A lot of the things we thought we would never forget just sneakily slip our minds over time.
In Smile Hotel.
Shirley had been silent ever since they had come back from the hospital. She stood on the balcony, her
hand on the rails, looking into the distance. Everything seemed fuzzy under the flickering lights, which
troubled her mind even more.
At the sight of her sad figure in the night, Richie felt a spasm of ache in his heart. He didn't go over
there and comfort her, but he just stood there looking at her. His pain was no less than hers. It was just
that his pain was because of hers. He knew why she was sad but he still couldn't bring himself to
comfort her. He was afraid that words would only aggravate the pain that she was feeling.
Shirley pressed her lips as her mind raced. Her hands were clutching so hard on the rails that knuckles
turned white. Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to hold back her tears. She had always been optimistic
and hopeful. No one would have thought that she could also be trapped in the pain caused by the past.
Wing had been frail and sick ever since she was born, mainly because her biological mother had been
in poor health when she had been pregnant with Wing. But it was because Shirley accidentally made
Wing's biological mother trip that Wing was born premature. Shirley hadn't forgotten that even today. If
that hadn't happened then Wing wouldn't have suffered from leukemia; and maybe she wouldn't be
suffering from septicemia either after her leukemia had been cured.
Shirley's nose twitched. Her eyes watered. She widened her eyes and refused to let the tears fall by
trying not to blink as she bit furiously at her lower lip. She knew Richie was standing behind her and
watching her. She knew it would pain him to see her being sad. But she couldn't hide it any longer.
Today when the vice president of the hospital told Little Molly that Mark's disease was caused by
Molly's pregnancy, Shirley felt her heart twisted. She wouldn't let Mark become a second Wing! She
wouldn't!
Her lips trembled violently, her nose twitching. The past started to flash back into her head. She
recalled how she had washed the dishes in a dark alley with little Wing on her back. Wing had been
such a good little girl, so sweet and thoughtful. She had never made trouble for Shirley. Why couldn't
God just be good to her? Why did she have to suffer so much? She was so young.
And Little Molly. She just wanted a simple life. She just wanted to be with her family. Why did she have
to go through so many twists and turns in her life? Her original family was already broken. Why was
this happening to her son?
"Shirley..." Richie uttered quietly in a hoarse voice. He wrapped her in his arms from behind, his chin on
her head. "Don't be hard on yourself, okay?"
he reminded her. He blamed himself for her pain. She had suffered too much in the past for him. Even
if he gave her the whole world, it still wouldn't be enough. She always showed people her best side and
kept her pain to herself.
"Richie..."
"Yes, my darling,"
Shirley blinked and asked, "Will Mark be okay?"
"Of course, he will be," Richie said firmly. "Brian won't let anything happen to him."
There were tears in Shirley's eyes but she was smiling through the sadness. "Right, Brian will know
what to do. He won't let anything happen to Mark. He won't. He'll do anything for Mark. Mark will be fine
and he'll soon be back in school and he'll be healthy." The tears came running down her cheeks into
her mouth. She could taste the bitterness. "Mark will be fine," she repeated. "Wing, too. She'll be fine.
Both of them will be fine. They'll be okay. They will."
Richie listened to her mumble quietly. He closed his eyes and tightened his embrace. He knew she
hadn't gotten over the past. Although Wing wasn't her biological daughter, she had always felt guilty for
what happened to Wing. However, her love for the girl was beyond doubt. She loved her even more
than Brian. Because in those darkest five years, it was Wing who had been at her side, bringing her
comfort with her joyous demeanor.
The night sky had turned into an inky blackness, as if the sky was mourning with them. The pale new
moon had come out partially hiding behind the clouds.
Becky hadn't expected Eric would come to her apartment. When she came to get the door, she was
only wearing a silk nightgown. In the dim light her breasts were swinging slightly as she moved. The
nightgown set off her beautiful long neck. Her perfect clavicles could have made most men thirst after
her.
"Eric?" Becky said with a frown, one hand on the doorknob and the other on the door. Eric looked
extremely angry. She had never seen Eric like this and they had grown up together. She had even
spent more time with Eric than with Brian. He had loved her too at first but now eventually, they had
both fallen in love with Molly. As she thought of this, her eyes dimmed. "Eric, it's late. What are you
doing here?"
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Eric said, his voice clear and strong.
Becky had already moved out of the hotel since Brian had already broken up with her. Oddly enough,
she didn't leave A City and just bought an apartment and decided to stay.
"It's late. I don't think it's a good idea," Becky responded coolly. She hated men now ever since Brian
broke up with her.
Eric sneered. Against the light of the hall, he looked daunting.
His face was half lit and half dimmed. As Becky looked at him, she felt a chill run down her spine. 'Does
he know? No, he can't. That's impossible, ' she thought.
"Becky Yan," Eric said slowly in a low voice, staring at her terrified face, "come on, it's just you and
me." His face approached hers as he spoke. "Why do you even care what time it is, huh?"
Becky stepped back a little instinctively. Eric seldom called her by her full name, at least not in front of
her. He only did it when he was mad. "Eric, what do you want?"
"What do I want?" Eric pressed closer. Out of terror, she loosened her grip on the doorknob reflexively
and backed away farther. His eyes were as gloomy as the dark night. "I want to know what your heart's
made of. Becky Yan, how can you be so evil? How didn't I see that before?"
Becky's heart jumped as he spoke. She tried her best to pretend that she had no idea what he was
talking about but Eric kept advancing towards her. She kept stepping back until she knocked the floor
lamp over. The loud bang startled her.
"Eric, what exactly are you talking about?" Becky gasped. "Did you just come here to tell me all this?"
Her guilty eyes and defensive stance angered him even more. He stopped talking and it was
completely silent. He was seething. His hands had curled into fists so hard that his knuckles cracked
ringing through the quiet room. If Becky wasn't a woman and he hadn't known her since he was a child,
he would have hit her squarely on the face.
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