Chapter 8
At the engagement party, Markus received a call. It was not the
call he had arranged for but from Raquel.
But it didn’t matter. Markus just needed an excuse to leave the
engagement party. He didn’t care what the excuse was.
When Markus drove to the bar, a man in a blue jacket came to
him immediately. “She asked me to drive her home, but she
didn’t tell me where she lived. I didn’t know what to do, so I
called the number that she set as her favorite.”
He looked at Markus and said in fear, “Are you her boss? Will
she give me a bad review when she wakes up tomorrow?”
Markus took Raquel from him and comforted him, “Don’t worry,
she won’t. Leave the rest to me.”
Markus supported Raquel and walked to the outside. Raquel
kept moving in his arms. She poked his face and pulled his hair
from time to time.
Raquel seemed really drunk. Drunk people would always say
honest words. Markus tried to probe her. “Why did you get
closer to me?”
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Raquel frowned as if she was thinking. Then, she smirked, “To
thank you.”
Markus frowned. “For what?”
“For saving my life.”
Markus asked, “Then what do you plan to do to thank me?”
“I will give you the best things in this world.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you.”
At university, Markus took an elective course regarding the art
of inquiry. The key point was to follow the other person’s logic
step by step and guide them to answer his questions.
But the answer Markus got was out of his expectations.
Raquel loved him.
Markus looked at Raquel again and again. Raquel smirked
genuinely. She was really drunk and didn’t seem to be
pretending.
Many people had confessed their love to Markus. Markus had also witnessed many kinds of love, some intense, some gentle.
Chapter
But Markus had never seen such love before. Raquel hid her
love in the bottom of her heart for years without letting anyone
know.
All of a sudden, everything made sense. Markus knew why
Raquel’s place had nothing for men now.
Markus wondered if he could believe Raquel.
Raquel loved Markus, so she was willing to give everything, including her life.
The next day, I woke up from a hangover, feeling a headache. I
vaguely remembered that I had a dream last night.
I only remembered Markus‘ dark eyes. Why did I dream about
him again? It was not ethical to dream about someone else’s
husband.
For a long time, I forced myself not to care about what
happened in the Serrano Group.
I kept traveling. I took trains and got off at random places. Then,
I wandered aimlessly in different cities.
I visited some people and analyzed their living conditions. Then,
I donated different amounts of money to them.
Sometimes, I wondered if everything would be different if
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someone had helped me and my mom. If that had been the
case, maybe my mom would have wanted to live.
Many people were struggling in this world. I could only help
those I witnessed.
I heard about Markus again when the Serrano Group was
bankrupted.
On the cover of the magazine, the photo of Markus and Judith
was split into two pieces. The big bloody words said, “The
arranged marriage failed. What can the Serrano Group do?”
I was anxious and called Judith. Judith sounded sorry but just
sighed, “Raquel, you should have known. I was not marrying
Markus. I was marrying into the Serrano family. I could do
nothing about it.”
After the initial fluster, I calmed down and sensed that
something was really off. I suddenly realized that maybe Markus
did all this.
The Serrano Group seemed to flourish in all industries. But the inferiors had too much power and the scope of the organization had been redundantly large. Under its prosperous facade, there
were hidden crises and challenges.
I tried to remind Markus of the issues, but he smoothed over the
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conversation every time. I guessed he had plans. It turned out I
was right.
I suddenly remembered what Markus said when he was drunk that day. It turned out the Serrano family was nothing but a cage
to him.
I suddenly felt Markus should have someone supporting him at
this moment, just like Markus held my hands tightly when my
mother wanted to jump off the building with me.
No matter who that person was, they only needed to hold
Markus‘ hands.
Thinking of this, I rushed to the company.
The company used to be lit up, but now, it was hidden in the
dark. The company’s last amount of money was used to compensate the employees.
I walked through the seats and pushed open the door. Markus
was devoured by the darkness. The night wind blew, and the
window blinds rattled sharply.
Markus looked up at me, his eyes dark. I didn’t know what he
was thinking about.
I walked closer to Markus and held his hands. I had thought carefully about what I should say on my way, but I forgot about
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them all.
I only knew I wanted to hold Markus‘ hands, just like how he
held mine many years ago.
