“I told you I couldn’t eat it. But if I didn’t, you would’ve been angry,” I said, my voice trembling.
Mitchell’s expression only darkened further.
“Was this intentional? Are you trying to punish me? To make me feel guilty?”
Had I insisted on eating it? Mitchell’s memory was failing him.
Frightened, I shook my head, unsure what I had done wrong but knowing I had to admit fault.
“It’s my fault, Mitchell, but I didn’t do it intentionally. Please, don’t be mad.”
“You little…”
He stared at me, drawing in a sharp breath, before pulling Maggie along and leaving in a huff. He didn’t come to see me again.
–
Two days later, a nurse came to ask me about the medical bill.
Uneasy, I opened my phone to check the balance, only to find it down to a single digit.
“Could I call someone from home?” I asked hesitantly.
The nurse raised an eyebrow but nodded. “Go ahead.”
Mitchell didn’t answer my calls. I tried again and again, but he remained unreachable. The nurse grew impatient.
“What about the bill?” she pressed.
“I’ll pay it,” I replied, flushing with embarrassment under her skeptical gaze.
Another day passed with no word from Mitchell. The nurse returned, her tone sharper.
“You’re not planning to skip out on paying, are you? You’re an adult. Can’t you get in touch with anyone? Do you want me to call the police?”
“I-I…” I stammered, searching for words. “I can leave something as collateral and bring the money later to settle the bill.”
The necklace around my neck was my mother’s final gift to me. Left to me during her last moments, it had been my anchor through countless lonely nights at the boarding school.
It was also my only valuable possession.
The hospital reluctantly accepted the necklace, allowing me to leave.
“Is it this way?”
For some reason, my memory seemed to falter. I couldn’t recognize familiar streets.
With help from the police, I stumbled my way home, exhausted and disoriented.
By nightfall, I finally reached the house. The wind bit into me as I stood shivering outside, only to find that the lock no longer recognized my fingerprints.
I couldn’t get in. Through the window, I could hear them laughing.
“Do you like your gift?”
“This ring is beautiful. A pink diamond—how expensive is it?”
“I saw it at an auction and thought you’d love it. The cost doesn’t matter. As long as it makes you happy.”
The tenderness in Mitchell’s gaze as he looked at her was undeniable.
Held in his arms, Maggie smiled radiantly, brimming with happiness.
For a moment, I was dazed.
Every year on my birthday, Mitchell would prepare a gift for me well in advance, putting so much thought into it.
Back then, he had looked at me with that same tenderness.
I knocked hard on the door, again and again. Eventually, Mitchell came to open it.
“What are you doing here?” He seemed surprised. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?”
