Serena looked at him calmly, her tone neither sad nor happy. "It's me. I heard you were ill and came to check on you."
A light instantly sparked in Clint's lifeless eyes.
He looked at her with delight and tried to prop himself up by the bed, wanting to sit. Unfortunately, his body was far too weak, and he had no strength in his arms. He tried several times, all in vain.
Serena couldn't bear to watch. She stood up and gently pressed his shoulder down. "Just lie down. You need rest right now."
"Serena," Clint said with joy, "thank you for coming. I thought... you didn't care about me at all anymore..."
"We did know each other once. Since I heard you were sick, it's only right to come see you."
"That's... all it is?"
"What else could it be?" Serena looked at him with a slight smile.
The man pressed his lips together, a trace of sorrow showing on his face.
His desolate expression made him look like a leaf about to fall-fragile, trembling, and helpless.
Unable to stay indifferent, Serena changed the subject. "You were doing fine not long ago-how did you get so seriously ill all of a sudden?"
"I... I'm fine. Just a little cold," Clint forced a smile.
"Don't lie to me. On the way here, the nurse already told me. You were hospitalized because of a stomach hemorrhage caused by excessive drinking."
Clint shut his mouth and said nothing.
"Was it for entertaining clients, for the sake of business?"
"..." Still, he remained silent.
"What's the point? The Beckett Corp has done really well these past few years. You've long been recognized as a rising star in Vernon's business world. Why push yourself like this? Just delegate drinking at social events to your team."
Clint's lips moved slightly, his expression revealing a faint, weary smile.
"I honestly wish... it were for work."
"If it's not for work, then you have even less reason to destroy your health like this," Serena half-joked, half-seriously. "You never let me drink before, and you rarely drank yourself. What happened? After the divorce, you stopped restricting me, but you stopped taking care of yourself too?"
Her words seemed to strike a nerve.
Clint suddenly turned his head to look at her. "Serena, you still remember... you still remember our past!"
Serena lowered her gaze. "It wasn't that long ago. My memory's not that bad."
In the next moment, a cold hand suddenly grabbed hers, which was resting casually on the edge of the bed.
Startled, she looked up in confusion.
The man's eyes were filled with hope. "Serena, you must still have feelings for me, right?"
Serena gave a bitter smile and shook her head. "I already told you last time-it's over between us."
"No!" Clint shook his head stubbornly. "No, I don't want it to be over! It can't be over! Back then, I didn't know that life without you would be this painful!"
"Serena, I'm begging you-come back to me, please?"
Serena firmly pulled her hand away from his grasp.
"If you'd known this would happen, why did you behave like that in the past? When I gave you everything, you spent all your time entangled with Poppy. When I was heartbroken and finally gave up, now you come begging me? Clint, the man I knew wasn't someone so indecisive and weak!"
The man looked down at his now empty hand.
"I thought I could let go too. So when we divorced, I forced myself to sign the papers.
"When you first left, I made excuses for how down I felt-telling myself that even if it was just a dog or a cat, after being together for years, there'd be feelings.
"But gradually, I realized I couldn't focus on anything. In the middle of meetings, I'd suddenly think of you and forget what I was about to say. Late at night, I'd jolt awake from dreams of you. While driving, I'd run red lights because I was lost in thoughts of you..."
"I used to think that time was the best medicine, that it would heal all wounds. But after losing you, I found the longer the time passed, the more it hurt."
"I couldn't take it. The pain was unbearable. I had to numb the bleeding inside me with alcohol."
Listening to him calmly describe the pain in his heart, Serena felt no stirrings of affection-only sympathy.
Because everything he described... she had once experienced.
When she still loved him, and he repeatedly hurt her, reopening her healing wounds and rubbing salt into them every single time!
After a long silence, she sighed and slowly said, "Clint, what's in the past is in the past. Some things-once the moment is missed-can never be undone."
"When I first found out about you and Poppy, I was terrified of losing you. I would sit up all night waiting for you to come home. Most of the time, it was just me, the moon outside the window, and the morning light for company."
"So yes, I understand what it feels like when hope is lost. I really do feel your pain."
"Because I know how much it hurts, I won't foolishly go through it a second time. If you really love me like you say you do, then you should let go and allow me to live a new life."
As she spoke, she wore a faint smile the entire time-gentle, yet unwavering.
The despair in Clint's expression deepened. He was silent for a long while before finally gathering the courage to ask:
"Serena... do you hate me?"
"No," Serena shook her head. "Hating someone is exhausting. I want to live freely."
"Sigh... it's all my fault. I was too stubborn-too caught up in old grievances. If I hadn't been so fixated on our parents' feud, maybe things would have turned out differently."
"Our parents' feud?" Serena quickly caught onto that phrase.
But Clint clammed up and refused to say more.
"I remember you once told me that the way you treated me had hidden reasons. Back then, I thought it was just an excuse for your infidelity. But now... does that reason have something to do with our families?"
She had indeed dismissed his words as excuses in the past.
But now, with all the clues pointing toward Gaius' suicide years ago...
Serena had a faint feeling that the truth might be different from what she had always believed.
***