I sat down on his bed and smiled bitterly, "But it won't be me."
"Why?" Seth got up and sat down beside me. Then he grabbed my hand and said, "Patrick has nothing to do with you anymore. He is going to marry Caroline Archer, right? I know all of this. You are an independent person. You are free. And you don't belong to anyone!"
I didn't pull back my hand. Instead, I let him hold my hand like this.
Seth looked at me and seemed to be a little anxious, "If you are worried about my parents, you can rest assured that I will handle them well and won't let the same thing happen again."
"But it's unfair to you."
"It doesn't matter. I don't care. I..."
"Seth." Before Seth could say something that made me feel more guilty, I interrupted him and said, "Seth, do you think that the relationship between me and Patrick just started from the moment when I married him on behalf of Caroline?"
"Isn't that so?"
Seth was stunned.
I shook my head gently, calmed myself down, and said slowly, "No, I love Patrick. I have been in love with him for many years. The first time I met him, I was ten years old..."
I sat next to Seth and told Seth everything about my first encounter with Patrick as well as my persistence over those years.
Besides Lisa, only Seth knew about this.
Seth sat there and listened to me quietly.
He let go of my hand and lowered his head. Then I heard a self-deprecating sneer.
He said, "I came to you too late."
"...I'm sorry, he hurt me like that. I indeed wanted to get him out of my mind. But I tried many times, only to find that I couldn't do it. I could only build a high wall in my heart so that he wouldn't hurt me. But he was inside my heart and I couldn't get him out."
If I could, I hoped strongly that the person I loved was Seth Hyde.
In that case, at least, I wouldn't have to work so hard.
Seth listened to me and nodded. "I know."
"I'm sorry."
Originally, I wanted to speak up for Angie. But after hesitating for a moment, I shut up.
It was Seth's own business. And I shouldn't interfere with his matter too much.
He sat down again, took a look at his cell phone, and got up. Then he said to me with a smile, "Let's go. Or you'll be late for work. I'll send you there."
At that time, the morning sun shone on his face as if it were a layer of holy light, making him so beautiful.
Staring at him, I was a little absent-minded for a moment.
"He is such a good man."
"It would be great if he was the one I loved."
I muttered to myself.
Unfortunately, what had happened couldn't be undone.
Seth tidied up his clothes, took the bag for me, and opened the door for me.
We went downstairs together. Because of the tight time, he didn't check out. Instead, he sent me to work first.
He sent me to the company's door and handed me the bag. Then he waved to me and said, "When I come to City Y next time, I'll come to see you again."
I nodded, closed the car door, and watched the car disappear into the traffic. Then I turned around and entered the company.
As soon as I arrived at the office in the morning, I received a phone call from Dion. He asked me to go to his office.
I put down my bag and walked over there even before I could make a cup of coffee.
As soon as I entered Dion's office, he asked, "Charlotte Archer, which master of design did you turn to yesterday? He could even see such an intricate difference."
"He is my friend."
I smiled faintly.
Yes, Seth was the person whom I trusted the most.
Dion sat in an executive chair and said happily, "Because of the excellence of your work for the second round as well as the ridiculous incident of Mabel, it has been confirmed in advance that you have entered the final. Go back and be prepared for it well! Don't disgrace me!"
"Okay, Boss."
In fact, I wasn't surprised. After all, if none of us hadn't entered the final, the management of the company surely wouldn't have spent so much effort on the design competition.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Substitute Her to Love You
Charlotte is really annoying. She assumes soooooo much it's irritating...