Chapter 9
Afterward. Benson came to see me again.
I had been discharged from the hospital and was leaving for Washington, D.C. to marry Triston. I didn’t wanna see Benson. However, he slit his
own wrist.
He tried to reach me through our mutual friends. But the guests at his engagement banquet disdained him and Ethel.
Then, Benson committed suicide again at the hospital. Out of options, the doctor had to call me for him.
Benson wanted to meet me at a cafe. Triston drove me there and waited
for me in the car outside.
It had been only a few months, but Benson seemed to have aged for over ten years. He didn’t even shave. The boy I knew was gone.
“Marly!”
He was excited to see me and reached out to take my wrist. Then, something seemed to occur to him, and he stopped.
“I asked around. Triston is indeed the heir to the Hoyt family.
“Your dad’s company had a financial problem. I know you accepted this arranged marriage to help him out.
“You don’t have to do this anymore. I sold my company.”
He handed me a bank card. “This is the money. The password is your birthday.
“I guess you don’t know Triston may be rich, but he’s a cripple.”
I was silent all the time. But hearing the word “cripple,” I threw my coffee at Benson’s face.
In an ever–so–cold voice, I announced, “Mr. Grover, you have no right to comment on my fiance.
“I don’t wanna see you again.
“Nor do I wanna go to your funeral.”
stood up to leave. Benson wanted to stop me but was afraid of the bodyguards. He had found out about Triston’s identity. Certainly, he knew how powerful the Hoyt family was.
It seemed he didn’t really have a death wish, after all.
Before I left, I told Benson two more things.
“One number in the password is wrong.
“And my fiance isn’t a cripple. He’s a hero. You aren’t even good enough to mention his name.
“Benson, so long.”
When I was hospitalized, Triston brought his seven–year–old sister, Amanda Hoyt, to see me.
The girl was perky. Her front teeth were missing. As soon as she saw me, she grinned and called me pretty.
“Triston said I’d been good. So, as a reward, he let me be the first one to see his pretty fiancee.
“Everyone in our family wants to come, but Triston is too petty. He
wouldn’t let them.
“Marlene, get well soon.”
When Triston went out to buy food for us, the smart girl said to me, “Marlene, although Triston only has one leg, don’t despise him, OK?
“He’s a hero.”
She told me Triston was a soldier. He served in a secret unit. When he
was on a mission abroad, he lost a leg to save someone.
“One more thing. He has a secret, but he’s too shy to tell you.
“He’s liked you for a long time. There’s a photo of you on his phone.”
That night, I refused to take medication until Triston handed me his phone.
He did keep a photo of me on his phone. As a representative of outstanding graduates, I was making a speech at the coming–of–age ceremony. Triston came to our school to recruit new soldiers.
It was the day before our graduation.
Triston was physically sound back then.
It turned out we had met briefly.
“I wanted to pursue you back then. I even asked around about your home. address.
“But I was on a task the next day…”
“Sorry, L…”
I held Triston tightly. For the first time, I shed happy tears.
Triston and I were about to kiss when Ethel and Benson barged in.
Outside the cafe. Triston opened the car door for me. I ran to him and kissed him on the lips under the sun.
The interrupted romance finally happened.
The day we got married, fireworks for lovers were set off in my hometown
all night. The Grover family’s wealth was exhausted, and Ethel almost cried her greedy eyes out.
But this news was blown over when Triston and I held our wedding.
Our grand wedding caused a sensation in this old city.
Triston and I were very happy. In the presence of the guests, he pulled me into his arms.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. The girl hugging herself in the dark came to my mind again.
Despite all the hardships, she’d grown up.
And she was happy now.
