Emergence Novel Chapter 09
“So, this time, I won’t believe you again.”
Later, I moved out of Lily’s place and used my writing income to buy a small house. I painted all the walls pink, filled my bedroom with stuffed animals, and made everything as colorful and whimsical as possible.
This time, no one would criticize me for it.
I stopped going home. Even during the holidays, I made excuses about working overtime and spent New Year’s alone in my little house.
Mom learned her lesson and truly stopped trying to push Damian and me back together. Though she could not help but lament. “Elara, do you think if I hadn’t interfered between you and Damian back then, would we be closer now?”
Sometimes, she even begged me. “Elara, please come see me just once. I absolutely won’t invite Damian this time.
She was getting old. I could hear the sincerity in her aging, raspy voice.
However, the hurt she caused me would not disappear just because she grew older. So, when she pleaded, I could only choose silence.
Later, I met someone wonderful. The day I posted about him on social media, the mutual friend who had once pleaded Damian’s case came to me again.
“Elara, this guy isn’t as handsome as Damian and he’s not as capable either. Why are your boyfriends getting worse and worse?”
“I still think Damian is your best choice.”
I smiled without saying anything and blocked that idiot. Maybe to outsiders, my new boyfriend was not as perfect
as Damian.
However, he loved every outfit I wore and encouraged me not to obsess over my body, to boldly wear whatever I wanted. He read my novels carefully and praised how well I wrote.
No matter what I did, he would gently pat my head with a warm smile.
“Our Elara is the best.”
After a difficult childhood, followed by ten terrible years, I finally met my redemption at 29.
The last time I saw Damian was when I brought my fiancé Ethan Rivers home,
Mom looked Ethan over and instinctively began. “He’s still not as good as Damian…”
Still, she glanced at me cautiously and finally shut her mouth. A thousand words turned into one sentence. “He’s
nice.”
While Ethan and Mom cooked dinner, I went downstairs for a walk and unexpectedly ran into Damian.
He looked much thinner, leaning against a streetlamp, smoking. The dim yellow light cast his lonely shadow, stretching it long and far.
I heard he was not doing well. After the fiasco at the “Undercover” meeting, his company lost the bid and Damian got fired.
Later, someone posted a video from that day online without audio, only showing him grabbing and pulling at me.
Damian was accused of harassing me. My fans tore into him verbally. His reputation was completely ruined and no production company dared to hire him.
He had no choice but to return to his hometown to lay low.
As expected, Damian called out to me. “Elara, long time no see.”
It was after work hours and people were coming and going everywhere. I knew Damian would not dare try anything, so I politely nodded. “Long time no see.”
Then came a long silence.
For lovers who dated for ten years to have nothing to say when they met again was rather absurd, was it not?
Yet between Damian and me, it seemed fitting. After all, we never had much common ground to begin with.
Finally, Damian spoke first. “I saw you and your fiancé. You two are well-matched.”