Chapter 24
1/2
Being in poorer health, Sebastian had to rest for quite a while before the negative reactions to being revived subsided.
While he rested, Cassandra patiently filled him in on everything that happened after he had been frozen.
“So, it was all a lie?” Sebastian questioned, his eyes wide and teary. “Keith wasn’t your boyfriend at all. You just hired him to fool me?”
With those large, wet eyes staring at her, for a brief moment, Cassandra felt guilty.
“Sebastian,” she began with a stern expression before she proceeded to chide him. “This all happened 50 years ago. Don’t tell me you’re petty enough to be mad about something that took place five decades ago.”
“50 years? It was yesterday!” Sebastian protested angrily.
Cassandra pulled out a calendar and pointed at the year, which was 2074. “What do you mean yesterday? It’s 2074, right now. Keith is probably dead by now. You should just forgive him.”
Sebastian was stupefied. What did Keith have to do with anything? It was Cassandra who hired Keith to trick him! Although he despised Keith for attempting to drive a wedge between him and Cassandra as well as insulting his parents, Cassandra was still the main culprit!
Glaring at Cassandra in vexation, he declared, “You’re a meanie, Cassie!”
Amused by his adorable display, Cassandra brushed her hand against his hair before saying with a placating smile, “Yes, you’re right. I’m a meanie, and you’re the most adorable person in the whole world, Seb.”
It was rather easy to win Sebastian over again. After all, Cassandra was the person he loved the most too. He couldn’t bear to be mad at her for long. Thus, following a brief period of disgruntlement, his anger soon subsided.
“Even though you’re mean, Cassie, you searched the world for me once you realized I was gone, and you even froze yourself to keep me company.”
Sebastian put his arm around Cassandra’s waist, and she leaned into his embrace. He could hear her heart beating strongly against his. Closing his eyes, he said, “You gave up on everything and chose me, Cassie.”
He didn’t have any parents or family members. He didn’t even have many friends. Cassandra was his only connection to the world.
However, it was different for Cassandra. She had her parents and her family around, but she chose to give up on all of them for him.
Before Sebastian underwent the procedure, he regretted never being someone’s most important choice. Even his mother had chosen to abandon him in her final moments.
But Cassandra had staked everything she had and chose to be with him above all else. She came running to him. No matter where he went, she would always hold onto him and never let go.
“I forgive you, Cassie,” Sebastian said as he lifted his head and kissed her on the cheek. “But you have to promise me you won’t lie to me ever again.”
Cassandra laughed, saying, “You kissed the wrong spot, baby.”
She cupped his face and kissed him.
She should’ve done it much earlier. When he first professed to her, she should’ve held him tightly and kissed him then. Unfortunately, she had been too big of a fool then. She couldn’t figure out the feelings she had kept hidden inside her heart that had been shackled by the norms of society.
50 years ago, Sebastian had laid inside the cryogenic chamber. She couldn’t reach out to touch him or kiss him. Now, after 50 years, she could finally kiss his lips.
After sharing a sweet moment, Sebastian asked, “How did you end up figuring things out, Cassie? Did the pain of losing me after I had been frozen make you realize your feelings?”
“Yes, but not entirely,” Cassandra replied with a laugh. “After leaving the research facility that day, I ran into a young man who was pursuing an older woman that he knew as well. It was his words that woke me up.”
“What did he say?” Sebastian asked curiously. “Can you tell me?”
Cassandra kissed him on the forehead before regaling the encounter she had with the young man 50 years ago.
Once she finished the story, she couldn’t help but remark, “It’s been 50 years. I wonder if that young man managed to win the heart of the woman he loved.”
The moment she finished speaking, the door to the lounge opened. In came a group of researchers who were accompanying an old man with a walking stick—the head researcher at the facility. Although he had a head full of graying hair, he looked rather sprightly.
“Ms. Yeager, this is Mr. Henry Upton, the head researcher here at the cryonic research facility,” one of the researchers introduced. “40 years ago, it was Mr. Upton who came up with the laser and steam simulation method that was used to revive you and Mr. Lowell.”
“Is that so?”
Cassandra came forward and shook Henry’s hand. “Thank you for reviving us.”
Smiling happily, Henry replied, “Thank you too, Ms. Yeager.”
“You’re thanking me?” Cassandra asked with a frown of puzzlement.
Chapter 24
2/2
Henry’s smile widened. He took out a tattered notebook from his briefcase before asking Cassandra, “Do you still remember me, Ms. Yeager?”
Upon seeing the notebook, Cassandra exclaimed in shock, “It’s you!”
“That’s right. It’s me,” Henry confirmed with a laugh. “I didn’t expect the world to be such a small place either. After graduating, the first job I got was at an international cryonics research facility that you funded, Ms. Yeager.”
Henry went on to explain that after seeing the message Cassandra left, the woman he loved was deeply touched. She overcame her emotional hurdle and chose to be with him.
Due to that, Henry had always felt grateful to Cassandra. He even brought his loved one to that park to look for Cassandra and thank her in person. Alas, despite making many trips to the park, they never saw Cassandra once.
He thought he would never get to see Cassandra again. However, after graduating from college, he ended up seeing Cassandra in her cryogenic chamber at the Galaxy Bay research facility.
The head researcher at the time filled Henry in on Cassandra and Sebastian’s story, and he was moved by it too. It felt like fate had wanted them to
reunite in this manner.
From that moment onward, he swore to find a safe method of cryonic revival to bring Cassandra and Sebastian back.
It was Cassandra’s words that allowed him and his loved one to have a happy ending, so it was now his turn to return the favor for Cassandra and
Sebastian.
“I reached retirement age a long time ago, but I held on a few more years so that I could witness your revivals myself,” Henry said with a smile. “Now that you two have been awakened, I have fulfilled my wish. I can now retire in peace and spend all my time with my wife.”
Fate worked in mysterious ways. Two couples, both consisting of a younger man and an older woman, ended up helping each other achieve their respective happy endings in a journey that spanned five decades.
Cassandra and Sebastian escorted Henry home. His wife, who was 83 years old, was sitting at the entrance with a cat in her lap as she waited for him to
come home.
Along the way, he also bought her some of her favorite chocolates.
Staring at the gray–haired couple whose love seemed as strong as it had ever been, Cassandra and Sebastian couldn’t resist holding each other’s hands as well.
“Cassie, will we be as happy as they are?”
“Of course. I swear to always make you happy.”
This was Cassandra’s promise to Sebastian, and she would never break it.
