Reunion Is Difficult Chapter 09
I stopped in my tracks at the sight of that wilting bouquet of yellow roses.
I had only come back to grab some materials on a quick errand. I never expected Amanda to still be here
She looked at me, rubbed her eyes, and then suddenly rushed forward to embrace my cold body. Her words tumbled out in a frantic, incoherent rush.
“Leigh, I’m sorry. I found out the truth. Kevin manipulated me. I’m so sorry. Can we start over? I promise I’ll listen to you from now on.”
Her apology sounded so earnest.
Unfortunately, it had come far too late.
Watching her cry stirred nothing in me anymore.
“Amanda, how many times do I have to tell you? It’s over…”
Before I could finish, she suddenly collapsed in front of me.
After two days without food or water, combined with the overwhelming emotional strain, her body had finally given out.
I was stunned for a few seconds. Then, I quickly called an ambulance.
“She fainted from low blood sugar and emotional exhaustion. We’ve given her glucose through an IV. She’ll be fine after some rest,” the nurse said flatly.
I nodded. Then, I settled her medical bill and quietly left.
Amanda woke half an hour later with the IV needle still in the back of her hand.
The moment her memory returned, she shot upright and ripped out the needle.
“Where is Leigh? Leigh!”
Her eyes were bloodshot as she screamed.
The nurse merely shrugged. “He said he didn’t know you. He left.”
Those few words shattered Amanda’s last remaining hope.
She curled up like a child and sobbed uncontrollably.
After that day, she returned home in a daze.
When she saw Kevin again, the affection she had once shown him was gone.
She pulled away when he rushed forward to hug her.
Whenever he asked what had happened, she refused to answer.
When he kept pressing, she would snap, “Will you stop bothering me? Who do you think you are?”
Kevin was stunned.
Why was she treating him the way she had once treated me?
What had happened?
“Amanda, I know you’re devastated because you couldn’t find Leigh. But don’t worry. I’ll keep looking with you. Whether it takes one year, two, or even three, we’ll get through it together.”
Amanda coldly sent him the security footage.
Kevin had no idea what it was. The moment he watched it, all the color drained from his face.
“Amanda, this video is fake! Leigh set me up!”
Amanda gave a scornful laugh.
“Would you like me to make public the proof that you bribed the hospital to falsify your medical records? Or should I send everyone the footage of you framing Leigh? Kevin, you disgust me.”
Those words struck Kevin like a thunderbolt.
He could not bear it. His composure shattered completely.
“Amanda, I can explain. I only did that because I love you!”
“You love me?”
Amanda looked at him as though she had just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.
“Your love drove away the man I loved most. Your love is selfish and possessive, and I want no part of it.”
After a brief pause, Amanda delivered her final warning.
“Stay away from me from now on, or I’ll make sure no company in Arden ever hires you again.”
Kevin stared at her in shock.
He even forgot to cry.
It had never occurred to him that the woman who had always favored him could be so cruel to him.
From that day on, Amanda and Kevin cut all ties and never spoke again.
After our mutual friend gave me a vivid account of everything that had happened, she pulled out a custom-made diamond band ring.
It was worth hundreds of times more than the ring Amanda had once bought me with barely any thought.
“Leigh, Amanda truly knows she was wrong. She asked me to give this to you.”
I calmly shook my head and pushed the ring back toward her.
“Tell her, there’s no going back. I have permanent residency in Westmere now, and my parents have
moved here to be with me.”
“Besides…” I said, raising my hand to show her the small matching ring on my index finger, engraved with a tiny sun. “Someone already sees me as the light of her life. There is only enough room on this hand for one ring that matters.”
With that, I straightened the slightly disorganized research papers spread across the table.
The six-month biology research project had finally come to an end.
The institute awarded me a substantial bonus in recognition of my work. The amount was far more generous than I had expected.
“Coffee is on me. But from now on, I don’t want to hear anything more about Amanda. It’s over between
us.”
With that, I got up and made my way down the street.
At the end of the street, Anya was waiting for me by the newsstand.
A long-awaited ray of sunlight bathed her in its glow, making her look like a figure from an oil painting.
She grinned and waved at me.
I smiled back and ran toward her.
