"Have you... you... been looking for Flora lately?"
"Why do you suddenly ask?" Patrick furrowed his brow: "Last time, you were the one who insisted I was mistaken... Layla, are you hiding something from me?"
Layla bowed her head, her facial expression out of Patrick's sight. Swallowing once more with a choked noise, Layla confessed: "Actually... you were not mistaken. I have recently seen her... in this city..."
It felt like a bolt of lightning in a clear sky. Patrick's eyes widened, his incredulous gaze pinned on the woman he had always trusted.
"Why didn't you tell me?" His voice was icy: "I thought you were the one who best understood my feelings for her..."
"It's precisely because I understand that I hid it from you." Layla interrupted him.
Possessing something only makes the fear of losing it grow. If he hadn't clung to that unrequited love, Layla wouldn't have to worry about gaining and losing, nor would she have needed to hide it from him until now.
"Patrick... Flora is still in this city... But she has found new happiness, she is in love with someone else. Your appearance now would only trouble her..."
Even if this was the truth, Patrick couldn't stop himself from seeking Flora. She was his first love, his entire youth, and also the one who inflicted the deepest wounds on his heart.
She was like a part of his soul, how could he live without his soul?
"No, I must find her. I just want to know... if she's living well. You understand too, she is important to me, like an inseparable part of my soul." He sighed heavily: "I've lived like a soulless body for seven years... that's enough..."
Saying that, he walked towards the door. Just as his hand reached the doorknob, Layla rushed over, wrapping her arms around him tightly from behind.
Layla's body trembled, her voice shaky: "Patrick... Please... Don't go searching for her, okay?"
"How has she been living these years? Is she married? Does she have a boy or a girl? Does she still remember me?... Just the thought of her suffering out there without my knowledge suffocates me." Patrick raised his voice: "I'm crazily in love with her, do you understand?"
Layla's arms tightened around him. He gritted his teeth, prying off her fingers one by one, only to hear her sobbing behind him.
"I... I'm crazily in love with you too, do you understand? We're engaged... we're engaged... Flora is in the past... can't you let go of the past to live well in the present?"
Letting go of the past to live well in the present sounds easy but is challenging to accomplish. Moreover, for Patrick, his love for that girl wasn't the past. It was a love that was always present within him, even in the here and now.
"Clack." the door swung open. Patrick stepped outside, leaving behind a single line: "I just want to see if she's faring well... I've already missed seven years, I don't want to miss this time again..."
The door shut once more. The room echoed only with Layla's sorrowful cries. In this moment, Layla realized that no matter how hard she tried, no matter how much she sacrificed, she would always fall short in comparison to even a small part of Flora in Patrick's heart.
He would come and go as he pleased, searching for her whenever he wanted. He had no regard for the feelings of his betrothed, Layla.
Biting her lip, Layla picked up her phone and texted Flora: "I've told Patrick the truth. Could you meet me outside? I'll wait for you at Crescent Lake."
The message from her close friend made Flora start, almost dropping her phone. She hastily changed clothes, preparing to go outside.
Unexpectedly, this time she was stopped. The guards outside didn't turn a blind eye as they used to. Even Aunt Laura tried to dissuade her.
"Miss Flora, young master Matthew already knows about you sneaking out, he strictly instructed us not to let you go anywhere. It's dangerous outside..."
"No, Aunt Laura, please tell them to let me out. I'll only be gone for a short while." Flora pleaded: "My best friend had a fight with her boyfriend, she's at Crescent Lake right now."
Crescent Lake had stunning scenery, but it was also the site of numerous suicides. She was afraid that if she didn't arrive in time, Layla might lose herself.
The guards blocking the way didn't change expression, showing no signs of stepping aside. Aunt Laura sighed heavily: "Those are the young master's orders, they're just following instructions..."
Aunt Laura's implication was that she also couldn't help Flora. The guards wouldn't listen to her. Their actions were driven solely by the commands of one person.
Flora bit her lip, trembling fingers dialing Layla's number. A series of long beeps resounded, before someone finally picked up. Flora's heart momentarily settled upon hearing her best friend's voice.
"I'm here..."
"Layla, don't lose yourself..." Flora was frantic, unsure of what to do next. Then Layla continued speaking.
"He said, no matter where you are, who you're with, he will find you... He loves you deeply..."
Layla herself wasn't sure with what feelings she said these words. Only knowing that her heart felt as if it had stopped, she no longer felt any pain or any sense of meaning in her life.
The phone beeped abruptly, Layla had hung up. Anxiously clutching her phone, Flora looked out at the cautious group of guards outside the mansion.
Aunt Laura sighed: "If your friend is having a fight with her boyfriend, why not call her boyfriend? If they love each other, there's nothing they can't work through..."
Immediately, Flora shook her head: "No, he is... I do know her boyfriend, but my relationship with him... isn't exactly the best..."
"Then try contacting another friend of hers. Surely she has more friends than just you?"
That's right, why hadn't she thought of that? Besides herself, Layla had another good friend, Morela. She could call her, ask her to rush to Crescent Lake, or to get in touch with Patrick.
Morela was more than willing to help: "Of course, I can definitely help. But Flora, I think that Patrick and she should have an honest conversation. That's the only way to resolve their issues. Do you have his number? I could try to mediate for both sides..."
Morela's question left Flora dumbstruck. Patrick's phone number, which she once knew by heart, for it was the number they had bought together - the matching pair of numbers they shared.
Seven years had passed, she was unsure whether he still used that number.
Morela used another phone to dial the number Flora had just recited. The call connected swiftly. She smirked, speaking to Flora: "It works. Ok, leave this to me, relax."
Having someone else handle the situation, Flora breathed a sigh of relief. Yet, she couldn't help reminiscing about her and Patrick's matching phone numbers.
The two numbers were almost identical, believed to bring good luck, and were meant to help the two soulmates stay together forever. Yet in the blink of an eye, she had been using a new number for seven years. Unbelievably, Patrick was still using the old one.
After a restless night, Morela appeared early the following morning. Her countenance suggested she bore a heavy heart.
Flora pulled her friend into her room: "How are Layla and Patrick? Why have you come to see me?"
"Nothing serious yet." Morela shook her head: "Just a typical marital spat. But... this situation, if it continues this way, it won't bode well..."
Having called both of them and even paid a visit to Layla, Morela realized that the situation wasn't a mere lovers' tiff.
"A man hell-bent on seeking his old flame, and a girl steadfastly clinging to him. Flora, tell me, what should the two, no, the three of you, including you, do? Surely you and Layla won't turn against each other for a man?"
Both were Morela's good friends, and good friends to each other; none of them wished for any animosity.
Flora shut her eyes, bowed her head. Morela's words stirred a turmoil in her heart. Yet she believed in the integrity of the man whom she had dedicated her youth to loving and waiting for.
"I trust that Patrick is a man of honour, he won't let Layla down. After all... she loves him so."
Layla's profound and sincere affection for Patrick was such that it astonished others. Not everyone could patiently wait for the man they loved for seven or eight years like she did. Flora believed, what goes around comes around, those genuine in love will eventually find happiness.
Morela sighed heavily, her worry evident: "Are you... prepared to confront your ex-fiancé?"
"Of course." Flora nodded gently: "I'm not the little girl hiding behind him anymore, needing his protection, care, and attention."
She was a grown woman, and a mother. She had learned to gracefully accept and confront life's challenges.
At that moment, Aunt Laura emerged from the kitchen, holding a mobile phone, her middle-aged face beaming with joy. She hurriedly moved towards Flora and handed her the phone.
"Miss Flora, the young master called, he said he's done with his business in the U.S. and will be returning soon."
"Really, auntie?" Smiling, Flora took the phone from her and held it up to her ear.
The familiar voice of the man sounded from the other end: "Of course it's true. I feared that you might miss me too much, so I decided to return immediately."
Flora's beautiful face flushed with excitement. She glanced at the others in the room, lightly scolding: "Don't say that, there are others here... Stop making inappropriate remarks."
Morela chuckled, shrugging lightly: "I heard nothing." Then she muttered under her breath: "Such affection that one cannot help but envy."
A soft cough echoed, Matthew returned to his usual serious tone: "This time, I will return alone. The little one wants to stay a few more days."
Flora's brows knit slightly. She was glad that Matthew could return early, but... the child wanting to stay behind alone, she simply could not be at ease. In her opinion, it would be best if the father and daughter returned together.
Thus, the family could truly reunite.