“I’m sorry, he’s bothering you,” Elara apologized to me. Then she stood up, raised her hand, and slapped Chris across the face. Again and again.
You’re hitting me? Elara, didn’t you love me most? How can you bear to hit me?” Chris cried, stunned. “Is it because of this bastard? If 1 kill him, will you come back to me?”
10:07 @
Chris suddenly produced a knife, lunging to stab me. Before I could even react, Elara seized the knife tightly, letting the blade slice
deep into her palm. Blood gushed.
“You’re protecting him?” Chris stared, utterly disbelieving. “You hated him so much! Why would you hurt yourself like this for him…”
Chris, seeing the scene, his face a mask of disbelief, unconsciously loosened his grip on the knife.
“No,” she said, her voice hollow. “I love Alex. In this life, I will never love another. But he doesn’t want me anymore.”
As Elara spoke, her dark eyes, devoid of light, fixed on me with an intense, desperate gaze. Somehow, an ominous premonition
suddenly coiled in my gut. Sure enough, the next instant, she grasped the knife with both hands and plunged it, without hesitation,
into Chris’s heart…
The restaurant had already descended into chaos, yet Elara seemed entirely unaffected. Chris lay on the floor, and she sat atop
him, stabbing him again and again.
“It’s all because of you! If it weren’t for you, my parents wouldn’t have died, and Alex wouldn’t have left me! Why did you have to appear in my life? Why? Tell me! Tell me!”
Chris couldn’t answer her questions. He was dying, his eyes wide, fixed on the madwoman above him with utter disbelief. Elara
didn’t stop until the police arrived. As they prepared to lead her away, her eyes, blank and hollow, met mine.
“Alex, I’ve killed Chris. Can you… can you forgive me now?”
I stared at her in silence, not uttering a single word. I just felt that she was still exactly as she had been in my previous life. She had
never changed. She always blamed others for her misfortunes, even taking their lives for it. Last time, it was me. This time, it was
Chris.
8
Elara was sentenced to death. While awaiting her execution, she had a change of heart and agreed to the divorce. The moment I
received the divorce certificate, I felt an immense sense of relief.
Before her execution, Elara requested to see me. After some thought, I agreed.
On the other side of the bars, she was much thinner, looking almost like a stranger. Seeing me, she immediately pressed close to the bars, telling me excitedly.
“Alex! I had such a vivid dream last night! That day, I didn’t go on the trip with Chris. You dragged me to Willow Creek, and we conv-
inced Mayor Thompson, and even my parents, to evacuate early! My parents didn’t die at all!”
“Do you know the second half of that dream?” I asked flatly.
“What?” She looked confused.
I took a deep breath and replied, “Your parents didn’t die, but Chris got into trouble during the trip. You blamed it all on me. Then, to get revenge, you tricked me into joining you on a cruise, and you sold me overseas. I was imprisoned, brutalized, my very being exploited until my dying breath…”
Elara shook her head vehemently. “No! Impossible! I loved you so much, how could I do such a thing to you? No, it couldn’t be!”
1 looked at her coldly, stating unequivocally. “In that dream, the person you loved was Chris. No, that’s not quite right. In truth, you only loved yourself. The moment you made an irreparable mistake, you sought to place the blame on someone else.”
Elara fell silent at my words, for a long moment. I was about to say my goodbyes when she suddenly looked up, her face streaked with tears, and pleaded with me.
“Alex! I was wrong! I truly know I was wrong! Can you forgive me?”
“No.” I said. “Elara, farewell.” I had no interest in saying anything more to her. I turned to leave.
“Alex! I was wrong! I truly know I was wrong! Can you forgive me?”
“No.” I said. “Elara, farewell.” I had no interest in saying anything more to her. I turned to leave.
From the other side, she frantically pounded on the glass. “Alex! I’m about to die, and you won’t even forgive me? Even a lie, please! I beg you!”
I didn’t answer, merely quickened my pace. I was eager to embark on the next chapter of my life. As for Elara, she had definitively exited my life’s stage.
