Chapter 43 A forever
Dahlia.
Once, he made my heart race.
Once, he was all I thought about when I thought about myself. He used to be my world, my universe.
Once, if I were asked what my last wish was, I would have whispered a few words, ' meeting Jason, and loving him, in the next life.'
Back then, he used to be my biggest blessings, my biggest joy.
What I had for him was absolute devotion. He could have asked for my heart, and I would have easily handed it out, with no question, no doubts.
That boy, the one who once stood by me when my world was totally falling apart, had deeply captivated my heart, and I had sworn to always stand by him.
For over ten years, as a devoted believer, Jason's name never missed in my lips whenever I prayed.
One time, I would be praying for his divine protection, and the next, I would be praying to be able to stay in his life, long enough, to grow grey hair together..
Then, after years of loudly and silently living him, he suddenly killed my heart.
That organ that used to pulse with love for him, now pulsed with indifference.. not hatred. Because to me, he didn't even deserve my hate.
His betrayal, his schemes, desperate to destroy me, to ruin my innocence, the same thing I had guarded with my very life, saving it for him - that changed everything .
His betrayal successfully cleared the haze that had been blocking my eyes for years.
And now that I could see, I saw through my heart, too.
The feelings that I had harboured, calling them love, that was a mistake.
Whatever I had felt for Jason had been genuine, but that was not love. That was attachment, gratitude, disguising itself as love.
Years back, after my parents divorced, I was the most affected. I didn't know how to live with it, with the new reality, knowing that the weekeds that we used to spend as a family of three were over..
I couldn't accept the one parent situation during school visits, just like I saw with some of my other classmates whose parents were divorced.
And the hushed gossips, other kids mocking me for the separation of my parents, calling me names.....those were all too much and the younger me couldn't take it ..
It was during that period that Jason appeared in my life.
He walked that journey with me, and it was during that period that the two of us bonded.
Now, everything was clearer.
Looking at things from a calm person's perspective, back then, Jason helped me because he'd pitied me. Because somehow, as a person who had witnessed his parents separate, who had seen his father keeping mistresses on the side, he understood what I was going through...it was not love, it was just pity.
And whatever I had felt for him? That wasn't love either.....That was gratitude.
After years of not seeing it clearly, all was left in my heart was sorrow when the reality finally struck.
I pitied myself for all the years I had wasted, trying to chase something that I didn't even understand.
I pitied myself for all the time I had wasted, chasing after something that was never meant to be mine, someone that didn't want to be found.
And now, at the same place, where sorrow pulsed, claruty and relief did too.
For the first time, since Jason's betrayal, there wasn't anger or that familiar suffocating feeling in my chest.
Now my chest felt lighter, less tight, and less stuffed..
And as I looked at him, it was not with bitterness or anger. ...it was with sheer indifference.
He stood a few meters from Dalton and I. His fingers were tightly clenched.. And his eyes were red.
He looked like he was struggling to contain his fury.
And looking at him, I couldn't believe that he was the same prideful young master Jason Riggs.
In front of Dalton, he paled up in comparison so much that it felt like a crime to even compare the two.
No wonder Jason used to idolise Dalton. His power and dominance were something that Jason could never attain, not even after a lifetime of trying to level up.
Next to him, Sofia's stiff statue stood. She was also burning up in rage.
She had spent so much effort. So much time, trying to compete with me, trying to take everything from me.
Seeing me in the arms of Dalton Riggs, an existence she could only dreame of, that must have been a huge blow to her ego.
And not add, with the images of her circulating online, her reputation was totally ruined.
She wanted to ruin me, but she ended up falling in the trap that she'd set for me instead, while I was able to escape unscathed. It was understandable if she wanted to kill someone with her bare hands, and that someone was me.
They had just delivered their gifts, coming to congratulate Dalton and his new bride. And as if it was not humiliating enough to find out I was the bride, I had just told them to pick their gifts, that we didn't need them. So they stood there, burning in humiliation.. their expressions were priceless.
It was embarrassing to have your gifts returned to you, right? Well, it was precisely because of the very reason that I wanted Sofia and Jadon to do it.
In the past, the two had treated me for a fool.. They had humiliated me, hooked up behind my back, and planned a perfect character elimination plan, ruining my reputation and planning to sell me off to the some older man..
Compared to all that, how hard was it for them to bend their back and pick their pathetic little gifts?
" And Jason Riggs," I called out, my voice cold and controlled, a small smile, almost peaceful, curling in my lips as I stared at the ring on my finger.
It was beautiful, a statement of my current status.
I was a wife, Dalton's wife . Not the same girl who used to beg him to lover her.
"Congratulations on your wedding to Mrs. Sofia Riggs," I added, now lifting my face, and my eyes happened to meet with his.
He looked like he was about to faint from how frustrated he was.
Then he turned to face Sofia, and it looked like he was about to kill her.
I guess Sofia's good days were over, then..
After my words , Jason didn't say anything else. He swallowed his pride and picked up the gifts before he roughly dragged Sofia with him.
Long after they were gone, I continued leaning on Dalton's chest, and for a while, no one said anything.
Deep silence stretched heavily around us...
Up, the sky was beautiful, a lovely starry night.
I heard that kissing under the stars was like making a wish to the heavens?
I honestly didn't know what the future held... but a forever in a Dalton's arms didn't sound bad...
" Dalton?"