more than twenty years.

The call connected. Leona Grant anxiously opened his mouth to speak, but he’d only managed to get out the first syllable of her surname, "Lin—" before the line went dead.

When he tried calling back, he found he’d been blacklisted.

Leona Grant suddenly remembered a time he’d been working while sick with a fever. Annabelle Linton had called him over and over again, just like this, and he had blacklisted her, just like this. ’She must have been heartbroken, wasn’t she?’

Leona Grant returned the phone to its owner and started walking forward, numb.

He walked for a short while before spinning around and sprinting back toward the hotel.

’No, I have to take Annabelle Linton away. I have to take her with me. She can’t marry another man. She can’t, she can’t!’

Leona Grant ran frantically toward the hotel, but a car came speeding toward him. He couldn’t dodge in time and was sent flying by the impact.

He collapsed in a pool of his own blood. Lying face-up, he watched the raindrops fall one by one. In his daze, he seemed to see a brilliant blue sky, fluffy white clouds, and the innocent Annabelle Linton...

A seven-year-old Annabelle Linton ran toward him, a small bookbag on her back and a wide smile on her face. "Leona, I heard a joke today that made me laugh for so, so long! I wanted you to be the first one to hear it."

"Alright, what’s the joke?"

"Once upon a time, there were two friends named Glee and Hardy. One day, Hardy died, so Glee said, ’Hardy’s dead! Hardy’s dead! Har, har...’"

"Haha, that’s pretty funny. Who told it to you?"

"It was Bonnie..."

"..."

"Hey? Leona, where are you going? Don’t go! You’re supposed to draw with me later!"

He stalked out, his face dark.

A twelve-year-old Annabelle Linton sat alone in a corner, her eyes red and puffy.

"Hey, little one, what’s wrong?"

"Leona, I don’t have a mom... Just like my little brother, I don’t have a mom. My stepmom... she hit me..."

"Let’s go. I’ll get revenge for you!"

He took her by her small hand and went to confront them.

A fifteen-year-old Annabelle Linton ran after him, clutching a piece of his clothing, tears welling in her eyes. "Leona, believe me or not, I didn’t frame Vivian for cheating on the exam! She asked me to bring her pencil case over. I swear I don’t know who put the cheat sheet in there, and I didn’t know that if the principal found out, she’d get expelled..."

He stared at her, his face a mask of disappointment. "If it wasn’t you, then who was it? You were the only one who touched that pencil case. The security camera caught you opening it, and your fingerprints are on the cheat sheet. You’re still going to lie about it? You’re disgusting!"

"It wasn’t me! It really wasn’t! I was just helping her check if her pens were working. There was nothing in there then, I swear! Leona, you have to believe me!"

"Caught red-handed and you’re still making excuses? Hah. Annabelle Linton, I see right through you. Get out of my sight. I won’t tell anyone about this, but if there’s a next time, I won’t let you off so easily."

He spat the words out viciously, shook Annabelle Linton off, and walked away. Annabelle collapsed to the ground, crying for a long, long time.

Vivian Yates’s plan to kill two birds with one stone...

The next time an eighteen-year-old Annabelle Linton saw him was in Albion.

"Leona, I didn’t push Vivian! Someone else just pushed her into the river!"

By then, his disappointment in her had hardened into numbness. He refused to listen to another word she said and left her standing there.