Chapter 4
Early the next morning, Lucas left.
Shortly after he left, I received a friend request on my phone.
Actually, I knew who it was just from the name.
But after hesitating for a few seconds, I still chose to accept it.
[My brother told me a lot about you. To be honest, if we hadn’t met under these circumstances, I would have liked to be friends with you. But there’s no helping it - there’s no room for a third person in a relationship. Luke and I are well-matched and have feelings for each other. We’ll definitely get married in the future. I don’t want things to get ugly, so why don’t you just leave on your own? It’s better for everyone.]
Before Lucas came home yesterday, I had already cleared out all the couple items in the house.
When Wendy sent her message, I was sorting through my own things.
Everything in the house related to me, things I had bought.
I took what I could carry and planned to throw away what I couldn’t.
Seeing that I hadn’t replied for a while, Wendy sent another message.
[You probably don’t know why Luke was so seriously ill back then, do you? It was actually because of me. I was young at the time, and after an argument with Luke, I angrily said we should break up and then went abroad. I only found out later that he had fallen seriously ill because of my departure and almost didn’t make it. I’m actually grateful to you for saving his life. I’m not saying this for any particular reason, just want you to know that what you thought was love might just be gratitude. Luke may have had feelings for you, but how much of it was actually love is hard to say.]
I couldn’t quite describe how I felt.
Since that night, my emotions had fallen into a state of numbness.
Following my instincts, I had taken back the high consultation fee from Rachel that I should have received years ago.
I had also warned myself that I must clear things up with Lucas as soon as possible.
Now, I learned the truth that had been delayed for years.
For a moment, I doubted whether the past few years of my life had been a dream.
I had no ill feelings towards Wendy.
Although her words were somewhat condescending, that was the confidence and assurance her family background gave her.
And she was just stating facts, not being malicious.
I was grateful to her.
At this moment, she urged me to make up my mind.
[I’ll be leaving soon. I wish you both happiness.]
After sending this message, I put down my phone.
After all, this was a place I had lived for years.
Afraid of leaving things behind that might cause misunderstandings for Wendy in the future, I packed very carefully.
Before leaving with my suitcase, I checked each room one last time.
Only after confirming that I hadn’t left anything related to me did I feel at ease to leave.
I didn’t expect to see Rachel at the airport.
“I thought you weren’t leaving for a few days. Have you talked things over with Lucas yet?”
Although Rachel was wearing a coat, it was clear she had on an evening gown underneath.
She must have rushed over from Wendy’s welcome party.
I briefly told Rachel about what had happened these past two days and what I had seen.
When she heard what Wendy had said to me, Rachel raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“I arranged that blind date for them purely to give you a reason to leave Lucas. To be honest, if I had to choose, I would still prefer you as my daughter-in-law.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that.
Rachel stepped forward and adjusted my collar.
“Take good care of yourself from now on. Love yourself first before loving others. If there’s anything you’re unsure about, you can always come to me. Most importantly, don’t fall in love with someone carelessly.”
I hadn’t shed a single tear these past few days.
But after Rachel said those words, my tears fell uncontrollably.
“Thank you, Rachel.”
Thank you for being able to consider things from my perspective as a mother.
After saying goodbye to Rachel, I found Lucas’s chat window.
I sent him the screenshots I had taken last night of his conversation with Wendy.
Then I sent a message:
[Let’s break up. I wish you both happiness.]