Chapter 6

Aaliyah stood beside him, coldly watching him. She knew he had just broken a few ribs from her collision, but she couldn’t help but come to his defense. “Don’t dirty my mother’s tombstone here. Go wait in the car.” Lawrence struggled to his feet and staggered toward the exit. Only now did Mr. Bailey realize that Aaliyah had been keeping Lawrence by her side all these days. His face turned ashen, his brows furrowed, and a hint of sadness crept into his expression. “Aaliyah, tell me the truth—do you still love this man?” Aaliyah averted her eyes, unable to meet his gaze, her body trembling slightly. “No, I no longer love him.” “The only emotion I feel for him now is hatred.” Mr. Bailey, usually towering, now seemed somehow frail. He stared at Aaliyah with his snow-white hair, his eyes betraying his age. “You’re my daughter—how could you hide this from me?” “Aaliyah, Lawrence is the man who killed your mother!” “Even if you like him, it’s impossible between you two. How could you fall in love with your mother’s murderer? How could your mother rest in peace if she saw this?” His words left Aaliyah frozen in place, barely able to move. These days, she had numbed herself. She only felt hatred toward Lawrence, and keeping him by her side was merely for revenge. But she knew that was just a way to deceive herself. She remained silent for a long time before finally speaking. “Dad, rest assured. I’ll marry Jason as soon as possible.” “As for Lawrence, I’ll make him leave and never appear before you or me again.” In the final days before the wedding, Aaliyah didn’t think of any more schemes to torment him. Instead, she drove him out alone. The two of them went to the place where they had once dated, the Love Bridge. Back then, when they came here together, she had twisted her ankle halfway there, and he had carried her to the bridge, where they had hung a love lock symbolizing their eternal love. But this time, the once closest lover had changed beyond recognition. Aaliyah searched for a long time before finding the location of their love lock. She took out a pair of scissors, silently cut the lock, and then threw it into the lake without hesitation. Then, she took him to Wishing Park outside the city and untied the wishing card they had tied together. The wishes they had written on the card were still vividly etched in her memory. “Aaliyah and Lawrence will be together forever.” But in an instant, the wishing card blown away by the wind and disappeared over the cliff. Next, they went to the beach where they had fallen in love, and to the forest where they had once planted a wish tree together... Lawrence knew that she was gradually erasing all traces of their love. Like him, she had decided to completely remove him from her life. After visiting all the places they needed to go, Aaliyah leaned against the car door and smoked several cigarettes, smoking fiercely. After the cigarette butts on the ground had burned out, she pulled out a check from her pocket and handed it to Lawrence. “The money in here is enough to compensate for the broken Remy Martins at the club. The remainder, use it to buy a plane ticket and never show your face in front of me again.” “Don’t tell me where you’re going, and don’t let me find you.” His palm was marked with blood from her nails, and his heart felt like it was being torn apart, making it hard to breathe. After a long time, he finally took the check and quietly agreed. “Alright.” Both of them looked up, their eyes meeting unexpectedly, and they spoke almost simultaneously. “Lawrence, we’ll never see each other again.” “Aaliyah, we’ll never see each other again.” Aaliyah lowered her eyes, never looking at him again, and turned away resolutely. Lawrence watched her back silently as it faded into the distance, then walked in the opposite direction.