Chapter 8
In a daze, I found myself thinking back to the first time I met him.
Back then, I had just arrived overseas for school. To make ends meet, I often worked part-time at a local restaurant.
One night, after locking up and getting ready to head home, I turned a corner-only to witness an armed robbery happening right down the street.
The man being held at gunpoint was Calvin.
My legs went weak with fear.
After getting the money, I didn’t expect the robber, to go as far as wanting to silence him permanently.
As the cold barrel of the gun lifted toward Calvin’s head, I did’t know what came over me. Before the man could pull the trigger, I grabbed an empty bottle from the ground and rushed forward-smashing it hard against the attacker’s head.
I saved Calvin’s life that night.
And from that moment, we became friends.
But after I met Ryan, we slowly drifted apart.
When I graduated, I chose to return to California with Ryan.
Calvin said nothing. He only smiled and told me to live a happy life.
But now, in my most broken, devastated state, I had ended up in front of him again.
Yet there wasn’t a trace of mockery in his eyes-only a deep, overwhelming sorrow.
For the next two weeks, Calvin ignored all medical advice and insisted on donating blood to me multiple times.
But my condition didn’t improve-in fact, I lost consciousness several more times.
The doctors shook their heads in frustration.
They said my will to live was too faint.
My depression, once thought to be cured, had returned with vengeance.
If we couldn’t find a way to reignite my desire to live, they feared I might try to end my life again.
Calvin came to see me every single day.
Despite his reputation-people in his circle said he was moody and ruthless, especially with women-he never left my bedside.
Who would have thought that the man everyone painted as cold-hearted was now the one crying silently, begging me to stay alive?
After another round of blood transfusion, I managed a faint smile for the first time.
Calvin was so overjoyed, he nearly dropped to his knees in front of me.
“Therese… are you feeling a little better?”
I bit my lip hard, then slowly shook my head.
“Calvin, after everything you’ve done for me, we’re even now.”
“You don’t need to come anymore. You’ve saved my life-you don’t owe me anything.”
Before I could finish, he collapsed to his knees in front of me, his hands gripping mine, trembling.
“I don’t want to be even with you, Therese. We can’t just call it even!”
“I’ve loved you for ten years, and suffered through ten years of longing. How could we ever be even?”
My heart skipped a beat. I looked at him in disbelief.
His eyes were filled with pain he could no longer hide.
“Therese, now that you’ve divorced Ryan, can’t you give me a chance?”
“I swear, I’ll never treat you like he did. I’d never hurt you. Please, believe me.”
His voice trembled, but his feelings were sincere-etched into every line of his face.
Under the heat of his gaze, I slowly closed my tired eyes.
“Calvin, don’t do this. I’m not worth it.”
“I lost my baby. I lost my mother. I don’t even know how to live.”
The next second, I was pulled into a warm embrace.
Calvin held me tightly, as if I were something precious he couldn’t bear to let go of.
“Don’t say that, Therese. Please don’t…”
“You still have me. I’ll stay with you-even if it means going to hell and back.”
For days, just like he promised, he stayed with me-never leaving my side.
And strangely… for the first time in a long while, my heart began to stir.
My condition started improving-little by little.
The day before I was scheduled to be discharged, I had that dream again. I saw my mother and my children.
