Chapter 175 I Don't Want to Love Him Anymore
Scarlett tried hard to hold it back, but broken sobs still leaked out between her fingers.
Daniel turned around and saw her eyes brimming with tears. He froze.
Then he quickly turned and pulled her into his arms. "Why are you suddenly crying?"
Scarlett bit her lip, unable to speak.
Seeing her like this, Daniel suddenly remembered she was the same way when they were kids.
Whenever he got hurt, before he even said it hurt, she would start crying first.
He found it a bit funny. He pulled down Scarlett's hand that was covering her mouth, kissed her wet cheeks, and coaxed her.
"Does it hurt your heart? Scarlett, are you a little fool? It healed a long time ago and doesn't hurt anymore. Come on, it's not worth crying over."
Being gently coaxed by him, Scarlett's tears were about to burst out.
She clenched her fists hard to hold back, looked up at him, "You're right, it's not worth crying over!"
He wasn't hurt for her, so why was she crying?
Scarlett, aren't you ridiculous?
Daniel felt something was off about her, but before he could figure it out, his phone rang.
Daniel glanced at the phone screen on the table, then his expression changed slightly. He let go of Scarlett and immediately answered the call.
"Okay, I got it. I'm coming over now."
Daniel hung up and turned to Scarlett helplessly, "I have to go out. Stop crying, you're acting like a child."
He patted Scarlett's head as he spoke, and left quickly before she could react.
Scarlett's face was still streaked with tears. She didn't feel comforted, only his impatience and half-heartedness.
She raised her hand and slowly wiped her face clean.
Downstairs, the sound of a car driving away came through. Scarlett sat there in a daze until her phone rang too.
It was Sarah calling. Scarlett answered.
"Have you been so busy dating your dear Daniel that you forgot about treating Jenny and me to dinner?"
Sarah's energetic voice came through. Scarlett opened her mouth, "Sarah, I think I'm going to give up on him."
On the other end, silence fell.
After a moment, Sarah's voice got louder, cursing angrily, "I knew it! What unforgivable thing did that bastard Daniel do this time? Is he tangled up with that damn bitch Alice again?"
"This time might be more serious..." Scarlett smiled bitterly, then actually laughed out loud.
But that laugh sounded worse than crying, full of absurdity.
"Sarah, you know what? Daniel might have a girl he's liked for twenty or thirty years, and now she's back."
"Wait, what? Twenty or thirty years? He liked her before he was even born?" Sarah was confused.
Scarlett briefly told Sarah what Alice had said.
This matter weighed on Scarlett's chest like a huge rock. She could barely breathe.
"Scarlett, Alice always looks for water in the gutter. That damn bitch never says anything good, she's best at making things worse.
According to Alice, Waverly disappeared when she was twelve. What does a twelve-year-old kid know about love?
If Daniel really couldn't forget Waverly all these years, you should have noticed some signs, right?
Look, all these years, you haven't noticed anything. Maybe you're overthinking it."
Sarah was trying to comfort Scarlett. It wasn't that Sarah was defending Daniel, but even through the phone, Sarah could sense Scarlett's emotional collapse.
Sarah felt bad for her.
But after she finished speaking, she didn't hear Scarlett say anything. Sarah felt uneasy.
"Don't tell me I was right and you actually remembered something, Scarlett?"
Scarlett's breathing became irregular. She did remember something.
When she was ten, she and Daniel hadn't started sleeping in separate rooms yet.
Once when she couldn't find something and was searching everywhere, she found a small wooden box on the top shelf of Daniel's closet.
She curiously opened it, but before she could see what was inside, Daniel got really angry and snatched the box away.
At that time, he already spoiled her a lot.
His room was basically her room too, and he let her rummage through anything.
But that time he was really angry, and she was scared. She never touched that box again.
Scarlett had a feeling that box might also be related to Waverly.
"Sarah, don't hang up. Stay with me."
Scarlett lacked a bit of courage after all.
"Okay, don't be scared. I'm right here."
Scarlett opened the closet. The box was still there.
She put the phone aside, took out the box, and opened it. The first thing she saw was a pair of shiny crystal hair clips.
The kind little girls would like. There were also yellowed comic books, a small doll, a snow globe...
Clearly these were all Waverly's things, all kept here by Daniel.
He didn't let others touch these things, but neither the box nor the items inside had much dust.
He regularly cleaned and looked at them himself.
Scarlett finally picked up a photo album. She opened it, and an old photo appeared showing two kids about two or three years old sitting together, both wearing birthday hats and making wishes over a cake.
Scarlett immediately recognized the little boy in the suit with delicate features as Daniel.
And the little girl was undoubtedly Waverly.
Scarlett flipped through page by page, watching them grow up bit by bit.
They went from babies to having the appearance of a young man and young woman.
In the last birthday photo, teenage Daniel and teenage Waverly were dressed up as a groom and bride.
They were riding together on a tall horse, smiling brightly at the camera.
Twelve-year-old Daniel had a kind of bright smile on his face, a happiness Scarlett had never seen before, like a carefree child.
Scarlett couldn't hold back her sobs anymore. She forcefully closed the album and pressed it back to the bottom of the box.
She frantically tried to close the box, as if opening it had released Pandora's box.
But several orange candy wrappers were pulled out. Scarlett froze.
They were orange candy wrappers.
She laughed bitterly, "Sarah, even my favorite thing, the orange candies Daniel gave me, were also Waverly's favorite candies."
Scarlett held the wrappers as tears kept falling.
Scarlett remembered that when she was little, Tobias had also given her an orange candy.
So it turned out, whether it was Daniel or Tobias, the candies in their hands all belonged to Waverly.
"Okay, okay, don't cry, don't cry. Bunny will worry about you." Sarah quickly comforted Scarlett softly.
Scarlett wiped away her tears and put the box back exactly as it was.
She closed the cabinet, her small face now extremely cold.
She picked up her phone and said clearly, "Sarah, in just one day and night, I seem to have witnessed Daniel's deep devotion to Waverly.
They grew up together, their bond is deep. He lost her and hasn't given up searching for sixteen years. What am I? Maybe I really am like Alice said, just Waverly's substitute.
Daniel couldn't find his poor fiancée, so he just projected his misplaced emotions onto me.
Tell me, isn't that pathetic? Before I was six, they said I owed Alice. After I was eight, I owed Waverly too?
Am I really only fit to be the Lewis family's daughter, to be beaten to death by John? Why is it that I've done nothing, just breathing, yet I owe so many people? It's so funny!"
Sarah's heart clenched hearing this. Scarlett had received so little love, always being abandoned by family.
Daniel was Scarlett's salvation, her light.
Scarlett always thought Daniel was the only one who hadn't abandoned her.
But now she discovered that Daniel's special treatment of her from the beginning was mixed with so much else. This truth was too cruel for Scarlett.
Sarah couldn't bear it. Her voice was hoarse as she tried to persuade, "Scarlett, maybe there's some misunderstanding. It's not like that. Don't overthink it. Even if Daniel really liked Waverly back then, so many years have passed, he must have let go by now."
Scarlett shook her head and smiled, saying with certainty, "No, Sarah. I've never been this clear-headed. He hasn't let go!
If he had let go, he wouldn't have kept hiding it from me! If he had let go, he wouldn't care so much about the White family's affairs. He's even closer and more respectful to Ella than to Blair. He's been desperately searching for Waverly all these years. I'm the one who's extra!"
Hearing Scarlett say this, Sarah was momentarily speechless.
"Scarlett."
"Sarah, I'm fine. I just think I'm ridiculous. It turns out that while I was trying hard to catch up to Daniel, trying hard to grow up, there was already an unforgettable girl in his heart.
When I found out he didn't like Alice, I was happy that I knew him early enough, that no one knew him earlier than me. Since his heart was empty, the person who would live in it would definitely be me.
But how could I have thought that I was the one who came late? I was fourteen years too late."
"Scarlett, stop talking!" Sarah's heart was breaking.
But Scarlett was still laughing. She laughed until tears fell.
"Sarah, I always thought if I worked hard enough, I could definitely occupy his heart as his wife. But it's useless. Loving him is really so tiring.
Sarah, I don't want to love him anymore. I'm giving up! I'll let him be with Waverly."