Time Brews Longing

Decluttering

After Aqua returned to the hotel, she turned on her laptop and started filling out a registration form.

Aqua had intended to finish her master’s and pass the bar exam. However, her plan was ruined when John and Will arrived.

Even though three years had passed since then, it was still not too late for her.

After she finished registering for the master’s and sent a screenshot to Lily, she immediately sent a list of books to her.

“Come on. Let’s study together.”

She studied until midnight and felt tired. After lying down on the bed, she checked her phone, only to find that she had a few missed calls.

All of them were from Samara.

She did not call her back. Instead, she went to Instagram.

Someone had tagged her.

Three hours ago, Samara uploaded a post with some text and nine pictures. [Have you had coffee today?]

At the center of the nine pictures was her, smiling. John’s jacket was on her shoulders, and she was surrounded by a group of actors.

A multitude of people liked her post.

Among them was an ID called Cloud Corporation CEO John Frank. His comment attracted a load of attention.

[You bagged a one-billion-dollar deal! You’re amazing, Samara <3]

Underneath was a bunch of comments.

[He’s so sweet! Is this a CEO’s love?]

[I’m shipping this.]

Not to be outdone, Will uploaded a picture of himself with Samara and posted it. [My Goddess.]

The people went wild online.

[What’s going on? Are they going official?]

[Samara is so lucky! I’m so jealous…]

There were plenty of other similar comments.

The people who tagged Aqua all said that she sucked and was even throwing a hissy fit.

[Aqua didn’t manage to seal the deal even after so long, but the moment Samara became the person-in-charge, the client agreed to sign the contract the next day.]

[Samara is amazing!]

So, many people thought that she was jealous of Samara because she had been replaced for the project.

But Aqua was the one who had been in charge of the project for three years. The client had finally relented and was going to sign the contract. After she typed the contract out, John then called her and told her that she was being replaced.

Right then, Samara sent a message to her.

[Sorry, Aqua. Don’t take their words to heart.]

Aqua did not reply.

The next day, she went to the Franks’ house and organized her stuff.

Even though she felt reluctant to part with them, things in life always changed, and there would always come a time when she had to part with everything.

The awards and trophies she won at work were on display in a glass cabinet.

The clothes and shoes she wore had been organized neatly by the season.

On the table was a Lego model she built together with John.

She had even bought an acrylic box to cover it from dust.

John had custom-ordered the set from another country. It was a 10:1 model of how she looked when she turned eighteen.

She took out her phone to take a few pictures before logging into a social media platform.

Since John was trending heavily on the news, his fans jumped on the bandwagon for everything related to him.

She livestreamed a sale and tagged him, so her view count skyrocketed.

[You’re selling the Lego model?]

[Are you crazy? You’re selling the trophies as well?]

Aqua remained calm. “I’m selling everything.”

Someone then asked whether she was going to sell the pictures behind her.

Aqua turned around and noticed the pictures of her with John and Will on the wall.

That was a picture of the three of them during the Outstanding Young Business People Award.

She said without hesitation, “I’m selling them too. I’ll be donating all of the money I get from the things I sell today to charity.”

She did not want to keep a single item.

John’s fans went crazy, and all the items were soon sold.

She worked for an entire night, and she only managed to pack up all the things she had to deliver when the sun rose again.

While she was waiting for the delivery men, she scrolled through her phone in boredom.

Some time ago, during dawn, John and Will had posted pictures of themselves with Samara.

They uploaded it one after another. It was a blatant show of their competition.

Will was a flamboyant person and always wanted to boast whenever he got something.

But that was not John’s style. However, after some thinking, she figured that this was how men acted when they were in love.

Even though she no longer cared, her heart still stung for a bit.

The delivery truck and 911 arrived just then.

“Aqua, how could you sell the presents we gave you?!”

Will had been chasing after the delivery truck all along the way and rushed through several red lights, which ended up with him getting stopped by the traffic police.

He felt his heart ache. Aqua’s room was empty. Even the crystal shoes he had gifted her were gone.

Those were made of true crystals, and there were only two of them in the world.

One pair was in a museum, and the other was with Aqua.

Aqua gave him a bland look. “Upset that your money is gone? I can pay you back.”

Will got worked up. “This isn’t a problem about money! They were my presents for you!”

Aqua nodded nonchalantly. “Since you gave them to me, they’re mine to deal with.”

With a click, the door swung open.

John walked in and looked around. When he saw the Lego model in the corner, he sighed in relief.

While they spoke, the housekeeper knocked on the door and told them that a stranger had come to take the goods.

Aqua smiled and picked up the model to go downstairs.

Realizing what she was about to do, John became anxious and wanted to snatch it, but someone stopped him.

One of his investors had bought it.

“Sorry, Mr. Frank, but it looks like you’ll have to give up on this model.”

After watching the buyer leave, Aqua sighed in relief.

John’s expression was dark, and the mockery on his face was hurtful. “Are you jealous? Angry? If you do this, you’ll only make us hate you more.”

Will’s voice was also icy. “If only you were half as obedient as Samara was.”

She could not be bothered trying to say any soothing words to them, so she shut the door.

She was just clearing out her old stuff, and they got angry for that?

What would they think if they knew that she had already decided to erase them from her life?