His Diary and My Choice

Leonard Burton and I are childhood sweethearts, bound by a family-arranged marriage.

After we marry, we live a loving, harmonious life. In a terrible accident, he even gives up his only chance at survival to save me.

After Leonard's death, we find a journal among his belongings.

In it, he records the three years he was missing after falling off a cliff—years spent with another woman he deeply loved.

But his parents had forcibly separated them and arranged our marriage instead.

Unbeknownst to anyone, he had continued to protect that woman from afar, silently and faithfully.

At the funeral, Leonard's mother, Charlotte Newman, is inconsolable. "Leonard, it's all my fault. Would you still be alive if I'd let you marry Yelena back then?"

His father, Samuel Burton, glares at me with hatred. "He fell off that cliff saving you. He died in that crash shielding you. Why do you bring him nothing but harm? Why aren't you the one who's dead?"

Yes, why is it not me who's dead?

I look at Leonard's familiar, smiling face on his gravestone before running at it and smashing my head on it.

When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to when he just returned from that small fishing village.

This time, I choose to let him go and give him what he wants.

Finally, I see Leonard again.

"Miss, aren't you leaving?" the butler reminded me gently from behind.

Taking a deep breath, I forced a polite smile and approached Leonard Burton slowly.

I was dreading every step I took as scenes from my past life flashed before my eyes.

He had pushed me out of harm's way just before the accident happened. His diary had been full of his yearning for Yelena Lynch, the name he had murmured in his dream subconsciously.

"Leonard," I called out softly.

He turned around and seemed to be in a trance. The next instant, he flashed a polite yet distant smile.

"It's been a while," he said.

I noticed the seashell bracelet on his right wrist at this moment. It shimmered under the sunlight.

It had been a gift from Yelena. I hadn't noticed it in my past life, but my eyes hurt just from looking at it now.

"You…" I opened my mouth but was at a loss for words.

"The doctor said I haven't regained my memory completely." He massaged his temples. "I'm still confused about many things."

I stared at his slightly weary expression and suddenly thought of the words he had written in his diary in my previous life.

"Whenever I saw Lena picking seashells at the beach, I always thought that was the most beautiful sight in the world."

As it turned out, someone else had caught Leonard's attention, though he used to be in love with me.

…

The next morning, Leonard's mother, Charlotte Newman, gathered everyone in the family to discuss the wedding.

I sat beside Leonard and watched him absent-mindedly flip through the wedding proposal while circling his finger on the paper.

"Leonard, what do you think about this venue?" Charlotte asked.

He looked up and seemed baffled for a second. "It… It's pretty good."

I realized then that he had occasionally been looking out the window, where there was a garden with fully bloomed roses growing.

In the past, I would've thought he was simply enjoying the scenery. But now, I knew that he was thinking about the hillside covered with wild flowers in the fishing village.

"I think the rose garden is pretty good," I said softly. "Let's hold our wedding there."

He immediately turned around and looked at me. A hint of surprise flitted across his gaze.

I flashed him a gentle smile in response, but I was bleeding inside.

I had booked a flight ticket to travel abroad on the day of the wedding. In my past life, I had dreamed of traveling the world, but I couldn't do it because of various reasons.

Leonard eventually found time to go with me but had been in a car accident and sacrificed his life to save me.

This wedding would be my last gift to him.