But after the call was connected, a female voice came from the other end, “Richie, there's a call for you.”

“I don't want to answer it. It's very annoying.”

Just a few numbers, but they become a sharp bone scraper.

I was in so much pain that blood was dripping from my eyes. I opened Richie's WhatsApp, [3.]

Memories came flooding back like a raging flood, making up that dark rainy night.

As I was performing outside, I accidentally broke my left leg. I called Richie and asked him to pick me up. I was prepared to be rejected, but unexpectedly he agreed.

I was nervous but could not help feeling happy. My heart, which had been floating in the air for some time, finally fell back to its original place, but was soon crushed by his own hands and scattered everywhere.

It was because on the way back, Richie received a call from Tiffany and learned that her dog was lost, so he left me behind without hesitation.

I stood on the deserted roadside, crying miserably.

As a result, I continued to send messages with trembling hands, [2.]

The message was sent, but just like my clown-like mumblings over the years, I would never get a response. Even in Richie's mouth, it was a heavy burden.

“Letha, can you put your focus on yourself?”

“You're suffocating me.”

“Letha, can you give me some freedom?”

Each sentence echoed in my mind like a spell. I pulled myself out of my memories and sent out the last message with red eyes, [1.]

Richie, I give up.

I left the hot air balloon base and returned home without even the energy to wash up. I just threw myself on the bed and fell asleep.

But I did not sleep well and my dreams were full of messy and chaotic scenes.

In the ward filled with the smell of disinfectant, the man said in a deep voice, “Let's be together.”

Sometimes it was that late night when I was panic-stricken and at a loss. I was struggling hard on the end of the phone and Richie said nonchalantly on the other end, “I don't want to answer it. I'm very annoyed.”

The scattered voice, like a lingering spell, trapped me.

I woke up in suffocating sadness and felt something cold on her cheek. As I raised my hand and touched it, I saw water stains on her fingertips and realized they were tears.

My throat was severely blocked and there was a lingering pain in his heart.

Suddenly the phone rang, bringing her back from her emotions.

It was my best friend, Reba Rollins, calling, “Letha, where are you? I'll be there in twenty minutes. Remember, room 805 is there, don’t go to the wrong place.”

I then remembered that I had recently talked to Reba about going abroad, so we made an appointment to have dinner that day.

I stood up hastily, “I'll leave now.”

Half an hour later, we met at the agreed hotel.

Reba ordered a table of dishes generously and teased me with a smile, “Come to think of it, you always insisted on Dr. Arnold before, how come you are willing to leave him now?”

That was how much I cared about Richie before, but it did not exist anymore.

I curled my lips and was about to speak when I was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. It was the director of the hospital.

“Ms. Forbes, why did not Richie come to work today?” He said anxiously, “He has an operation to perform this afternoon, but I can't find him now.”

My mind flashed with the scene from yesterday. 

I frowned slightly. Was Richie ignoring even his own patients for Tiffany?

I said, “Don't worry, I'll contact his friends and see.”

“Okay, okay, it must be done as soon as possible,” The director responded repeatedly.

After hanging up the phone, I planned to look for Richie's friends, but when I opened WhatsApp, I found a lot of unread messages. After reading them, I finally understood what was going on.

Richie had a fight with someone in the restaurant yesterday and was currently being detained by the police.

‘He really is willing to do anything for love,’ I thought sarcastically and called the director again, saying that Richie had something to do that day and had to take half a day off.

Then I said goodbye to Reba and hurried to the police station.

Perhaps he had a hard time at the police station last night. 

Richie, who had always been bright and handsome, looked a little embarrassed. The dark circles under his eyes and his messy clothes all showed what happened to him last night.

“Why didn't you answer the phone yesterday?” he asked.

My face was calm when I answered, “I went straight to bed after returning home yesterday without turning on my phone.” She paused for a moment and added, “After all, no one needs to contact me.”

Richie heard the sarcasm in my words and his expression became slightly unnatural.

He said nothing more.

I paid the bail and left with Richie.

After leaving the police station, Richie held me and said in a rare soft voice, “Don't think too much about what happened yesterday. Tiffany is my friend. I can't just ignore her if something happens to her.”

“Okay.” I nodded calmly.

Richie frowned, seemingly unconvinced, “That’s it?”

Ever since Tiffany returned to the US, I had made a fuss about that countless times. Richie could still explain to her at first, but gradually, he became impatient.

I looked down at the message on her phone. It turned out my visa was approved.

I felt a little relieved and looked up at him in confusion, “What else?” She paused and repeated with a smile, “You said, you are just helping a friend.”

Richie felt something strange in his heart, but he breathed a sigh of relief out of habit.

I have always been easy to coax. Even if he was angry, he could just soften his voice and say a few words to coax him. 

He thought it would be the same that time, so he did not need to spend too much energy.

He said, “That's good, let's go home.”

When we returned home, I opened her phone to check her flight tickets.

Richie came in from outside and asked, “What are you doing?” After saying that, he seemed to remember something, “By the way, it's our anniversary in a few days, is there anywhere you want to go?”

I paused.

I scanned the date on my phone and found it a little absurd. It turned out that he also knew their anniversary, but he never remembered it in the past seven years.

Even if I reminded him specifically, he would forget it again.

My eyes moved slightly and I said, “I want to take the ferry.”

That was not a big deal, so Richie agreed easily, “Okay, no problem.”

After he finished speaking, he looked at me, who had not moved for a long time. For some reason, I felt a vague fear in my heart, as if I might lose the person in front of me at any time.

He suppressed his inexplicable emotions and took out his mobile phone to book a ticket. “It happens to be Sunday, so I’ll buy the ticket now.”

Richie said and promised, “There won't be any more accidents this time.”

Yeah?

I raised my eyebrows but did not comment.

On the anniversary day, Richie accompanied me to the riverside, picked up tickets, went through security checks and queued up to board the ship... Everything went so smoothly that I was a little dazed.

She looked at the sparkling river in the distance and suddenly asked, “If Tiffany calls, can you refuse the call?”

Richie frowned, somewhat uneasy about my assumption, “It was all coincidence before, you don't have to target her like that.”

“What if?” I asked.

Just as I finished speaking, a shrill ringtone suddenly rang out. As if it was destined, it would always come at the last moment, with a proud and confident attitude and forcefully break in.

There was a lot of noise around, but it could not cover up the ringing sound.

I looked at the word ‘Tiff’ flashing on the screen and his emotions seemed to no longer be aroused.

But she still looked at Richie and whispered, “Richie, now you can tell me the answer.”

The last syllable unconsciously trembled slightly. Seven years of love came pouring in, tormenting my heart repeatedly. Even if I let go, I still wanted to struggle one last time.

Just one last time.

Richie looked unhappy. He hesitated for a long time while holding the phone and finally said, “She may have something urgent to do. Don't think too much about it.”

My throat seemed to be blocked by cotton and I could not make any sound.

I looked at Richie's unhesitating figure and felt that my last bit of dignity was ruthlessly smashed. 

The fragments on the ground were like countless twisted smiling faces, mocking me for overestimating my own abilities.

Half an hour later, I saw Tiffany's post. The caption read, [No need to say it, someone is in a hurry to meet my parents. So lovely.]

In the photo, Richie carefully and thoughtfully served food to Tiffany's parents, with an eager look on his face. He really looked like a son-in-law meeting the parents.

I closed the app, deleted Tiffany and sent Richie one last message, [0.]