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One day,I couldn't take it."Don't you have anything better to do?"
He pouted,"Chasing you is the most important thing in my life."
I crossed my arms."Aren't you and Ethan buddies?Does he know you're stealing his girl?"
Honestly,I was curious.
Mason didn't hide it."After that,we're done.He came to me after you kicked him out,tried to fight me.Good thing I've learned a thing or two about boxing."
I narrowed my eyes.No wonder he was bruised all over that day.
He added,"Good riddance.I've been sick of him forever.Always one step ahead of me.In college,I liked you first..."
My eyes widened."You...in college?"
He shrugged casually."Yeah..."
Before he could finish,I slammed the door shut.
Leaning against it,my heart pounded like a drum.
Someone had loved me,just as fiercely as I'd loved someone.I thought I was the only fool,giving everything,moved by my own efforts.
But love is about mutual giving.
In that pool,I had already fallen for Mason.Who wouldn't,when someone offers you their heart and tried to save you regardless of their own safety?
But after disappointment,I was cautious,afraid of being hurt again.
I needed time to be sure this wasn't just a fleeting whim.
A year later,in Times Square,Mason knelt in the center.The giant screens and hot air balloons in the sky all bore his proposal to Sophie.
My tears poured out,unstoppable.
Mason held a ring and flowers.
His voice was broken, but he uttered each word slowly and carefully."Sophie,I know you've been through love's ups and downs,become sensitive,hesitant.But I,Mason Quinn,choose one person for life,and that's you,Sophie,forever.I want to hold your hand through the rest of my life,to see the world's wonders together with you."
"Will you allow me?"
The crowd cheered as fireworks lit up the sky.
But then the crowd stirred—Ethan,stumbling forward,looking weathered and aged.
His voice trembled."Sophie,I was wrong.I shouldn't have ignored you,shouldn't have wavered.Don't be with him,please,let's go back to how it was..."
He knelt down,pride gone,clutching my hem.
But before he could finish,the crowd,disgusted,dragged him away.
The world went quiet again.
It was just me and Mason.
My voice was soft."I will."
My love was vast,enough to endure Ethan's wrongdoings.But it was also small,with room only for Mason in my future.
We married soon after,and I gave birth to our child.
I never expected to run into a familiar face at the hospital.
Carrying my baby,I went past a ward and saw Ethan.
His eyes were vacant,lifeless and he was speaking to a rag dol in front of himl.
"Sophie,my eyes are blind now too.Don't be mad,okay?I'll stay with you forever,I’ll never leave you again,never go to anyone else,never kiss anyone else."
He slapped his own face hard,over and over.
Nurses passing by whispered,"That patient...they say he betrayed his girlfriend,causing her to be blind.Now,after she left him,he's become a lunatic,imagining he's blind."
Beside Ethan stood Lily,sobbing,holding him.
"Ethan,do you remember me?Can you see me?"
Ethan,guided only by sound,looked around blankly.
He shook his head."Don't know,don't know you.I only know Sophie."
He hugged the doll and drifted to sleep,while Lily clung to him,crying.
I'd heard that someone had tipped Ethan off about the pool incident.I was true that Lily couldn't swim before,but she could then.
Ethan was furious when he learned the truth, he slapped her hard her and told her to get lost.
But now,they were entwined again,back to square one.
Say what you will,Lily truly loved Ethan.They were a matvh each other.
"Darling!"
Mason's voice pulled me back to reality.
He grinned,noticing my stare.
"What's up?"
I looked at him deeply.
"Nothing."
After all the hardship,meeting you made it all worthwhile.
