Love Can’t Be Defeated

"Joey, do you think if you hit me, your Auntie will like you more or hate you more?” he asked. "Don't forget! Your feelings for her can never be a reality. Leslie will never accept this kind of love."

His words drained the fight out of me. I slumped to the ground, silent and defeated.

However, he wasn’t done yet. Right before my eyes, he took out his phone and dialed Auntie’s number.

Before I could figure out what he was about to do, with a panicked voice, he yelled loudly to the phone, "Leslie! Joey has gone crazy! He didn’t just hit me, he tried to kill me!”

My auntie had not had a chance respond, before he hung up abruptly. Then, with a sudden, violent motion, he dragged me and leaped into the pool with me in tow.

The sharp, chemical sting of chlorine filled my nose as he shoved me underwater.

I could not swim, moreover I suffered from claustrophobia. So, I became panic.

My limbs were flailing wildly, I felt as though I were being swallowed by an unending whirlpool. My vision blurred, my senses dulled and I spiraled deeper into fear.

In the haze, I thought I saw Auntie leaping into the water, reaching out her hand toward me. For a fleeting moment, I believed salvation was at hand. However, her hand passed me by and she grabbed him instead.

***

When I woke up, I was in the hospital room. Beside me, sat an imposing middle-aged man. He looked sternly at me while his mouth chewing gum. It was Harry.

"Harry," I croaked weakly. "Why am I here?"

Harry raised his hand as if to flick my forehead, but then sighed heavily and dropped it. He just said I was the one who pulled you out. Have you packed your things for the trip?”

I nodded faintly.

There wasn’t much to pack. A few clothes and I could leave this place behind.

“I don’t even need to ask to know who’s behind this,” Harry said grimly. “That guy, the one from the Lombart Family. He must’ve done something to you, didn’t he?”

“President Morris always spoiled you back then. Even the slightest argument and she’d fight tooth and nail for your sake. She turned down countless big deals just for you.”

“Yet now … how did it come to this?” He sighed deeply.

Harry’s words brought back vivid fragments of the pool incident. Yet, I did not answer his question, Instead, I asked, “Where … where is Auntie?”

He hesitated before nodding toward the door.

I dragged myself out of the bed and shuffled toward the door. As I peered through the gap, I could just see the room across the hall.

Auntie was sitting by the bed. In her hand, she was holding a bowl of porridge. She carefully blew on each spoonful before feeding it to him, the man from the Lombart Family.

As if on cue, the damn man noticed me. With a smirk, he wrapped an arm around Auntie’s waist and flashed me a triumphant, mocking wink.

There was a time when Auntie never left my side in a hospital. Even the smallest scratch would make her fuss over me, bandaging my wounds and soothing my pain.

Yet now? She knew I couldn’t swim, knew I had claustrophobia and knew how close I came to dying, but still, she chose to save him first.

A bitter smile tugged at my lips. Yet, beneath the surface, the pain began to ease, replaced by a strange, quiet calm. The turmoil in my heart subsided. It made me able to look at them without flinching.

Finally, Auntie noticed me. Her expression frosted over as she stood to shut the door in my face.

I stepped forward and stopped her.

“Auntie,” I said softly, “whatever happened, I just want to say to you that tomorrow, for your birthday, I’ll be at home waiting for you. Consider it my last request. Can you grant me this?”