Chapter 5

Nicholas turned to me and ordered.

"Go sit in the back."

I didn't question him, nor did I argue. I quietly got up and moved to the back row.

I sat in the back, watching them whisper intimately to each other. The banquet hall's air conditioning was turned up high and I could feel my heart growing colder with every passing moment.

Halfway through the lecture, I excused myself to the restroom.

When I came out, I saw Janelle twirling a charm between her fingers.

I had personally gone to the mountains to get that charm for my mom when she was sick, hoping it would keep her safe. Now, it dangled precariously from Janelle's fingers.

She looked at me with a smirk.

"Laura, Nicholas got this for me from your mom. He said it would protect me. "

"You know why he didn't show up the day your mom passed away? It was because he had just gotten this charm and couldn't wait to give it to me."

"Good thing he gave it to me before your mom died. Otherwise, a charm worn by a dead person would be cursed, right?"

I couldn't take it anymore. I snatched the charm from her hand and grabbed her by the throat.

A piercing alarm suddenly blared overhead during the fight, followed by a violent explosion.

The crowd in the hall erupted in chaos, everyone scrambling desperately towards the exit.

My body, still weak from being discharged from the hospital, was quickly knocked over by the crowd. I could only curl up tightly against the wall.

That's when I saw Nicholas pushing against the tide of people rushing toward me.

"Laura! Laura!"

His anxious tone filled me with hope.

Sadly, he saw Janelle first.

He pulled Janelle into his arms, shielding her completely.

The crowd jostled around us and he glanced back at me, his hand instinctively reaching out.

Then, Janelle let out a faint cough. Without hesitation, he withdrew his hand and strode away with her.

Watching him carry Janelle further away, I was transported back to a time many years ago when he sat across from me, his eyes twinkling as he watched me eat. He'd even anxiously ask if the food wasn't to my taste when I ate too slowly.

I quietly told him it was because poverty had affected my teeth, which made him suddenly tear up and apologize to me.

"I'm sorry. You've suffered so much all these years."

The two figures gradually merged into one and a pang of sadness hit me as I silently said goodbye to the boy he once was.

Three hours later, the man who had finally coaxed the frightened Janelle to sleep remembered me, whom he had abandoned. But after searching through all the rescued survivors, he couldn't find a trace of me.

In a black Bentley car, I held the charm tightly in my hand, declining every one of his calls.

Right before handing over my phone, I received one last text from him.

[Janelle isn't feeling well. Come to the hospital to look after her and get yourself checked out.]

I didn't reply. I just silently handed my phone to the person next to me.

"Please just get rid of this for me. I don't need it any longer."

Nicholas, I don't want you or your half-hearted love anymore.