Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Three months later.
The Anderson group officially declared bankruptcy.
William sat in the empty office, watching the movers take away the last piece of furniture.
The secretary walked over and handed him a document.
“Jose asked me to pass this on.”
William took the document; it was an acquisition contract.
Jose had acquired all the assets of the Anderson group at a very low price.
On the last page of the contract, Jose had handwritten a line: “Thanks, cousin, for making this possible.”
William tore up the contract, and the pieces fluttered down like snowflakes.
He walked out of the building and never looked back.
From now on, he was just an ordinary person.
An ordinary person who had lost everything.
Meanwhile, at the Roberts House on the other side of the city, a baby’s cry could be heard.
Jessica gently soothed the child in her arms, her face glowing with maternal radiance.
“He’s hungry again.”
Jose walked over and gently stroked the baby’s little face.
“The little one has quite an appetite.”
Jessica said with a smile, not a trace of gloom in her eyes.
Jose sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulder.
“Do you regret it?”
He asked softly.
Jessica shook her head: “I’ve never been more certain.”
She looked at the sunset outside, the golden light bathing her face.
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Chapter 20
“I finally know what true happiness is.”
Jose kissed her forehead: “I’ll protect you both for a lifetime.”
“I know.”
Jessica leaned into his embrace, “Because you never lie to me.”
The child quieted down in her arms, its little hand tightly gripping her finger.
At that moment, Jessica felt like she had the whole world.
Meanwhile, William sat on the bed in a cheap motel, staring blankly at the water stains on the wall.
His phone had been disconnected for three days.
No one would look for him, and no one cared where he went.
He remembered Jessica’s words: “If one day you stop loving me, just let me go.
Back then, he had vowed: “That day will never come.”
Now, thinking back, how ridiculous it was.
It wasn’t that he didn’t love her, but that he didn’t deserve to love her.
He had destroyed the most precious thing in the world with his own hands.
For a child that didn’t exist, for an elaborately designed deception.
William picked up the bottle on the table and drank the remaining liquor in one gulp.
The alcohol burned his throat, just like regret burned his heart.
He remembered what Jessica looked like when they first met.
Back then, she was still a student, wearing a white dress, waiting for him under the phoenix tree.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves onto her, and she smiled like an angel.
“Are you William?”
She asked timidly.
“Yes.”
He extended his hand, “Hello, Jessica.”
Her hand was small, soft, as light as a feather.
At that moment, he knew he was done for.
This girl would become the most important person in his life.
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But now, she was happily smiling in someone else’s arms.
And he didn’t even have the right to see her one last time.
William closed his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks.
He cried like a child, silently and desperately.
The next day, he received a text message.
It was from Jessica.
“I heard you’re not doing well.”
This is the last time I’ll contact you.
Take care of yourself, and forget about me.”
At the end of the text message was a photo.
It showed her holding a child.
She smiled sweetly, contentedly.
Just like when they first met years ago.
Only this time, the child in her arms belonged to someone else.
William deleted the message, then erased Jessica’s contact.
From now on, their paths would truly never cross again.
He stood up and walked toward the window.
Outside lay a bustling street, crowded with people and heavy traffic.
Everyone had their own life, their own happiness.
Only he wandered through this world like a ghost.
William took a deep breath, then drew the curtains.
Darkness instantly swallowed the entire room.
Just as despair had swallowed his life.
Meanwhile at Roberts House, Jessica was singing a lullaby to the child.
Her voice was soft and gentle, as warm as a spring breeze.
Jose stood at the doorway, watching the scene quietly
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Chapter 20
His eyes brimmed with love and contentment.
This was the life he’d always wanted.
A loving woman, an adorable child, a warm home.
And William would never appear in their lives again.
“Jose.”
Jessica called to him softly.
“What is it?”
He walked over and sat by the bed.
“Thank you.”
She looked at him, tears glistening in her eyes. “Thank you for giving me a new life.”
Jose took her hand. “You gave meaning to my life.”
They smiled at each other while the child slept peacefully in the cradle.
Time seemed to stand still in that moment.
Happiness felt so simple and beautiful.
On the other side of the city, William was packing his luggage.
He would leave this city for somewhere nobody knew him.
To start over, or perhaps, to wait’ for the end.
He took one last look around the room, then closed the door.
The hallway was silent, echoing only with his footsteps.
Much like his life-lonely and hollow.
As the elevator doors opened, he thought he saw Jessica’s figure.
But it was just an illusion.
Jessica would never appear before him again.
She had a new life, a new love, a new child.
While he, carrying only emotional scars, walked alone toward an unknown future.
Two parallel lines that would never meet again.
This was their ending.
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