Chapter 93
After their meal, Kendric offered to walk her home.
Celeste waved him off, “no, thanks.”
“You sure you’ll be fine?”
“Do you have other plans?” Celeste asked.
“How about having a walk with me?”
Celeste agreed. She had some words for him, too.
The summer evening breeze brushed lightly against them. Willow trees by
the river swayed gracefully, their branches skimming the water’s surface.
“You really don’t have to put on heart what they said,” he said.
Celeste tentatively asked, “are you… trying to comfort me?”
The moment this thought slipped out, Celeste couldn’t help but find it
amusing.
“Forget it… How could that even be possible…”
“Yes,” he said. His eyes glinted even more than the lake.
“I was trying to comfort you.”
Celeste’s heart skipped a beat. In his eyes, she seemed to have seen a star–studded sky.
She remembered her father’s advice- a man who truly loves you has no way to feign indifference because love can’t be hide. Real affection should be tender. When his gaze rested upon you, you’ll feel like gaining the whole world.
Celeste had thought Kendric would never understand what tenderness
meant. Not until tonight did she realize – it only depends on whether he wants
or not.
But his tenderness came too late, when they had parted ways, when their
relationship had settled into dust.
Under the moonlight, he said, “I love you.”
It felt like a powerful electric current struck on her heart. But rationality
kept reminding her of her initial determination to leave.
“Kendric, I insisted on breaking up with you… aside from the harsh
treatment I gained from your family, there was another reason.”
“What was it?”
Celeste had never imagined that one day she would be calmly discussing these matters with Kendric.
“The second reason is that all the time, I never felt like you loved me.”
“Actually, it wasn’t always like this. At least at first, we had happy times together.”
“Do you remember the first winter I spent at your home… Because I had never seen snow where I grew up, I kept looking forward to experiencing the first snowfall with you.”
A bitter smile played on her lips. “But that year, it just didn’t snow. You saw how anxious I was waiting for it, so you took me to Norway. We built snowmen and had snowball fights. You even taught me how to ski.”
“Kendric, those days were so good and sweet that I kept loving you all these
years.”
“Later, as you took charge of your family business, your ambitions grew, and the time we could spend together became less and less.”
“You know the longest we’ve gone without seeing each other in these eight
years?”
Kendric furrowed his brow deeply. “How long?”
“Six months and eight days.”
“Kendric, I have started considering this breaking up three years ago.”
“You were like a toxin flowing through my body. It took me whole three
years to remove you from my bones, my blood, my veins, from every part of
- me.
“I took three years to make this decision, so Kendric…
“It won’t be changed by a few of your actions now. Even now, your glances or certain gestures might still move me, but deep down, I know that forgetting
you is my way out. Leaving you is the only path to my true self.”
Kendric hung his head down. He was drown deep in self–doubt.
“Did I truly neglect you to that point before?”
“You didn’t neglect me on purpose. But because you didn’t value me, others treated me with disrespect.”
A myriad of words were in his throat, yet he couldn’t voice a single one. I’m sorry,” he finally managed to say.
Celeste shook her head. “There’s no need to apologize. It’s just I’m not that
important in your heart.”
“No!” he protested. “You mean more to me than both of us thought.”
“I couldn’t feel it, Kendric. You can work tirelessly, strategizing against
opponents day and night. You can personally interview candidates to invite them join your company. You can spend a whole year in Europe expanding the
international market. Yet, you never tried to understand what was going on in
my mind.”
“Love should be based on efforts from both sides. With only my efforts, our,
relationship is like a river without a source, bound to run dry sooner or later,”
she concluded.
Kendric was exuding heavy sadness.
“I… I will make changes,” he said.
“It’s too late. I’ve decided to study abroad. We won’t be together anymore.”
“You’re really going abroad?”
“Yeah, I’ve done all the procedures. I won’t change my mind, so… there’s no need for us to meet again in the future,” she added.
This clearly wasn’t the outcome Kendric desired, but whatever he said now wouldn’t make a difference.
“When are you leaving?”
“Next Saturday.”
The night was quiet. When Celeste returned home and switched on the
Chapter43
lights, she found her father sitting in the living room, arms folded.
Celeste clutched her chest, her heart having almost leaped out due to the scare. “Dad, you scared me! Why didn’t you turn on the lights?”
“Where did you go?”
Celeste took off her shoes, “to attend the classmate gathering. Didn’t I tell
you when I left this afternoon?”
“Liar!”
The snarl scared her to drop her slippers to the floor. “Dad, can you please
keep your voice down?”
Myles lowered his voice. “Della came looking for you tonight. She said you
left with Kendric. Where did you go?”
“Okay, yeah. They were trying to tease at me, so I just left.”
“You could have come home directly. What does that have to do with
Kendric Melville?” he questioned.
“He happened to be staying at that hotel. It was just a coincidence.”
Myles scrutinized her, wearing an expression that said ‘I know you’re lying.”
She cleared her throat. “Tonight, I had a thorough talk with him.”
“What did you talk about then?”
“I told him not to bother me anymore.”
Myles’s expression softened a bit. “Come here.”
Chapter93
“Dad, I’ve made it all clear to him. You can relax.”
Myles sighed. “This marriage might be a fault from the start. The main
issue between you and Kendric lies in huge gap of social status.”
“Dad, when did you become a love expert?”
“Be serious,” he scolded.
Celeste took her seat. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“If you still genuinely love him…” he started.
She cut him off immediately. “Dad, please, no ‘ifs‘ about it.”
Myles didn’t bother to argue. Whether she was deceiving herself or not, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as she was not trying to come back to that jerk.
“Anyway, Cely, you must become independent and strong. You should start your own career.”
J3
Celeste seriously promised, “I will work hard and focus on my studies.”
