Chapter 4

Mr. and Mrs. Hayes were my parents’ long-time best friends.

They handled my parents’ funeral arrangements and took me in to live with them.

From then on, they treated me like their own daughter.

Mrs. Hayes once held my hand, smiling, and asked if I’d be willing to be her goddaughter.

But Christian interrupted her, so flustered he could barely speak.

From that moment, I knew clearly that my relationship with Christian was no longer ordinary.

The Christian of the past was flamboyant, carefree, and never took anything seriously.

But ever since my accident, he seemed to have become a different person.

He voluntarily took on the responsibility of caring for my daily needs, even asking Mr. and Mrs. Hayes to let him drop a grade to study with me.

Every morning, he would carry me to the car, and at school, he’d carry me into the classroom.

He would carefully blow on my hot soup to cool it down, meticulously choose blankets to cover my legs, and push me around the track every evening to feel the breeze…

Of course, he would also argue, even fight, with others who gossiped about me.

He started learning how to take care of people, and he also started sitting alone, silent and withdrawn.

I once saw him, in the early hours of the morning, secretly crying alone in his room.

His love for me was known to everyone.

So, how could I not love him?

I couldn't *not* love him.

But ever since Stella came to this house, everything seemed to change.

I still remember the first time I met Stella.

That year, it was our senior year of high school, and everyone was under a lot of pressure. Christian and his friends planned a hiking trip.

When he came back, he had Stella with him.

The simply dressed girl shyly hid behind Christian, greeting me.

“Hello, big sister.”

Christian patiently explained Stella’s plight to me.

She lived in a rural area, her father was an alcoholic and abusive, and her mother was passive. She’d only received compulsory education because the village insisted.

In her teens, her parents planned to marry her off to a stranger to get money for her brother.

Christian couldn’t bear it. He gave her parents a sum of money.

He promised to sponsor Stella through college and then brought her home.

“Ellie, I failed to protect you back then. Now, I can’t bear to see her fall into despair too.”

Christian was wrong.

I wasn’t the only one still holding a grudge about that accident.