She suddenly shoved me. Unprepared, my head hit the door frame hard, sending a wave of pain.
I clutched my head, enduring the pain, and stood up, slapping her hard across the face.
Her expensively maintained face quickly showed red handprints.
Suddenly, the elevator dinged, and Jasper stepped out, looking pale.
The first thing he saw was me yanking Adeline’s hair, giving her a thorough beating. Jasper pushed me away, glaring at me, “Adeline did wrong, I admit we wronged you. But how could you hit her?” I laughed loudly.
So the Jasper now was the same as the Jasper before.
He never bothered to ask my reasons because, in his heart, the scales always tipped towards Adeline. My head throbbed more painfully, and I couldn’t help but touch it, feeling the blood on my hand.
Suddenly, the elevator chimed, and Jasper stepped out, looking pale.
The first thing he saw was me yanking on Adeline’s hair, hitting her without restraint.
Jasper immediately pushed me away, glaring angrily, “Adeline made a mistake, I admit we wronged you. But how could you hit her?”
I laughed out loud.
It turns out that whether it’s the Jasper of now or the Jasper of the past, he’s the same.
He never asked for my side of the story because his heart was always inclined towards Adeline.
The pain in my head intensified. I touched it and discovered my hand was covered in blood.
Seeing this, Jasper rushed over to help me, “How did you get hurt? You’re bleeding so much! Let me take you to the hospital.”
I grabbed his hair and slammed his head against the door frame, “This is how I got hurt, thanks to your beloved Childhood Sweetheart. Do you
understand now?”
Jasper’s head was left bleeding from the impact.
With his shocked expression behind me, I walked out with long strides.
They stayed out of my life for a long time, and Jasper never came looking for me again.
My world returned to peace.
A mutual friend told me that Jasper had a huge fight with Adeline after that day.
He forbade Adeline from bothering me again and didn’t want to see her anymore.
After her most recent Live Stream, Adeline’s popularity plummeted, losing hundreds of thousands of Followers in days.
The Company weighed the pros and cons and terminated her contract immediately.
She also had to face compensation.
Seeing no future domestically, Adeline planned to return abroad.
But none of this mattered to me anymore.
I continued to work my regular hours, except now I spent all the time I used to spend with Jasper on my own activities.
I’ve always loved excitement.
Since college, I’ve been into Extreme Sports.
10:28 AM
<
Skydiving, diving, skiing, motorcycling.
But during a skiing accident, I made a mistake and broke my hand while turning.
In the hospital, Jasper was furious, “Do you ever think about me or the people who love you when you indulge in these Extreme Sports?”
“What if something happens to you? What about us?”
At the time, I thought he made sense and gradually stopped.
Later, I realized those activities were irreplaceable parts of my life.
I put my helmet back on, tightened my ski boots, and moved slightly at the top of the slope.
The skis raced down the snow, gaining speed, the wind whistling past my ears, and the familiar thrill spread through my body.
Bringing back the old me into my body once more.
At the end of the run, I couldn’t help but remove my helmet, gasping for breath.
Suddenly, someone was patting my back.
As I turned to thank them, I realized it was Jasper standing next to me.
His worried expression mixed with a hint of amazement, “A friend told me I’d find you here, so I came to see you.”
“You’re skiing incredibly well; I almost forgot how lively and joyful you used to be.”
“Let’s get back together. I know Adeline bothers you, but I’ll choose you firmly from now on.”
I was about to refuse but spotted Adeline in the crowd behind him.
I smirked and changed my tune, “Sure, if you ski with me for a day, I’ll agree.”
Jasper’s eyes widened in surprise, “That simple? I can definitely do it.”
I smiled.
It’s that simple, but he won’t be able to do it.
What we lack isn’t just a misunderstanding, a ski trip, an apology, or a lack of understanding.
It’s countless hesitations and loyalties.
As I followed the track back to the mountain top, Jasper cheerfully followed me, sharing stories about his life and confidently promising he’d keep his word.
Suddenly, his phone rang, and he tensed up.
No need to look; I knew it was Adeline.
Jasper fumbled to hang up.
But the other side seemed determined, relentlessly calling back.
Jasper glanced at me nervously, “Today’s the day she’s returning. It must be a farewell call, let me take it.”
I nodded indifferently.
As soon as he answered, Adeline’s tearful voice came through, “Jasper, I’m leaving, and I won’t come back again. Aren’t you going to see me off?”
“Hey! Stop hitting me!”
<
ex
Jasper paused and immediately asked, “Where are you? What’s happening? Who’s hitting you?”
“I’m on my way to the airport. A lot of people recognized me and called me a shameless Mistress, pushing me around… I’m really scared, Jasper.”
“What should I do, Jasper? Can you help me?”
Jasper instinctively turned to leave but suddenly realized I was there.
He looked anxious, “Adeline’s in trouble, I need to go.”
“Cora’s always been kind; you wouldn’t just ignore her, right? She can’t handle this alone.”
“When I get back, I’ll ski with you, I promise.”
I remembered on their Wedding day, he made the same promise, “I’ll marry you when I get home.”
But I didn’t want to marry him, nor did I need him to ski with me.
I sneered, ignoring him.
Jasper desperately grabbed my hand, “I know I promised to stay with you today.”
“But this is urgent, can I make an exception?”
“She really needs me. You should understand her situation better as a woman.”
Without waiting for my answer, Jasper turned and left.
I stood at the mountain top, moved my skis, and prepared to dive down.
I could see his hurried back.
We were facing the same direction but walking completely different paths.
Returning home, I saw Adeline’s Snapchat post.
The background showed a hospital bed, with Jasper resting on it.
She captioned it, “Seems I’m a bit more important.”
I clicked on her avatar, and her Snapchat, previously limited to three–day visibility, was now fully visible.
It was filled with various photos of Jasper.
I suddenly remembered, besides not liking to travel, Jasper had many prohibitions I didn’t understand.
He didn’t allow me to show off our relationship and rarely took photos with me.
After our Confession, he almost never shared my information publicly on Snapchat.
Once, I posted our photo online, and he got really angry.
Now I understood.
He just didn’t want people to know about me.
What I thought was a solid heart still ached subtly.
I sent Jasper a screenshot of Adeline’s Snapchat and then blocked them both.
The next day, when I opened the door, I found Jasper squatting outside, head down.
D
10:28 AM
<
Ժ
&
He leaned against the Corridor wall, half–asleep, unsure of how long he’d been there.
Adeline was looking at him with concern, glaring at me.
I rolled my eyes, stepped over them, and walked out.
Jasper seemed to sense something and opened his eyes.
He grabbed me, stuttering, “It wasn’t me, I took Adeline to the hospital and was going to find you.”
“But I drank a glass of water and couldn’t help but feel sleepy, that water… Adeline put something in it.”
“I brought her today to explain everything. I didn’t want to leave you, Cora, I’m sorry, please forgive me one more time.”
Seeing my expressionless face, Jasper roughly pulled Adeline over, “Tell her the truth.”
Adeline stumbled as Jasper tugged her, stubbornly turning her face away, tears streaming down.
Jasper got more anxious, shouting at her, “Tell her, I’m begging you, stop ruining me!”
“I’ve always covered for you when you schemed against Cora.”
“Now she wants to break up with me, are you happy?”
Adeline looked at him in shock.
She never expected the person she idolized to think of her this way.
Her eyes were filled with unstoppable pain.
My heart trembled a bit.
So he always knew about Adeline’s little schemes.
But since they weren’t against him, and even flattered him, he chose to ignore them.
A bit of wicked pleasure rose in me.
I pretended to be sad, “Jasper, you should take her away. I’m sick. Even if I reconcile with you, I won’t be able to accompany you for long.”
“I don’t mind being sad. I just hope you two will be happy.”
Jasper looked at me nervously, “What illness? I can help you treat it, it doesn’t matter.”
“I just found out I have kidney issues, and I need someone to donate a kidney.”
Jasper gripped my hand tighter, insisting, “Let’s get tested at the hospital, I’ll donate to you.”
I was taken aback.
I hadn’t expected that answer.
Adeline anxiously grabbed Jasper’s hand, “Jasper, you can’t donate a kidney to her. She’s obviously lying to get back at you.”
Before Adeline could finish, Jasper pushed her away.
His expression was as cold as ice, “Didn’t I make myself clear? I don’t need your concern. Please leave, the further the better. Don’t bother Cora or me again.”
Adeline stared at him blankly, sitting in a daze.
I shook my head, wiping away nonexistent tears, “Jasper, it’s not possible. The doctor said I need a female donor with similar physiological conditions.”
<
*
Jasper almost instantly turned to look at Adeline.
Adeline’s face turned paler, eyes filled with fear, stepping back.
His expression was icy cold: “Didn’t I make myself clear before? I don’t need your concern. Please leave, the farther away from us, the better. Don’t disturb Cora again, and stay out of my life too.”
Adeline stared at him blankly, sitting still.
I shook my head, pretending to wipe away invisible tears: “Jasper, you’re not suitable. The doctor said my condition is unique, and I need a female donor with similar health conditions to donate a kidney to me.”
Jasper immediately turned his head to look at Adeline.
Adeline’s face turned even paler, fear in her eyes as she took a step back. Her entire body trembled with emotion, and she opened her mouth in disbelief: “You want me to donate my kidney to someone else?”
I shook my head, a sigh echoing in my heart.
In this situation, there were no winners among us.
I pulled my hand away from Jasper’s grip: “Jasper, I’m not sick; I just lied to you. But I won’t forgive you just because you’re willing to donate a kidney to me!”
“Don’t get involved with me anymore. The issue between us was never Adeline. Even if you hadn’t gone to see her yesterday and spent the whole day with me, I still wouldn’t reconcile with you.”
“Because you are nothing but a loser.”
With that, I called property management to have them removed and instructed them not to let them in again in the future.
A few days later, Adeline went abroad.
I guess she wouldn’t dare stay with someone who might want her kidney at any moment.
Jasper suddenly had a lot more free time.
He was no longer frequently traveling for work and showed up at my door every day with a hot breakfast.
But I never touched it again.
To avoid him, I tried every possible way to take detours and even considered moving elsewhere.
But this place was just a kilometer away from our company, and the rent was reasonable, so I was reluctant to leave.
To prove his determination, Jasper even quit his job.
He rented another apartment in the adjacent unit, appearing at my door regularly every day.
He seemed to think that if he was more persistent, we could go back to how things were before.
I sighed and called my cousin over.
He had always studied back home, but now he was starting college in the same city as me, and Jasper had never seen him.
When I got home, Jasper was waiting at my door with a bouquet of flowers.
The moment he saw my cousin, he angrily grabbed me: “Who is he? Why did you bring him home? Do you have a boyfriend?”
“It’s been less than a month since we broke up, how could you…”
I suppressed my disgust: “Compared to you two–timing until we were about to get married, I’ve already shown restraint.”
“Get out, we have important things to do.”
<
“Get out, we have important things to do.”
Jasper seemed deflated all of a sudden, closing his eyes in pain: “I’m sorry, Cora, I finally understand how much you suffered before.”
“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault, I’m such an idiot…”
I instructed my cousin to coldly push him out.
I thought he would give up and never bother me again.
But unexpectedly, a month later, a concert ticket was suddenly stuck to my door.
It was a ticket we bought five years ago.
At that time, the singer held a special concert called “Time Travel.”
After buying the ticket, he would give another one, for a concert five years later.
Five years later, it was to see if the person by your side at the concert was still the same.
I was confident we would always be together, so I bought the ticket.
Back then, he even joked, asking if we would be married by then and if we might need an extra seat for a baby.
Underneath the concert ticket was a sticky note in Jasper’s handwriting: “Cora, the singer’s touring concert is about to start. Can we go watch it together? Just to fulfill a youthful dream.” /
“The last time, if you still won’t forgive me, I promise I won’t bother you again.”
I tore up the ticket and his note together, ripped them into pieces, and threw them on the ground.
Then I stomped on them and went inside.
Past promises should remain in the past.
The next day, the breakfast Jasper delivered was hanging on the doorknob.
The debris on the ground had disappeared.
Since then, he never came to find me again.
But friends would occasionally mention him with regret in their conversations.
After that day, Jasper fell seriously ill.
After recovering months later, he went abroad.
He didn’t go looking for Adeline; no one knew where he went.
Some said he went to Africa to teach in underprivileged areas, others said he joined an archaeological expedition.
A friend secretly glanced at me, asking if I wanted to know.
I smiled.
Everything about him was long irrelevant to me.
I was also heading towards my own future.
A few beeps, and the call in my friend’s hand was cut off.
I pretended not to hear.
Ready to embrace a new chapter in my life.
