Chapter 2
My boyfriend died five years ago.
The blood stained his brown sweater, and there was a big hole in his head.
I accompanied him to the hospital. Then I watched him being rescued, watched him covered with a white cloth and pushed out, and watched him turn into a handful of white ashes. Then I watched him buried in a grave.
But now, everyone was telling me.
Brian didn't die.
"How could he not die?"
"I am the driver who caused his car accident!"
Troy found me.
There was a ring on the middle finger of his left hand, which had the same design as the one on my hand.
The sunlight shone on his face from the glass window of the cafe. His skin was so delicate and flawless.
To be honest, I fancied his face.
His face was the same as Brian's.
The only difference was that there was a small mole on Troy's face.
"Elaina, Brian never had a car accident. He went abroad five years ago, and he came back recently. Did you forget that?"
"How could he have gone abroad?" I was confused.
"You promised to be my girlfriend at that time, and he wanted to help us."
"No, that's not right!" I was even more confused, asking, "Five years ago, I was Brian's girlfriend. I have only agreed to be with you since last month."
Troy stopped talking. The moving light and shadow cast a beam of dim and unclear light on his face.
He held my hand and said, "Elaina, you have always loved me."
The doctor said I was too tired.
Many people were anxious as their wedding day approached.
I had been suffering from insomnia and mental exhaustion for a long time. Coupled with anxiety, I had a little hallucination.
I found it a bit ridiculous.
"How come such ingrained and vivid memories turn out to be hallucinations?"
Troy took me home.
It was our wedding house.
The room was warm yellow, which was my favorite. With large floor-to-ceiling windows, there was a blue lake outside. Shimmering in the sunset, the lake was sparkling.
I once told Brian that I wanted to have a house where we could see a lake in the future.
I would fill the balcony with my favorite flowers and make the green ivy flourish along the wall. I would also raise a cute cat.
But...
I betrayed Brian.
Everyone told me that it was an illusion.
Putting one of his arms around my waist, Troy rested his face on my shoulder and comforted me,
"Elaina, don't feel pressured. After we get married, we will still be ourselves. I will treat you even better than before."
I nodded.
He kissed my face and said, "Elaina, we are engaged. Don't leave tonight, okay?"
At night, Troy quietly lay beside me.
I touched his face, wondering if I were looking at Troy or Brian.
The wind was strong at night. The curtains on both sides of the French windows were blowing up and down.
Troy hugged me from behind.
"Elaina, you are mine."
"Why do I remember that I used to be with you?"
When we were shopping, we ran into Brian.
We went to a cafe. When we were in school, we visited there often and had coffee there.
Hearing this, Brian burst into laughter and said, "Elaina, do you want to have both of us?"
Hearing his words, I found it funny and said, "But that's how I remember it."
Brian looked at the clouds outside the window and spoke with a distant voice, "I did pursue you before. Troy also likes you. It's quite a coincidence that the two brothers not only look alike but also have the same preferences in terms of women."
He took a sip of coffee, saying, "But you rejected me."
"You did it neatly and tidily. I was sad for a long time at that time. Then I went abroad.
What he said was the same as what Troy had told me.
Brian asked curiously, "Hey, you said you had once dated me. What else do you remember?"
I looked out of the window. The autumn scene in Pennsylvania was beautiful. Leaves were lush on the trees, barely showing signs of yellowing. As the sun set in the west, it emitted a beam of orange-red light through the clouds.
I squinted my eyes and smiled, saying, "I killed you!"
Chapter 3
I sent Brian home.
The streetlights were dim, and it was raining heavily outside, making my vision blurry.
When I was around the corner, a straight truck came crashing towards me. To avoid the truck, I turned the steering wheel sharply. Unexpectedly, the one sitting on the passenger seat was exposed to the danger.
There was a loud sound ringing out. "Bang."
The car was hit and thrown out.
The wind and rain continued to battle outside.
The sound of sirens and ambulances echoed through the sky.
I saw Brian. Covered in blood, he was lifted into the ambulance. I followed from behind unsteadily.
The surgical light went out. Brian, covered in a white sheet, was pushed out.
Before I could even look at him, I was handcuffed.
"Miss Elaina, you are suspected of drunk driving and driving exceeding the limit. Now please come with us for an investigation!"
A bolt of lightning struck down, illuminating the endless night sky, followed by a burst of deafening thunder.
I sat up in bed, startled.
Fine beads of sweat trickled down my chin and dropped onto the bed.
"Well, it is just a dream!"
The next day...
Troy listened quietly to my narration and burst into laughter.
"Elaina, if you were suspected of drunk driving and causing someone's death, you would still be in prison. How can you be leisurely drinking coffee with me at Starbucks? Besides, didn't you see Brian before?"
I took a deep breath and gently stirred the black coffee, saying, "Your words make sense."
"But it is too real."
Troy comforted me, saying that I shouldn't think too much. He suggested, "Why don't you move in with me first? After all, we will be getting married soon."
I smiled and said, "Well, no, I don't want you to get bored with me before the marriage."
Troy didn't insist anymore.
After parting with Troy, I planned to drive to the studio. Suddenly, I found that Brian's wallet was in my car, so I called Brian.
"I wonder why I couldn't find it. Elaina, is it convenient for you to head to my house now? I'm also heading there."
"Yes, it's convenient. I'll come over now."
After about twenty minutes, I arrived at the downstairs of Brian's house.
He hadn't arrived yet. I was bored waiting for a while, so I opened the wallet curiously and checked inside.
There wasn't much cash inside, but there were many bank cards. In the left photo holder, there was a photo of him when he graduated from college. With colorful balloons floating in the air and a group of white doves behind him, he was holding a bouquet.
He looked so youthful in the photo.
I smiled and found a corner protruding behind the photo. I carefully took something out. It turned out to be a photo of him and me together.
"It is just..."
"Why are we kissing in the photo?"
17
My hand started shaking.
The two people in the photo were wearing necklaces for a couple, one in the shape of the sun and the other in the shape of the moon. Once they were fitting together, they formed a circle perfectly.
Something seemed to have come to light in my mind.
That day was the day of Brian's graduation. I bought a bouquet to celebrate his becoming an adult. Countless colorful balloons were floating in the playground. White doves were soaring in the air. I threw myself into his arms.
"Brian, congratulations on taking another step towards marrying me!"
Brian smiled brightly and naively. Kissing my lips, he lowered his head.
This photo was captured and properly put in Brian's wallet without my knowledge.
Sure enough...
I quickly pushed open the car door and ran to Brian's house.
At the sight of a password lock, I entered a string of numbers based on my memory of our birthdays. With a beep, the door opened.
I saw the familiar shoe cabinet, the familiar living room, and the familiar wool blanket. Everything looked just like what they were in my memory.
I turned around, ran into the bedroom, and opened the wardrobe. Then I saw a cotton nightgown hanging inside.
It was mine.
The flowers on the bedside were blooming. The floor-ceiling gauze curtains were cut and sewn by me.
Even the cloth dolls on the tatami were the ones I grabbed from a claw machine.
Everything here was closely related to me.
"Elaina..."
A voice came from behind.
I turned around. Brian was standing behind me. His coffee-colored windbreaker hung down to his calves. He stood tall and up straight. His bangs were slightly messy. He seemed to have rushed here.
I walked over and unbuttoned his collar.
A silver necklace in the shape of a sun hung on his beautiful collarbone.
Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes as I tightly grabbed onto his collar.
"You are my Brian!"