09
Since Sophia’s death, Lucas had never returned to that house.
Until one day, three years later, when he was dead drunk and subconsciously gave the taxi driver this address.
When he woke up, he sat dazed in the dusty, empty room.
His gaze swept over the wardrobe, dressing table, and her beloved desk.
It felt so empty.
On the dressing table, a lonely box sat.
He staggered over and picked it up. Inside was the ring he had once given to Sophia.
That night, she had cried for a long time, curled up in his arms like a little kitten.
With a stuffy nose, she had said, “Lucas, I really like you so much.”
Lucas clutched the ring in his palm, feeling as if the memories were like thorns, piercing his heart and lungs. Every breath was painful.
He walked to the living room and suddenly noticed somet
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པམཔཅ་པ་ཨཔས ་་་ ‘‘y “ཕ Pས་་་་; T-““་ནུཕཔ་ ཡ་་ ་་་་་་་པ་་སྨཔ་་་་ ་་ཀ་ ་་པ་་་པ པ་ས་པས་་9་་་པ་་སྨས་ ་ ས་་ས ་་་9པ –་་ པ་་སས་ ་་པཔPས་་་་ཕ་.
He walked to the living room and suddenly noticed something was off.
All the photos on the refrigerator were gone.
He remembered how Sophia, usually so frugal, had spent a lot of money on pretty refrigerator magnets.
She had arranged those photos one by one on the fridge.
Hugging his neck, she had said she wanted to fill the entire refrigerator with beautiful memories.
Lucas frantically searched the whole house, only to find that even more things had disappeared.
The expensive gifts he had given her were still there.
What had vanished were the cheap items Sophia had bought herself, things he had never paid attention to.
Lucas collapsed onto the sofa, not knowing how much time had passed.
Suddenly, a crazy idea formed in his mind.
What if…
She wasn’t dead?
What if she had planned this departure long ago?
Once the thought took root, it began to grow wildly like weeds.
His heart, which had been like dead ashes, suddenly sparked to life.
Lucas thought, if he could find Sophia this time,
He would tie her to his side.
Never letting her leave again.
Three years after completing my studies, I successfully obtained the qualification for further studies.
But Master Johnson was getting on in years, and he had planned one last exhibition.
Besides his own works, he also wanted to showcase the masterpieces of his students.
Given the master’s status, this exhibition caused quite a stir in the art world.
Lucas seemed to have sensed something. In recent months, he had suddenly started frequently seeking audiences with the master.
When that failed, he began visiting my scattered senior classmates.
Originally, my seniors all advised me not to return, suggesting that Ethan could bring my works back to the country.
But I had done nothing wrong. Why should I hide?
Just before departure, Ethan suddenly patted my shoulder and said:
“Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
From my angle, I could see his ears turning bright red.
12:38 PM
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From my angle, I could see his ears turning bright red.
A month later, Lucas, having regained his senses, turned himself in.
He not only confessed to his violent actions against me but also admitted that he was the one who had Bella assaulted.
Old Mr. Lucas was so angry he had a stroke and was hospitalized.
Jack, the heavyset guy, and the others were all arrested.
Ethan accompanied me to the police station to recount my experiences from years ago.
The police said that lawyers from the Lucas Corporation hoped to settle the matter privately.
They were willing to pay a large sum of money in compensation.
I smiled and asked the police to convey my message:
“Sorry, I don’t need the money.”
“And I will never forgive them.”
After the case details were made public,
Those who had once praised Lucas for his devotion suddenly turned against him.
They cursed him as nothing but a scumbag.
Meanwhile, my artwork gained significant exposure.
I was initially worried that profiting from this situation would incur my master’s wrath.
But Master Johnson stroked his graying beard and said to me:
“What’s wrong with becoming famous?”
“Isn’t painting meant to be seen by more people?”
Later, when Ethan and I had finished our wedding ceremony and were traveling through our 7th country,
We heard that Lucas had died in prison.
Old Mr. Lucas followed shortly after, and the once–glorious Lucas Corporation completely collapsed.
Not long after, Bella escaped from the mental hospital.
When she was found, she had drowned in a villager’s cesspool.
My senior classmates were gossiping about it in the group chat.
Ethan rested his chin on my shoulder and asked where we should go next.
I slapped the fresh pregnancy test on the table, pointing at the two lines:
“What travel? Let’s go home and have a baby first!
