Chapter 14
I don’t know how much courage it took for me to say those words.
Elijah was my first love.
In middle school, he stood up for me.
In the first year, for reasons unknown, the girls in my class bullied me.
They hid my textbooks and notebooks, placed insects in my desk drawer, deliberately tripped me as I walked, and eventually escalated to pulling my hair, locking me in the restroom, and even beating me outside of school.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.
Five or six girls cornered me in an alley, punching and kicking me while I crouched on the ground, protecting my head.
Just as I was on the verge of losing consciousness, they suddenly stopped.
I was curious and managed to lift my head, my vision blurred. I saw a boy in a school uniform, it seemed to be Elijah, but I couldn’t be sure before I passed out.
When I woke up again, it was in the hospital.
Elijah was asleep beside my bed, and I felt a throbbing headache and intense thirst.
As I carefully moved, Elijah awoke.
Seeing me awake, he showed a hint of
surprise:
“Ashie, you’re awake.”
“As long as I’m here, no one will dare to bully you.”
When I returned to school, Elijah stood by my side and told the girls who had bullied
me:
“If any of you dare to bully Ashley again, you’re going to have to deal with me, Elijah!”
Elijah’s family was wealthy and influential, and everyone was afraid of him.
He protected me because my mother had worked as a maid in his family, and we had known each other since childhood.
Those days of being bullied were the darkest period of my life.
I didn’t dare to tell anyone.
I hoped for a light to shine on me, pulling me out of the darkness.
Eventually, that light came to me.
That was Elijah.
And so, I fell in love with him.
At that moment, when the taxi plunged into the water, I didn’t hesitate to push him out.
It was my way of repaying him.
Later, I often told him that if it weren’t for him, I might not have had the courage to
survive.
He would always change the subject:
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Thankfully, it’s all in the past.”
“You’ve come out of the darkness.”
I told him that I wanted to become an outstanding musical theater actress.
He supported me wholeheartedly.
But one day, he and Hallie suddenly told me they were together.
I was initially surprised and shocked but quickly composed myself and wished them well.
I thought Elijah would marry Hallie.
Unexpectedly, I ended up with the boy I had quietly cherished in my heart.
Yet we were not together out of true love, but because of his pity and guilt towards me.
What is the meaning of such a hollow marriage?
The atmosphere was suffocating.
Elijah was frozen, unable to believe the words I had just spoken.
“You heard.”