Chapter 4 Angela Said

Five years ago, the incident had never left his memory, leaving a deep trauma for the figure who now stood looking at him with the same gaze.

"Why is the world so narrow? Why does fate have to bring her back together with the monster she hates so much?"

Angela, the girl whose future was ruined by William five years ago, looked very different from the last time William met her. She appeared more mature, and her beauty had increased with age.

"Once again, I apologize." William extended his hand to help Angela up, but she brushed it away.

"Go away." Angela immediately stood up and swung her steps to quickly get away from the presence of the monster called William.

"Wait a minute." William tugged on Angela's arm; their business wasn't done yet, and Angela shouldn't just walk away.

"Let go of me!" Angela pulled her hand away violently, unwilling to have William touch her.

William sighed harshly; he tried to restrain himself from being rude to Angela. After five years of pressure from his parents, William realized that maybe everything he was going through was payback for his bad attitude towards Angela in the past.

"I apologize for what happened five years ago. I regret my actions." William truly regretted everything that had ever happened between the two of them.

Angela laughed sarcastically, noting how easy it was for him to say sorry after what he had done to her. She had spent five years carrying that burden alone-humiliated, ostracized, and considered trash by the people who knew her. All the bad things she had experienced so far were caused by William, and Angela really hated him.

"Will all that apologizing give you back what you took from me?" Angela shook her head. "You ruined everything. You made me lose my future husband, and you also made me alienated from my own family. Because of you, I have to endure being... all by myself." Angela pursed her lips tightly. Her breathing was ragged; she tried to restrain herself.

Angela almost said something that William shouldn't know. The man would only ruin her life again if Angela dealt with him a second time. "Never mind, there's no point in me wasting my energy dealing with a bad guy like you. Get out of my way, villain!"

"Hold on, Angela!" William was still trying to restrain her even though he knew she hated him.

"Let go of me! I dare you to touch me one more time; I'll scream and let people know you're trying to do me harm." Angela was not messing around with her threat; if William touched her once more, she would make him regret his actions.

William surrendered and wouldn't force his will anymore. Angela seemed to really hate him, and he understood why she didn't want to deal with him a second time. William could only look at Angela, who had now walked away from him. Since the incident five years ago, William really couldn't forget that woman. He searched in various ways for Angela's whereabouts, but after the incident occurred, Angela and her father disappeared as if swallowed by the earth. "I will never give up on getting your forgiveness." William was determined to apologize to Angela and do whatever it took to make amends for the past. Angela took a deep breath, repeatedly doing the same to relieve the tightness in her heart. Five years had passed, but the pain would never go away.

Five years ago, she was just an ordinary girl, intent on finding a job to provide for her family. However, good fortune was not on her side; William tainted her chastity, and the man left Angela without a future husband. Angela's boyfriend broke off the relationship when he found out that she was pregnant, even though, when the two of them bonded, Angela had never been touched by her boyfriend. Obviously, Angela's pregnancy was disastrous for her relationship and made her lover's family think that Angela was not a good woman worthy of being a future wife.

"Mommy!" called a small child, breaking Angela's reverie from her bitter past. Angela quickly wiped away her tears; she didn't want her little angel to see her sad.

"Josh, come here, baby." Angela spread her arms. The boy ran into Angela's arms. She kissed both his left and right cheeks in turn. Josh was her encouragement and her soulmate. Josh and Jeny-those two children were the reason why Angela had made it this far.

"Mommy crying?" Josh was still small, but he was very sensitive about his mother's feelings.

"No, honey. Mommy's not crying." Angela's tears welled up even more at the question Josh asked her.

Josh gently wiped the tears from Angela's cheeks. She wasn't even five years old, but she was already thinking like an adult. Accustomed to experiencing difficult things with Angela since childhood, Josh grew into a strong boy who loved his mother very much.

"Mommy, don't cry. I don't want to see Mommy sad. Wait until I grow up. After I grow up, I will work hard to make Mommy and Jeny happy. I will be the adult Josh that will make you both happy," Josh loudly told Angela what he wanted to be when he grew up.

"Mommy's son."

Angela hugged her son tightly, the greatest gift God had given her. Seeing her sincere smiles from her two children makes her spirit rise again from within; she will try to be the best mother and father for them.

Although Josh and Jeny have never known their father since they were little, Angela has never let them feel the absence of their father. She plays the role of both mother and father to Josh and Jeny, even though sometimes her children ask her who their father is.

"Mommy, why don't you hug me too?" Jeny protested from the patient's bed as she woke up and saw her older brother being hugged by their mother.

As Angela smiled at her daughter, she invited Josh to join Jeny. The three of them hugged each other tightly, and occasionally, Angela kissed Josh and Jeny's heads in turn.

"Thank you for being present in Mommy's life. You are everything to Mommy."

From behind a door that was not closed tightly, someone noticed the mother and the two children embracing. Her chest felt tight seeing the three of them, but she did not understand why that feeling was present in her heart.