Time Brews Longing

In The End, She Let Go

The knife was blunt. Even so, John’s and Will’s hearts still hurt for Samara.

They cried out Samara’s name at the same time.

John panicked, even though he was used to not showing his emotions on his face, since he was a leader.

But he had teared up, and his hands started trembling.

Will put a stop to the gathering, sent all of the guests away, and raised his voice. “Aqua, what on earth do you want?! Are you only going to be happy after Samara dies?! Apologize to her!”

Her heart stung.

Through the screen, Aqua felt as if she was right there, and she felt as if the knife had not cut into Samara, but her heart.

Her nose burned, and her eyes turned watery, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. “I didn’t even do anything…”

John looked up. His gaze was distant and cold. “You’re still defending yourself? If it weren’t for you, Samara wouldn’t have hurt herself!

“We’re just asking you for an apology, and you’re refusing to do it?

“Aqua, I’m disappointed in you.”

Aqua did not even realize when she ended the call.

Aqua sat by the bed and let her mind wander for a while, but she could not recover from John’s last sentence.

Soon, Lily logged in.

[Boo, I’m awake! It’s Christmas Eve over here today! Merry Christmas Eve!”

Aqua wanted to cry, but she held her tears back.

She wanted to complain to Lily but found herself unable to say anything in the end.

“Alright, Boo. Merry Christmas Eve to you, too!”

As they continued exchanging voice messages, their conversation was interrupted by rapid knocking.

It was John and Will.

Aqua’s gaze turned dark.

She had not expected them to find her. Just as she thought, so long as she was in the country, her actions would be controlled.

When they saw Aqua’s swollen eyes, John and Will exchanged a glance, and all the things they wanted to say died on their tongues.

Even so, they still had to warn her.

“Aqua, you’re an adult right now. You have to be mindful of your words and actions.”

“That’s right. Samara is mild-mannered and won’t hold this against you, but we don’t want this to happen again.”

So, they came here to denounce her.

But they did not have to worry. This was not going to happen again.

Aqua’s expression turned colder.

In her rage, she gripped her phone so tightly, and she trembled, but she accidentally touched the play button for the voice message Lily just sent her.

“Boo, I’ll have a hot guy pick you up.”

Aqua never thought that Lily would send her such a voice message.

Even so, she did not panic and just replied calmly, “Got it. Thanks.”

There was no doubt that John and Will heard it too.

John had moved to sit on the sofa and bit down on the cigarette he put in his mouth. The hand he used to hold the lighter started shaking, and he exchanged a glance with Will before he asked, “Where are you going?”

He felt really uneasy.

Since yesterday, Aqua had been acting unusually.

Aqua composed herself and feigned relaxation. “For official business.”

She was not wrong. Settling deals and passing the bar exam were both official business.

In any case, John and Will were treating her worse than a stranger would, so she did not feel the need to reveal too much information about herself.

After all, even if she did say it, their focus would still be on Samara.

Since she had decided to stop working for the company, things would be great for their darling Samara. John and Will might even pop a champagne bottle for it.

John sighed in relief and exhaled slowly. “Don’t be rash. I have a few more projects at hand. After Samara picks one, they’ll all be yours.”

Will scoffed. “Aqua, do you seriously have to compete with Samara for everything?”

Aqua wanted to laugh, but found that she could not.

They had forgotten that they were the ones who had flown abroad to beg her to go back to help them.

Before she chased them away, they cast a glance at their phones and left in a hurry.

While they were walking away, they were still whispering to each other.

“The doctor said that Samara is okay.”

“Thank goodness… She’s really lucky.”

Aqua shut the door coldly.

…

The next morning, the receptionists gave her an exquisitely wrapped package and told her someone had given it to her as a Christmas gift.

It had no name attached to it. After she opened the box, she found chocolates inside.

She looked at the snow outside and suddenly remembered the past.

Since John loved chocolates, she had pestered him into making handmade chocolates with her.

Meanwhile, Will followed them like a shadow.

In the past, when the three of them hung out, no matter what they did, everything had a domestic charm to it.

As she looked at the beautiful box, Aqua sighed.

Honestly, she was allergic to the nuts in the chocolate.

But in order to make John and Will happy, she would only ever go to those gatherings after taking allergy pills.

At that moment, she did not need to enjoy the chocolates anymore.

She called room service, finished her breakfast, and intended to study.

But as time passed, she found herself unable to keep her eyes open. The words on the screen became blurry, and even breathing became a chore.

She rushed into the bathroom to look at the mirror, only to find that her face and neck were swollen, and they itched like crazy.

These were classic signs of an allergic reaction.

But she did not even eat the chocolates!

Since she had left in a hurry, she did not bring loratadine with her. She wanted to ask the receptionist whether they had any, only to find that she could no longer speak.

Aqua put on her cap and pushed it down before hurrying downstairs. But while she was going down, she crashed into someone because she could not see clearly.

“Hiss…”

She fell on the floor.

“Oh God! You’re so ugly!”

The person who ran into her cried out in surprise after seeing her face, leading to the people insulting her.

“You look like a pig, and you have the gall to stay in such a high-class hotel?”

“The hotel really just admits anyone, huh…”

She reached out to grope around for her cap. Once she got it, she wore it. Her actions screamed of panic and urgency.

Without bothering about anything else, she ran to the pharmacy across the road. The wind howled past her ears. Only one thought remained in her mind—get help.

The pharmacist got her the medication and water. Aqua practically had to use all of her strength to swallow it.

While waiting for the ambulance, she grabbed onto the pharmacist’s arm so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

At the moment she opened her eyes in the hospital, she saw a piercing white light and the medical staff moving about.

She knew what it meant. She had survived.

Right then, her tears finally rolled down.

When her attending physician saw her wake up, he finally sighed in relief.

“After you fainted, we looked for your emergency contact on your phone. They’re waiting to see you outside.”

Two men stood at the door, and Will was the first to walk in.

In his hands, he held a box of chocolates. When he saw Aqua lying in bed, he was displeased. “Do you really hate Samara that much? How could you throw the Christmas gift she gave you into the trash bin?!”

Aqua turned to John, who remained quiet and expressionless.

He sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, and he said faintly, “Aqua, you crossed the line this time.”

Faint disdain flashed in his eyes when he looked at her. “Pretending to be sick isn’t a good habit.”

A nurse knocked on the door to change Aqua’s IV drip right then. When she heard what they said, she was surprised, “Don’t you know that the patient has a nut allergy?”