Love was gone, career was ruined. At what should have been the prime of his life, the gloomy atmosphere around him was terrifyingly heavy.
“Hello, one Robusta and one Con Panna. Thank you.”
“Actually, could you change the Robusta to a Vienna for me?”
Derek smiled and asked me:
“Changed your taste? I remember you didn’t like sweet coffee before.”
I shook my head:
“My husband always says there’s too much caffeine in Robusta and it’s bad for the stomach, so he keeps changing it to Vienna for me. After drinking it for a long time, I’ve come to like sweet coffee.
“That’s nice. I saw your wedding venue – it was that famous castle in Switzerland, right?”
“I happened to be on a business trip and went to take a look.”
“Mm.”
The White family had no business in Switzerland. But I didn’t expose him, just smiled and responded, exchanging pleasantries like normal casual friends.
“Would it be alright to approve my friend request? I…”
I set down my
coffee cup, still smiling mildly as I responded to Derek:
“I’d rather not. I know what you mean, and you don’t need to be too concerned. For me, that’s all in the past now. Besides, you clearly lost more face in that whole scene back then.”
“I did love you, but I truly don’t anymore. I have a wonderful family now a loving husband and an adorable daughter. I’m living a brand new life, and I have no desire to reconnect with someone who was a mistake in my past.”
–
“Derek, what’s missed is missed. Whether it was love or hate, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
My overly calm expression seemed to hurt him. Derek’s eyes reddened slightly.
When I went back to find Lily, Manager Wang was engrossed in reading her a storybook.
It wasn’t until I approached that Lily looked up and asked me:
“Mom, have you read The Little Prince? The fox was so nice, why did the little prince still choose that rose in the end?”
“Because that was the rose he carefully nurtured, the one and only rose for him.”
Lily’s eyes looked confused. I smiled and took her hand:
“When Lily is a bit older, you’ll be able to understand what mom is saying.”
Derek had been very quiet the whole time. He only gave Lily a brand new copy of The Little Prince as we were leaving the mall.
Through the car window, Derek and I nodded goodbye to each other.
In that moment when our eyes met, I still couldn’t read his thoughts, just like when we first met.
As the car slowly drove away from the spot, leaving the figure of an old acquaintance behind, I hugged my daughter’s soft body.
This was the last act of revenge I gave him.
A gentle and dignified exit.
From now on, memories would be our only way of meeting.
And I would replace Yvonne, becoming the unattainable love in Derek’s life.
In Derek’s world, the love he can never have isn’t a rainstorm, but a lifelong dampness. He will be forever trapped in this dampness, stirring up storms in every calm day.
I was once the fox, and also that single red rose. But now I’m just the little prince who has finished his journey.
My daughter held up her phone:
“Mom, Dad wants to talk to you.”
“Coming!”
