Chapter 3

Adrian didn’t show up in front of me for a whole week.

The last day of the month was my mother’s death anniversary.

My mother had never been in good health.

After she found out I was determined to be with Adrian no matter what, her condition only got worse and worse.

The day she died, my father actually put down his pride and called me himself, telling me to come back right away if I wanted to see her one last time.

But at the time, I was with Adrian, helping him close a very important dock deal.

If that deal went through, he’d finally be able to go back with me and meet my parents openly and properly.

It wasn’t the first time my mother had been critically ill. We had the best medical care money could buy at home.

So I gritted my teeth and gambled once.

I stayed with Adrian until he successfully secured that deal, then rushed back as fast as I could.

But my mother still died before I could see her one last time.

My father seemed to age ten years overnight.

He didn’t hit me. He didn’t yell at me.

He just said,

“Elena, how long has it been since you last saw your mother? She kept calling your name before she died…”

My mother’s death became a wound I carried for the rest of my life.

Adrian always felt guilty about it.

So every year, he would order the best chrysanthemums and go to the cemetery with me to see her.

This year, he was probably going to break that promise.

I went to the flower shop, bought a bouquet of chrysanthemums, and went to the cemetery alone.

“Mom, do you blame me?”

“Do you think it’s ridiculous, the way my life turned out?”

“Adrian didn’t mean to do this.”

He just… doesn’t love me anymore.

This year, I stayed at the cemetery for a very, very long time.

I talked to my mother for what felt like forever.

When I came out of the cemetery, I was surprised to find that Adrian had gone home.

I clenched my hand tight and made one last request.

“Adrian, it’s been a long time since I watched you play basketball.”

“Can you play one more game for me?”

Adrian looked troubled.

He stayed silent for a long time before saying,

“I promised Bianca that tonight, the last night, I’d stay with her.”

“After tonight, I’ll never see her again. Okay?”

I looked at the hopeful look on Adrian’s face.

I didn’t say anything.

I just nodded.

Adrian looked happy, like he’d just won the same war he’d been fighting for three years.

He busied himself around the house.

He took a shower, shaved, put on a formal suit, and picked up a fresh bouquet of Bulgarian red roses.

I looked at the roses in his hand.

How long had it been since I last received flowers from him?

I couldn’t even remember anymore.

Maybe our love was like those roses.

Sooner or later, it was always going to wither.

There was happiness in Adrian’s face, but there was a little sadness in it too.

After he left, I put on the cheerleading uniform I had worn when I was eighteen and went alone to the basketball court at my old high school.

That was the place where Adrian first said publicly that he was going to chase me.

The court had been renovated.

Fresh paint. New lines.

Just like Adrian’s heart.

There was someone new in it now.

I took out my phone, played the music, and danced that same cheer routine again.

Adrian, do you still remember?

That was the spot where you told your brothers you were going to win over the prettiest cheer captain in school.

And ever since the first time you confessed to me, every dance I ever did was for you.

I held the pom-poms and danced my heart out on that court.

Adrian, this last dance was still for you.

Only this time, there was no Adrian in the stands, watching me with that open admiration on his face.

When the music ended, I was exhausted.

I threw down the pom-poms and took off the cheer uniform.

I’ve never doubted that love can be real.

But real love can change in an instant.

Adrian, you probably forgot a long time ago how crazily you once chased me.

My flight was booked for five in the morning.

But I stayed home until three, and Adrian still never came back.

I didn’t call him.

I just dragged my suitcase out and went straight to the airport.

Adrian, goodbye.