Chapter 20
Just like when she’d loved Kevin before. Hearing he’d become paralyzed and broken after the car accident, she’d rushed to his side without hesitation. Though he’d been volatile-lashing out or hurling insults-she never once con- sidered retreating.
Just as Kyle later treated her-even though she kept refusing and retreating, he remained unwavering, persistent until his genuine feelings finally moved her.
Yet Jennifer never experienced that with Kevin.
Even during his late recovery phase, his attitude toward her merely shifted from initial hostility to calmness-nothing more than a slight softening.
“Then what about Emily?” Jennifer lowered her eyes, masking her emotions with a steady voice.
He showed no sadness at her reaction. Instead, hearing her question brightened his gaze. “Jennifer, rest assured-I swear I don’t like Emily.”
“After learning she threw herself down the stairs and poisoned herself to frame you, I made her pay the price. The Martins have vanished from Boston since then.”
Kevin stared at her with teary eyes, voice trembling: “I know I failed you before. But back then, I was too fixated on how she abandoned me during my darkest days. After all, she was my first love. For over twenty years I’d been haughty – whether in academics or business partnerships, I rarely made wrong choices.”
“Yet she became that exception. I kept trying to prove she was wrong about leaving me, or to erase that stain on my pride. I needed to show I hadn’t chosen poorly. But Jennifer…” His breath hitched. “Only after you left did I realize my mistake. Those things don’t matter anymore. I just want you. Jennifer, I know I broke your heart. I’ve learned my lesson now.” He reached for her hand, whispering: “Give me another chance?”
His gaze held raw pleading, desperately hoping for any flicker of acceptance.
Jennifer looked at him, shaking her head slowly.
He heard her say, “Kevin, let me tell you a story.”
“Once there was a little boy with a bad temper. He often lashed out at friends and family. His father gave him a plank and some nails, telling him to hammer a nail into the wood whenever he got angry.”
“The boy listened. Each time rage surged, he drove a nail into the plank. Much later, his father brought him before that weathered wood and asked him to pull out every nail.”
“All nails were removed, but the plank forever bore the marks where they had pierced.”
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Chapter 20
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“Kevin,” she whispered, “you and I are that boy and plank. Some things can’t be undone just because you wish them away. Those marks endure. They don’t fade.”
Silence fell between them once more.
Kevin knew all this, but he just couldn’t let go. Even the slimmest hope made him wish Jennifer would leave the past behind and start anew with him.
“Could you give my phone back?” Jennifer finally broke the long silence, her question instantly flustering him.
He scrambled to his feet, clearing the leftover dishes from the table to dodge the subject. “Since you’ve finished eat- ing, I’ll head out now. If you feel cooped up, you can stroll downstairs or in the yard. No one will stop you.”
With that, he hastily gathered the knife and fork and hurried away, his retreating figure unmistakably fleeing the
scene.
Jennifer didn’t stay in the room all the time. As Kevin said, after eating, she wandered around the yard and tested the boundaries of her movements.
After testing, she could roughly guess why Kevin fled in panic when she mentioned the phone-he didn’t dare return
He deliberately hid the phone, fearing she’d contact someone to rescue her after waking.
So he gave her maximum freedom within the villa yet cut off all means to contact the outside world.
She sat by the greenhouse, gazing at the sunset-orange sky while occasionally glancing toward the second-floor study.
Since she came out, Kevin had stayed in the study without emerging again.
