Chapter 10

It had been snowing for days. Wu City was glittering under the city light with everything covered by pure white snow. We stood face to face in the narrow lane, his shadow stretching long and thin on the ground below us. He could easily have been mistaken as a character walking out of a manga. He heard what I said and was stunned. He looked at me with curiosity but didn't say anything about how I had addressed him. He simply asked me, "Where do you live, young lady?"

"The villa of the Shaw family..."

As soon as I replied, I remembered that Dixon had never been there before, so I told him the address in a hurry. He gave me a faint smile and took off the scarf to wrap it around my neck, the warmth of his body still lingering.

I heard him say, "Let's go. I'll walk you home."

His smile made him even more good-looking...

It seemed that his eyes and brows had been painted on just to add to his charisma.

I stepped up to walk by his side and attempted to hold his hand. I could tell that he had been a little bit taken aback in the beginning, but I was probably looking so obedient and harmless that he didn't refuse to hold my hand. The two of us walked slowly towards my house.

Neither of us spoke. It was a quiet walk not to be disrupted by words. Finally, we arrived at the entrance to my house. I looked at him and carefully asked, "Dixon, do you want to come in for a cup of tea?"

He smiled and said, "It's late, young lady."

It was late indeed. I saw the snowflakes on his shoulder, so I stood on tiptoe to wipe them off for him. I gave him a bright smile and said, "See you next time."

He remained silent in response to my polite invitation. It became clear to me that the long walk had meant nothing to him. After our departure, he would go back to Gwen and get married to her like they were a couple from a fairy tale.

He had said that he owed her a wedding.

Meanwhile, I was destined to leave this world soon.

As such, there was nothing for me to expect.

The light went out of my eyes as I turned to go in.

I ran back to my room and turned on the light. When I stood in front of the French windows, I could see him standing downstairs at the entrance with his hands in his pockets.

I pressed myself against the window and bid him farewell, my voice so low that not another soul could have heard me.

"Goodbye, Dixon Gregg."

"I'll never see you again."

"I hope you will have everything you've ever wanted in your life."

I closed my eyes and tears rolled down my face...

"I've been crying too much recently..."

I forced out a smile as if it could stop me from tearing up. I waited until Dixon was gone and went for a shower. After that, I took some painkillers before bed as usual.

I woke up in the morning, feeling drowsy.

Summer called before I even got out of bed.

She sounded very emotional. "Carol, I found him..."

Puzzled, I asked, "Who?"

Summer started crying like a heartbroken child, her voice breaking every now and then. "Joseph Connor. I knew he was alive! I never saw his body. Everybody tried to convince me that he had passed away. I promised myself that I wouldn't stop searching until I found him or his body."

She kept sobbing. "I've been looking for him for eight years and I was about to lose hope... Carol, can you imagine how happy I am right now?"

Joseph Connor was the guy she had loved and the guy who had sacrificed himself to save her.

I asked her in a gentle voice, "Where did you find him?"

"At his granny's house in a village. I can't just go and see him now. He's lost his legs, and I'm afraid he won't agree to see me, but I heard that he's still single."

I came to realize that she had left me alone last night because she had been tending to this. It was very obvious that she wanted him back no matter whether he had lost his legs or not. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

"Take your time. Don't rush. Go find him when you're fully prepared."

"That's what I'm going to do."

I hung up and phone and held the beige scarf tight in my arms. I felt that I needed it at that moment.

I sat still until my stomach started rebelling. Reluctantly, I moved towards the kitchen to make myself something to eat. Just as I was preparing a meal, Director Gregg called me on my phone. I hesitated before answering it. Complicated feelings arose when I heard his kind and caring voice as he said, "Can we meet for a little bit?"

I fell into a long silence. Not receiving any feedback, he let out a faint sigh. "Please, Caroline, let's talk."

To be honest, I didn't find it necessary to have one of those "talks". However, I agreed to meet. He had treated me like his daughter for years, after all.

"Sure. Where are we meeting?"

"At Gregg's mansion."

After we hung up, I took my time to make a nice meal and finished it all by myself. Then, I drove to Gregg's.

Finally, I arrived at the old mansion of the Gregg family. During the three years of marriage with Dixon, we had always visited this place separately. He had never offered to come with me or to take me with him.

I had always come here alone. The only chance to show up with him together had been on New Year's Eve. Even then, we had gone separately.

He loathed me, yet he still had to make an appearance with me in front of his relatives. How sad was that!

I parked the car in the garage like I always did and went in.

Director Gregg saw me coming and immediately called me to go and sit with him. "Caroline, come here."

Standing at the entrance, I noticed that Dixon was home as well. He looked indifferent and gloomy.

He was nothing like how he had been the previous night.

I sat opposite to Dixon and greeted his father out of courtesy.

He had been my father-in-law for years even though we were divorced.

He was apparently pleased that I still called him father. "Look. I don't know what's happening between you two. Let me make it clear. I don't care if you're fighting or angry at each other. You should talk it through. The bottom line is, Gwen Worth will never be my daughter-in-law. Mark my words."

Hearing that, Dixon cast a glance at his father with a look of disdain.

Deep down, I knew that nobody could stop him from getting what he wanted.

It seemed that Director Gregg still hoped that we would get re-married.

I gave him a faint smile. "There's nothing to talk about."

"That's not true. You're the daughter of the Shaw family and the CEO of your family business. You were never meant to be wronged in this marriage. However, my son has mistreated you for years. Now, you're giving up on your marriage as well as your family business. I don't have to be a genius to see what you're after. You only want a man who deserves your true love. How on earth could I let him marry some random person when there's a perfect woman right in front of him?"

Obviously, everybody around me knew about my feelings for Dixon. He had definitely heard about it from someone as well. I had always treated it lightly, but now the pain was almost unbearable. I stood up to defend myself. "Dad, people change. I've changed. I divorced your son because I don't love him anymore. I'm not giving away the Shaw Corporations because I'm still in love with him. It's only because I'm not good at it and I'd hate to see it ruined in my hands..."

"Nonsense. Do you really think I don't understand anything?"

Afraid he was going to keep saying things that would hurt, I left in a hurry.

I drove out from the garage and saw Dixon standing right in front of the entrance, smoking. I wanted to pass by him but he managed to force me out of the car.

I was feeling drowsy from all of the talking. "What do you want?"

He flicked the cigarette and said, "Caroline, let's talk."

What had happened last night was like a fancy dream. Only in that dream would he have called me "young lady".

I needed to learn to have no expectations for him.

He was going to be someone else's husband, after all.

I asked coldly, "What's there to talk about?"

It didn't seem like he knew the answer to my question. He froze for a few seconds with the cigarette in his hand.

Eventually, he asked softly, "Do you really want to date someone?"