Chapter 2

The name Raymond Fletcher was very familiar to my ears. I paused for a moment to try to remember the name again. I then remembered that he was the man who stole my fiancée and Esmeralda's sweetheart. It turned out that Esmeralda never forgot about him. She even pretended to be affectionate for him and me to marry. It was me who underestimated her love for Raymond Fletcher.

The phone clanked out of the woman's pants pocket. I bent down to pick it up just as a message popped up on the screen.

[Esmeralda, thank you for helping me block the wine tonight, but I’m sorry. I can't take the necklace you gave me. It's too expensive.]

The next second, I saw Raymond's circle of friends named ‘Love is priceless’. The accompanying picture was a necklace that shone like nothing else. It was the only one in the world that was auctioned off by the mysterious tycoon in the news at a cost of one hundred million dollars. I knew Raymond had sent it to me specifically to see.

This week Esmeralda was so busy that she didn't have time to eat. She was sent to the emergency room with a sudden stomach disease.

But as soon as she opened her eyes, she flew to England.

I was furious and heartbroken that she didn't even want to lose her life for the sake of her work. Later I realized that she was going to an auction.

Even though she was in pain and couldn't stand up straight, she was going to auction for the world's most precious necklace. Esmeralda dedicated it to her sweetheart.

I entered the lock screen password for some reason. After entering the last number, the lock was successfully unlocked. It was Raymond’s birthday. Esmeralda never let me look at her cell phone. She wanted us to leave personal space for each other.

Just after unlocking it, Raymond's bright and handsome smiling face came into my eyes. No wonder Esmeralda's eyes were inexplicably gentle whenever she unlocked her phone. I then opened her photo album in the phone gallery.

I then realized all the names were the same. It was about Raymond Fletcher. I saw Raymond’s pictures when he was ten years old, eleven years old and twenty-five years old.

Each album recorded Raymond's smiling face at different times. None of the thousands of photos belonged to me, not even herself. It was only Raymond Fletcher. Just like her heart, there was only Raymond from the beginning to the end.

When I opened the memo, it was Esmeralda's diary.

[2018, Raymond cut his leg by a branch today. It's all my fault, I shouldn't have planted a tree in the yard.]

[2024, Raymond got married today, as long as he's happy anything I do is worth it. I love to make her happy].

[2024, I got married. The moment I saw Raymond on the stage. I wished that the person standing beside me was him.]

The car pulled right into the yard. Looking up at the bare yard, my hands and feet were cold. There were originally two peach trees in the courtyard. Esmeralda transplanted them from the old house of the Givenlee family's old mansion. They were planted by my father when I was ten years old. Whenever I saw them, I felt that my father had never left. He was still with me until now. But suddenly one day, the two trees that were originally full of peaches rooted inexplicably.

Esmeralda hugged and coaxed me for three days and three nights. Now I realized that it was also her who destroyed the only thought my father left me. The message from her assistant popped up.

[Mrs. Esmeralda, according to your order, your will is ready. All the property is left to Mr. Raymond Fletcher. It will take effect as long as you sign it.]

I seemed to see in the misty tears. The woman who held me in her arms at the funeral that year and made me a promise was a traitor.

Esmeralda said to me, “Euharrell, I will give you a home. Everything I have belongs to you.”

I put Esmeralda on the bed slowly. I didn't take off her shoes like I did in the past. I turned around and went directly to the guest room. When I closed my eyes, my mind was full of the way she loved me all these years. The early morning sunlight sprinkled on me. When I opened my eyes, I met Esmeralda's gentle eyes.