Chapter 195 Let Her Go
Harriet clutched the diary tightly in both hands. "So when Tristan went back to my hometown with me that time and found this diary, he thought everything written in it was true."
"He thought you were my first love, thought I married him because he looked like you, thought he was just your substitute!"
"He even thought that when I fell into the water in winter and hurt my body so badly I couldn't keep the baby, it was because I was saving you!"
Tears streamed down Harriet's face. "No wonder he seemed off after we came back from my hometown that time. He was always bothered by your existence. I thought he was being ridiculous, thought his possessiveness was unreasonable. But it turns out in his mind, you were the person I loved but couldn't have, and he was just a substitute."
Harriet recalled all those moments from that time.
Finally, her thoughts settled on the day she lost the baby.
It was the darkest day of her twenty-some years of life, but wasn't it also Tristan's most agonizing day?
She couldn't imagine how much pain Tristan must have felt, thinking she had lost the baby because she saved Griffin.
She didn't dare imagine what kind of resolve it took for Tristan to choose her over the baby.
He had never said he loved her, but if this wasn't love, what was it?
Holding the diary, Harriet stood up without hesitation and headed for the door.
"Harriet!" Griffin's voice came from behind her. "You're going to find him, aren't you?"
Harriet stopped and turned to look at him. "Shouldn't I go explain everything to him?"
"Have you considered my feelings at all?" Griffin stood up. "For the past two years, I've been waiting for you to let him go, waiting for you to see that I exist.I think it should be my turn now, right?"
"Griffin, I've never liked you that way." Harriet wiped the tears from her face and spoke clearly and firmly. "I've always seen you as a friend, as a brother. I've never thought about having a romantic relationship with you."
"Love isn't like waiting in line for a Ferris wheel where your turn will eventually come. In this lifetime, besides Tristan, I won't fall in love with anyone else."
With that, Harriet turned and left.
Griffin's lips twitched as he closed his eyes in pain."Harriet, how can you treat me like this..."
Harriet rode her motorcycle straight to Cloud Bay.
Memories flooded her mind.
So many things she couldn't understand before now made perfect sense.
When she thought Tristan was randomly getting jealous for no reason, he actually believed Griffin was the person she loved but couldn't have.
Every time she got angry with Tristan, he must have been so hurt, right?
The light turned green. Harriet pulled herself together and focused on the road.
Just as she was about to cross the intersection, a truck suddenly rushed out from the left, heading straight for her!
Harriet quickly swerved, and as the motorcycle barely missed the truck, it flipped over. She was thrown hard to the ground and lost consciousness.
When Tristan got the news, he rushed to the hospital immediately.
Outside the emergency room, Ian and Griffin were waiting anxiously.
Niamh sat to the side, crying uncontrollably.
"What happened!" Tristan demanded. "How did she get into an accident!"
"Shouldn't you be the one answering that?" Griffin turned to look at him, his handsome face covered with a layer of frost. "Tristan, Harriet's accident wasn't an accident at all. Opal deliberately drove into her!"
"Opal?"
The name had faded in Tristan's memory. It took him a while to recall that Opal was Lark's mother.
"Didn't you send her back to prison?" Tristan said coldly. "How could she suddenly appear and hurt Harriet!"
"Her sentence was only extended by six months. She got out a year ago." Griffin's eyes were full of pain. "Tristan, if it weren't for you, how could Harriet have gotten on the Brown family's bad side? How could Opal have driven into her!"
"In the past, you hurt Harriet because of Lark. Finally, Lark disappeared and things quieted down, but now Opal is taking all her resentment out on Harriet!"
"Tristan, you've hurt Harriet badly enough already, I'm begging you, let her go!"
Ryder stepped forward. "You can't say that. It's not like Mr. Lancaster ordered Opal to go after Mrs. Lancaster! And Mr. Lancaster is the last person who would want anything to happen to Mrs. Lancaster!"
"I believe he doesn't want anything to happen to Harriet, but all of Harriet's suffering comes from him!" Griffin walked up to Tristan with long strides. "Tristan, if it weren't for you, she could have had a stable life!"
"Maybe working as an ordinary doctor at a hospital, living simply like most ordinary people in this city."
"But she wouldn't have gone to prison, and no one would be trying to harm her by any means necessary." Griffin pointed at the emergency room door. "And she definitely wouldn't be lying in there right now, fighting death!"
Griffin was in agony. "Tristan, I'm begging you to let her go. As long as you can let her go, I can give you everything—even if you want my life, I'll give it to you."
Tristan looked at the emergency room door.
His heart felt like it was being cut by a sharp knife, the pain nearly suffocating him.
He braced himself against the cold wall, barely managing to stay standing.
"Mr. Lancaster!" Ryder quickly helped him to a nearby chair. "Mrs. Lancaster will be fine."
Tristan didn't know how much time had passed, only that every second seemed infinitely stretched out.
And every second was endless torment for him.
He even imagined many possibilities during this torment.
Like what should he do if Harriet couldn't make it out alive?
He thought he would die with her.
Whether heaven or hell, he wanted to be with her.
After having this thought, Tristan's heart suddenly calmed down.
Yes.
If they could be together, he didn't need to be afraid anymore.
Perhaps Tristan and Harriet in another world would be happier than in this one.
Ryder had been making phone calls and even went out for a while, returning over an hour later.
"Mr. Lancaster." Ryder pulled out his iPad. "I've been to the police station. Opal has been detained. This is the surveillance video from when Mrs. Lancaster had the accident."
The dazed Tristan slowly turned his head to look at the iPad.
In the video, Harriet was driving normally and not very fast.
The truck driven by Opal was clearly aimed at Harriet. She had practically floored the gas pedal, trying to kill Harriet on the spot!
Tristan took the iPad and played it in slow motion.
The video clearly showed Harriet saving herself at the last moment by swerving.
She was thrown from the bike, her slender body rolling on the ground several times before stopping.
"Mr. Lancaster, the police said that fortunately Mrs. Lancaster has good riding skills, otherwise if she'd been hit, she would have died before even making it to the hospital. When Opal saw she'd missed Mrs. Lancaster, she braked immediately, but still crashed into another moving car. Two people in that car died on the spot."
The impact was that severe even with braking, let alone without it.
Niamh watched the video, crying. "It's my fault! I was the one who suggested she learn to ride a motorcycle to relax. If she hadn't learned to ride, maybe this wouldn't have happened!"
"Opal was determined to kill Harriet. Whether Harriet was riding a motorcycle, driving a car, or riding in someone else's car today, something would have happened anyway." Griffin sighed. "So today's incident can't be blamed on you."
Niamh sobbed uncontrollably.
Tristan replayed the video over and over again.
How he wished he could have taken Harriet's place in this accident!
He would rather be the one hurt than see her lying in the emergency room.
At one in the morning, the red light outside the emergency room finally went out.