Chapter 9 I've Loved You For Six Years (Part One)

Realizing that perhaps he had been too harsh, Edmund said in a softer tone, "Katrina, Charlotte asked me to take good care of you before she went abroad. She thinks of you as a good friend. That is why⁠—"

Katrina instantly understood what he meant, so as soon as the elevator came, she interrupted him and said, "The elevator is here. I'm leaving now." She was afraid that Edmund would see the tears in her eyes and say things that she didn't want to hear.

Once she was gone, the entire 28th floor fell into silence. Feeling a little annoyed, Edmund walked to the window at the end of the corridor and habitually took out a cigarette from his pocket. For a while, he just played with it without smoking. At that time, James came over and whispered in his ear, "Miss Song is asleep in your office. Do you want me to wake her up?"

Edmund froze for a moment. Then, he lit the cigarette and took a deep drag. "No need," he said indifferently as he breathed out the smoke. With the curtain of smoke over his face, it was hard to see his expression clearly.

James nodded his head and turned to leave, but before he could, Edmund added, "Ask them to send the documents in the afternoon to another office."

Then, he carried on smoking the cigarette in solitude and didn't go back to his office until the smell of smoke in the corridor had completely dissipated.

When he walked in, he found Pauline curled up on the sofa. Her eyebrows were tightly furrowed, as if she was under great stress. Moreover, her face was pale and her forehead was covered with cold sweat. For a while, Edmund just sat next to her and stared at her quietly with tender eyes. If Pauline saw him staring at her this way, she would probably wonder if she was just imagining things.

Even after so many years, there was still deep sorrow and tension on her face. She even seemed to be struggling with nightmares.

Edmund reached out to smooth the wrinkles between her eyebrows, but all of a sudden, he withdrew his hand as if he had been burned. Then, he tentatively reached out again and almost touched her hair before finally lowering his hand. But all of a sudden, his hand was grabbed in midair by Pauline, and his body stiffened.

Pauline began crying random things in her sleep. "Mom, don't go...

Grandpa, I'm so useless...

Edmund..."

Upon hearing her say his name, Edmund felt his heart skip a beat. He slowly pulled his hand out of her grasp, secretly feeling happy.

"Please save my grandfather."

It turned out that she had called his name in her dream just to plead for her grandfather's life. For a moment, he had thought that she had feelings for him. He couldn't help laughing at himself, and the joy that had just surfaced in his heart turned into stabbing pain. Feeling embarrassed and disappointed, Edmund turned away, gently closed the door, and left the office.

Then, he asked James to send him the surveillance video of his office. As he stared at Pauline's sleeping face on the screen of his phone, he reminisced about the past.

Six years ago, in the summer, Katrina had asked him to come to her university to watch her perform on stage. Originally, he hadn't planned on going. The weather outside was hot, so he preferred to play video games in the comfort of his home. However, his sister, Charlotte Lu, had done everything from begging him to threatening him until he finally promised to go that night. Since Katrina had to rehearse before the show, Charlotte Lu had accompanied her to the university and asked Edmund to come later. When he arrived at the university later, he didn't know the location of the venue where the show was held, and he couldn't get through to Charlotte Lu, so he stopped a girl he saw on the way and asked her for directions. This was the first time that he had met Pauline.

"Hi there, do you know where the show is being held?"

Pauline gave him a strange look and said, "Yeah, go straight along this road, turn left, and go to the first building you see."

Before he could even thank her, she ran away in a hurry as if he was a monster. He had no idea that she had fooled him until he arrived at the building she had directed him to. He was a little surprised. It was the first time that a girl had treated him like this. By the time he finally found the venue, Katrina's performance was already over.

On the dark stage, only silhouettes of people running around and setting things up could be seen. Finally, a spotlight fell on the center of the stage, illuminating a lone figure. It was the girl who had fooled him earlier.

Edmund had good eyesight, so even from the distance, he could see her fair and slender neck, straight back, and straight toes. Her eyes shifted around and landed on him, but it was as if she didn't see him at all. However, he couldn't help gazing into them. They were like deep ancient wells in the middle of the summer, reflecting the shadows of the trees and drawing people to them. Edmund found himself involuntarily drowning in her eyes, as if he was hypnotized. He just wanted to stare at her like this for eternity. His heart missed a beat. For a moment, time stood still, and he felt as though they were the only two people in the world. This was the first time in his life that he had had such a feeling. All of a sudden, he knew what love at first sight meant.

She was dancing the Swan Lake. Although the music was cheerful and lively and she had a smile on her face, those two things could not hide the trace of melancholy in her eyes, as if she had a deep suffering within her. It reminded him of his mother, who also had the same look in her eyes. Edmund suddenly forgave the girl for pulling a prank on him. After the song ended, he wanted to talk to her, but she was nowhere to be found. By the time he finally found out her identity by asking around, she was already on the other side of the continent.

He didn't think he would ever see her again, but by some stroke of luck, he met her three years later after he attended her elder sister's birthday party. If it weren't for the car accident, they might never have known each other.