Chapter 3

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds before Mr. Davies' surprised and delighted voice came through:

"Why the sudden change of heart, Alice? You said before you wanted to stay in the country for someone you liked very much, and didn't want to go abroad…"

"He doesn't need me anymore."

I cut him off, my voice so calm it even surprised myself,

"And I don't need him either."

Mr. Davies was perceptive enough not to ask any more questions:

"In that case, once you've sorted out the paperwork, come over. The orchestra always welcomes talent like you!"

After hanging up, I gazed out at the gradually brightening sky.

A month ago, when that long-dreamed-of invitation arrived, I was so excited I didn't sleep all night.

I'd been playing the violin since I was a child, and getting into the London Symphony Orchestra was practically every music student's dream.

But when I went to Alex's family estate and saw him leaning alone on the sofa, smoking, looking lonely.

The words "I'm going to London" simply wouldn't come out.

When Alex was sixteen, his parents died in a plane crash.

I was in a neighboring city participating in a violin competition at the time. After hearing the news, I rushed back overnight.

At the funeral, Alex stood there all alone. The first thing he said when he saw me was:

"Alice, from now on, I'm all alone."

I cried and hugged him:

"No, you're not. You have me. As long as you need me, I'll always be by your side."

Since childhood, girls who liked Alex could line up from the school gate to the city center.

But I was the only one who truly grew up with him.

I'd seen him with his eyes red in the practice room, I knew he hated rainy days because they reminded him of his parents' funeral…

So, I went nowhere, staying by his side day after day, year after year.

But now, they would go their separate ways.

As dawn broke, I started to organize everything related to Alex.

They grew up together, shared the same glass of milk.

Read the same comic books, napped in the same bed…

I had carefully cherished everything related to him.

Like preserving the most precious dream of my youth.

Now, I pulled all of it out, item by item, and placed them into a cardboard box.

Including the hair clip he gave me when I was eighteen.

The cake mold he handmade for his twentieth birthday.

The hand warmer he bought me last winter because he thought my hands were cold…

Everything, along with my love for him, bundled up, ready to return to him.

When I arrived at Alex's family estate, Mr. Henderson, the old butler, opened the door. He saw the box in my hands, and his eyes immediately darkened.

"Ms. Alice, Mr. Alex has taken Ms. Bethany shopping."

I froze for a moment, then smiled with a sense of relief:

"Please, could you give this to him for me?"

The butler took the box, looking as if he wanted to say something but held back:

"Ms. Alice, is there really no possibility for you and our young master? After all these years…"

"No possibility,"

I said softly,

"He's found his true love, and I'll find mine too."

With that, I turned and left, without a single trace of regret.

After processing my visa, I remembered London's damp climate and decided to buy some warm clothes at the mall.

I walked into a high-end clothing store and spotted a beige trench coat.

Just as I was about to ask the clerk to wrap it up, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind me—

"I like this one too! Sister, our taste is so similar! Both in clothes and in men, we've fallen for the same thing."

I turned around and saw Bethany standing behind me, smiling sweetly.

Before I could even speak, Alex's voice came from beside her:

"What if your taste is similar? Whether it's clothes or people, they only belong to you."

He walked over, pulled out his black card, and told the clerk,

"I'll buy this coat for ten times the price. Also, wrap up all the new arrivals in the store in my girlfriend's size."

The clerk was overjoyed and quickly agreed.

They no longer cared that I had been the first to pick it out, turning to arrange the purchase.

"Alex, that's too extravagant!"

Bethany clung to Alex's arm, pouting playfully.

Alex looked down at her, his eyes full of adoration:

"A man's money is where his heart is. I'm just happy when you spend my money."

Bethany looked up, asking:

"Will you always be this good to me?"

Alex pinched her cheek:

"Of course. Not just this life, but the next life, and the one after that, too."