Chapter 22
One day, my best friend, Rebecca Cooper, called me. “Alice! Did you hear? That bitch, Maisy, finally got what she deserved! I heard she’s been locked up in the Sharp residence’s basement, and now she looks like something straight out of a horror movie.
“Also, I heard that Daniel went to see Bradley. And after that, he never came back home. His wife didn’t even dare to call the cops. Word is, Bradley locked him up too, and he’s probably had his legs broken.
“Honestly, Bradley should just throw the whole family in there. Isn’t Daniel always going on about how they’re one big happy family? They’re all rotten anyway. Bradley might have done something right for once, but his sins outweigh any good he’s done.”
As I listened to Rebecca mention those people, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of melancholy. Whether it was Maisy or Daniel, they had long ceased to be family in my heart, so I no longer cared about anything related to them.
Maybe they’d forgotten all the hurt they’d caused, but I never would.
Those memories always seemed to come rushing back to me during the night.
I’d sometimes find myself wondering how things had gone so wrong. How had the people who were supposed to be closest to me turned into strangers?
For a while, Daniel had been into drinking. After every binge, he’d tell me how much he hated Mom and me. And when Mom had her accident, he didn’t even bother to come see her.
I supposed he cared about Maisy because she was the child of his beloved. And clearly, I wasn’t.
At that moment, my phone buzzed. It was Simon calling. I took a deep breath before answering.
I wasn’t sure when it started, but his calls and messages had become something I looked forward to. Every time I heard his calm, soothing voice, I felt a sense of peace.
“What are you doing, Serena? I developed some of the photos from our trip to the amusement park. Do you want to see them?”
I was surprised at how thoughtful he was.
I’d only casually mentioned that I didn’t have many photos, which was why I hadn’t made an album. And yet, he’d gone ahead and developed them for me. I felt touched.
“Sure, I’d love to see them,” I said.
On the other end of the line, I could hear Simon’s cheerful voice.
“Great! I’ll pick you up at 3:00 pm, and we can take a stroll by the beach afterward.”
Simon was a very punctual person. With just ten minutes left before 3:00 pm, he was already parked downstairs at my building.
“I figured you’d be waiting downstairs early, so I came a bit ahead of time,” he said casually, like it was no big deal.
My heart warmed at his understanding. I couldn’t help but marvel at how someone cared enough to put so much thought into the little things for me.
“Did I make you wait long?” I subconsciously started to care about his feelings.
“No, not at all,” he replied.
He carefully fastened my seatbelt, then handed me a box before signaling for me to open it.
It was a beautifully packaged gift box, wrapped in the deep green color I had always liked.
When I saw the album inside the box, my hands began to tremble Involuntarily.
As I flipped through the pages, I realized that every photo captured Simon’s perspective of me. I saw myself in ways I had never noticed before—sometimes frowning, other times Siniling
As I reached the later pages, I realized the album wasn’t just from our trip to the amusement park. There were also photos from when we’d met up before.
Seeing my stunned expression, Simon became a little embarrassed and quickly explained, “I thought it was a good angle, and I took it without asking. Sorry, Serena,” “It’s fine. I love it. Thank you, Simon,” I said.
