Filed to story: I Got Married Without You
Before falling into complete darkness, Stella saw her eighteen-year-old self holding a love letter, blushing, and approaching the young boy.
“Erin, I like you. Can you be my boyfriend?”
The boy leaning against the tree beneath him glanced at the love letter in her hand with dissatisfaction.
“Gosh! You’re so old-school, still writing love letters and stuff.”
This made Stella’s face even redder, even her ears turning red.
“Well, yes or no?” She asked.
Erin took the love letter from Stella’s hand and pulled her into his arms.
“I accept.”
Finally, Stella smiled happily.
Stella thought, if it weren’t for that incident when she was eighteen, this could have been her and Erin’s ending…
Unfortunately, life didn’t offer second chances.
The ending for her and Erin could only be one killed and one suicide because their love and entanglement were destined to end from the beginning.
Stella promised Rosalyn that she would video chat with her every day, but on the 29th day, Stella didn’t answer any calls.
Rosalyn held her phone with a black screen, feeling increasingly uneasy and realizing that something was wrong. Erin seemed to have set a deadline for a month…
She quickly left the study and went to find Andrew, only to see him answering a phone call with a serious expression she had never seen before. She hesitated to approach, afraid of hearing bad news. She stopped in her tracks, silently watching his tall figure.
“No matter what, you can’t give up, keep saving people,” Andrew instructed, hanging up the phone and turning to look at Rosalyn. He noticed the nervous and fearful emotions in her eyes and furrowed his brows slightly.
“Is something wrong with Stella?” Rosalyn stepped on the soft carpet, slowly walking towards Andrew. As she got closer, she could see the regretful emotions in the man’s eyes more clearly.
Andrew didn’t want Rosalyn to worry, but she would eventually find out about this matter. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded gently.
“She committed suicide.”
She comm The local police in Panama called and said that after Stella confessed and sent a message, she chose to shoot herself. By the time they arrived, she had already lost too much blood and showed no signs of life.
Andrew didn’t want to give up and insisted that the local police continue to try to save her, but even the bullet pierced through the glass of the landing window, making it impossible to save her.
When Rosalyn heard that Stella had committed suicide, her petite body suddenly stiffened in place. Even her feet on the carpet felt cold, as if she had been placed in an ice cave and couldn’t feel the outside temperature. It was so cold…
Andrew quickly reached out and pulled her into his embrace. His large, comforting hands gently stroked her back.
“This was Stella’s choice.”
It was her choice, and no one could stop it, including Rosalyn, who had tried her best to warm Stella. Because from the beginning, they had misunderstood one thing: Stella still loved Erin. It was because of that love that Stella felt life was unbearable and ultimately chose death.
If they had known from the beginning that Stella still loved Erin, they might have had a chance to save her. But there were no “ifs.” Stella’s actions from start to finish showed that she no longer loved Erin. Rosalyn, leaning against Andrew, tightly grasped his shirt as a wave of self-blame, regret, and heartache overwhelmed her, causing her tears to burst out uncontrollably.
If she had gone with Stella to the free clinic, Stella wouldn’t have had the time to do something foolish, and Rosalyn wouldn’t have had to hear about her suicide…
But Stella, she loved Erin so much. She loved him to the point that she didn’t even show a hint of grief or anger after his death. She simply arranged everything calmly and then went to Panama to fulfill Erin’s last wish, to be buried together with him.
At the moment when Rosalyn’s tears fell, she finally understood the meaning of the 29 days. But why didn’t she guess it earlier? It was because she thought that Stella didn’t love.
They all thought that, including Eva and Andrey. Everyone around Stella thought she didn’t love Erin, and some even hated him so much that they wished he would die.
Stella pretended very well, deceiving everyone, including herself. Because of this, even Erin thought before his death that Stella didn’t love him…
Rosalyn couldn’t perceive what Stella felt when she realized this, but she could only feel the regret in this emotion.
The kind of regret that made her want to cry every time she thought about it. To think that someone Erin believed Stella didn’t love him anymore, and died in such a tragic way. And to think that Stella pretended not to love Erin anymore, and died in such a miserable way.
But they had never truly loved each other during their lives. Even during the few years they were together, Stella deceived Erin without a trace of sincerity. So how could they not feel regret?
They hurried to Panama overnight and saw Stella sitting by the French window. Her posture, movements, and expression were exactly like Erin’s. She was using this way to redeem herself and to tell Tom and Erin that she still loved Erin.
When Andrey saw the lifeless Stella, he dropped to his knees in front of her. He, who had never shown his emotions before, was now crying uncontrollably.
“Stella, it’s all my fault. I didn’t care for you or protect you at all times. It’s my negligence as your cousin that led you to this, and it’s my existence that brought you disaster. I made you a scapegoat. It’s all because of me.”
Full of self-blame, Andrey raised his hand and slapped himself hard. Mia, who was beside him, quickly stopped him and then slowly squatted down, holding Andrey’s arm and silently crying with him. Rosalyn let go of Andrew’ supporting hand and walked up to Stella. She stared at that familiar face for a long time but couldn’t speak a word.
Just a month ago, Stella was running on the beach with Grace, her radiant smile and the fluttering of her skirt in the breeze, all showing the vitality of life. How could such a vibrant life suddenly be gone?
She couldn’t believe it and squatted down, gently touching Stella’s face. It was cold and stiff, without the warmth it used to have.
She had cried all her tears on the way here, and now she could only look at Stella, feeling an indescribable sadness that made it hard for her to breathe.
Beside her, Eva held Stella’s hand and desperately rubbed it, trying to warm up the stiff body with her own body heat, but it was futile.
“Stella, you promised Grace that you would be her godmother forever, that you would be there as she grew up. How could you bear to leave like this?”
Eva held onto Stella, her voice trembling, unable to hold back her tears.
Stella was dead, following Erin, and that was a fact that could not be changed. They had no power to reshape time or bring back the dead. All they could do was helplessly watch as the police took Stella’s body away.
Before the cremation, Stella’s lawyer arrived on the scene and read out her will:
“Rosalyn, I’m sorry. I can’t continue to treat you, but my teacher’s medical skills are better than mine. He will definitely help you conceive a child. If you have a child, I hope one day you can have them call me godmother too.”
“Eva, I also want to apologize to you. Jayden, whom I introduced to you, wasn’t as good as I thought, and he almost hurt you like he hurt me. I’ve always felt guilty, I’m sorry. Also, I think Paul is actually a good guy…”
“Cousin, I’m also sorry to you. I left before your child was born, but I believe you can understand. I’ve been used my whole life, and I killed the person I loved the most. How can I go on living? Death is my best release, so please don’t cry. In my eyes, you’re just a big block of wood, and wood doesn’t cry, right?”
“Lastly, Mr. Evans, thank you for saving me and raising me. Although you’re only one year older than me, in my heart, you’ve always been like a mentor. I hope in the next life, I can still be your subordinate…” “And, meeting all of you is the luckiest and most wonderful thing in my life. Even though I’m gone, you will forever be with my soul, living on and on…”
After the lawyer finished reading the will and handed over the property documents to Andrey, he told everyone that Stella had requested her ashes to be scattered into the sea, any sea would do… Andrey made calls everywhere and found out that Karen had scattered Erin’s ashes in a deserted area, an uninhabited island, but they didn’t know where exactly.
That’s why Stella left such a will. She also wanted to become a lonely ghost, hoping that in her wandering, she might encounter Erin who was still lingering in the world…
Then, in a soulful reunion, she would tell Erin, “My love came late, but I’ve always been here. Please forgive my delayed follow-up.”
Rosalyn held the letter left by Stella, crying uncontrollably. Even though Stella herself was in pain, Rosalyn’s concern was still for her family and friends.
She had promised Stella to be her family, to always be by her side and provide her with the warmth of a home, but she hadn’t fulfilled these promises yet, and Stella had left like this…
