Chapter 4
Saying nothing, Harold turned the light on.
The entire living room was immediately lit up.
His gaze swept over the birthday cake on the coffee table.
He was stunned for a second.
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And then he looked back at the number–shaped birthday candles that I never got to light.
Lilian saw them, too.
She exclaimed.
“Harold, it’s Clarissa’s birthday, too.
“Shall we wake her up and celebrate her birthday?”
They thought I had gone to bed.
Harold frowned imperceptibly.
Then he said, looking displeased, “She doesn’t deserve a birthday.”
I thought now that I was dead, I couldn’t feel pain anymore.
But his words still hurt me.
It was OK, I guessed.
Maybe I wasn’t dead long enough.
Chapter 4
Hearing his words, Lilian couldn’t help but smile happily.
When he turned around, she quickly put that smile away.
His expression softened as he looked at her. “Go back to your room to sleep, Lilian.”
She nodded and then said with concern, “Try not to work too late, OK? Come back and rest when you’re done.”
A gust of wind blew, and she wrapped her arms around herself.
Harold noticed it and then looked over to the balcony.
The window was wide open, the white curtains flowing in the wind.
“I’ll go close the window.”
With that, he walked toward the balcony.
I jumped off from there.
When would he know I was already dead?
After stepping onto the balcony, he stopped moving.
I didn’t know what he was thinking.
He suddenly clenched his fists.
After a while, he unclenched them slowly.
The gust of wind brushed past him and then pierced through my soul.
A long silence passed; then he closed the window.
By the time he turned around, his expression had returned to its usual calm.
After a pause, he continued in a stiff tone, “Tell her we’ll make it up to her with a proper birthday.”
Shocked, I stumbled backward..
Did he just say he was going to throw me a birthday?
I felt amused and sad at the same time.
What was the point of that?
Too late.
My birthday passed already.
He could never make up for it.
