Grave of the Mafia’s Love Chapter 02
The crowd laughed awkwardly.
“It’s all right, Mr. Vance. You’ve forgotten; that’s only natural.”
After the event, Julian walked Helen to her car.
Helen was a little tipsy as she looked at him with a complex expression.
She sighed. “Don’t be mad at Sylvia. It’s all my fault. I’m really sorry.”
Julian’s hands were clenched so tightly around the car door that his knuckles had turned white.
After a moment, he smiled and said, “You’re kind, and that as long as she never shows up in front of me, I won’t seek revenge.”
I stood there quietly watching it all unfold.
Just as you wished, Julian, I could no longer appear before you.
Three years ago, I was diagnosed with leukemia, and at the time, I was all alone.
I returned to the house where I grew up and found that my mother had already moved out. A young couple lived there then, and the swing in the garden—my favorite as a child—was gone. I had practically nothing left.
Standing in the rain, my sobs were louder than the downpour.
That was the first time I’d called Julian in the seven years since I graduated; by then, he had already made a name for himself and was well-known in both the underworld and the financial world.
“Can you lend me one hundred thousand dollars? Just because I used to help you with your homework.”
Julian’s voice was cold:
“My father is in the ICU, and the medical bills are running up to ten thousand dollars a day. If you were in there too, I’d pay the same amount for you.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks. “I’ll be in it, Julian. I’m going to die.”
No one answered. He had hung up a few seconds earlier.
I thought we’d never cross paths again. But the very next day, while I was handing out flyers, I suddenly fainted and fell right into his arms.
He immediately caught me and even pulled out a checkbook to compensate me.
Then he saw my face.
“It’s you,” he said, his expression turning fierce. “You never give up, do you? Waiting here on purpose?”
He yanked his hand away suddenly, and I fell hard onto the asphalt; the melted tar burned my arm, blistering the skin.
My consciousness began to fade, and I slowly blinked my eyes.
Julian raised his hand, and green dollar bills rained down like ribbons, cutting into my skin.
“That should be enough to buy a decent urn. Like you said, go ahead and die.”
That money would have been enough to buy ten urns.
So I used only a small portion of it; I gave the rest to Helen. Perhaps out of guilt, or a sense of atonement, she stayed by my side the entire time I was in hospital.
“Give it to Julian. I don’t want to owe him too much.”
Those were my final words while I was still alive.
Now, I was a ghost.
“Don’t be like that, Julian. I hope you’ll go see her. She’s truly unfortunate and very lonely.” Tears welled up in Helen’s eyes.
She took out a piece of paper and wrote the address on it.
Julian glanced at it but didn’t reach out.
He smiled and said, “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
