"How'd you know I'd come back today?"
Georgia smiled at Travis. She hadn't told him about coming back yesterday.
"I saw the news online."
Travis smiled faintly and followed Georgia in.
Georgia realized she'd asked a dumb question.
Everyone on the internet knew she'd gone to the Simpson household today, so of course Travis knew she was back.
Why had she suddenly lost her wits?
"Did you just arrive? Or have you been waiting long?"
After all, Georgia had gone right to the hospital to visit Jasper after leaving the Simpson family household, and she didn't know when Travis had arrived.
"I'd arrived in the district at noon. There wasn't anyone in the mansion, so I've been waiting in my car all this time. I saw you come back at night and came over."
Georgia nodded with a complex expression. She stood and poured him a glass of water, while Travis' expression grew concerned.
"It's a mess on the internet right now. Doesn't it look bad for you? Did Sierra fake some evidence to have the will lose binding power? Or did she find people to fake a testimony to have the will turn fake? Is there a problem? Do you need my help?"
Travis sounded very caring, and Georgia looked at the man before her.
She'd always held off on calling him because deep down, she believed in Travis' personality and that he wouldn't hurt her.
But so many years had passed, and everyone had changed so much.
Georgia couldn't be sure her thoughts were correct.
She described what had happened today very succinctly, without the humor of Elsie's retelling, simply describing the process.
Hearing that, Travis heaved a sigh of relief and showed an expression even Georgia found hard to describe.
"You'd gotten back together with Robert in the end and even had a marriage certificate made. He's finally fallen back in love with you, Georgia. Your hard work and dedication was worth it."
There was thick emotion mixed in with his tone. Georgia stood.
"I've got something I want to ask you. Let's go to the office to chat."
That clearly meant that she didn't want to talk in front of Elsie and Wilson. Travis didn't quite understand, but he still stood and followed Georgia to the office.
"If there's something, just say it. I can see that there's something you don't quite know how to talk about from the way you're looking at me. Is it something on my end?"
"We've known each other for so many years, Travis. But over these ten years, my life has long since changed, and you've been through so much suffering, too. We've all been through so much. But I still believe in you, that you wouldn't do anything to hurt me. That's why I wanted to ask you – when I first had you and Sarah help me do the DNA test between Sierra and Wesley, why did you tell me the two of them were flesh and blood mother and son? My side was clear that they weren't related. I wanted to know, was it some accident that produced the mistake, or that you kept it from me deliberately for some reason?"
Hearing that, Travis was thoroughly shaken.
Sarah had done it all throughout the process. He wanted to explain, but towards the end, he didn't do it.
Looking at Georgia's questioning gaze, he asked his own question in return.
"If I had done it deliberately, would you be angry? If I had wanted to put a block between your relationship with Robert so you wouldn't get back together, hoping you would distance yourself from him over this and eventually separate, would you be disappointed in me?"
Georgia dipped her head and didn't answer the question.
Everyone had their desires. She knew full well how Travis felt towards her, and even though she'd once refused to help him, she'd still accepted him appearing at her side in the end.
Maybe that had given him hope, or she hadn't been cruel enough to say decisive words against Travis, which was what had caused the situation today.
"I think I wouldn't be angry or disappointed in you. Only guilty that I haven't cleared some things up, or that my words couldn't get my meaning across properly, making you misunderstand."
Georgia looked at Travis, suddenly recalling her past memories.
"Do you remember when we first knew each other? We shared a desk back then. Took our studies seriously and went to class together. Never had that many troubles, even if my father mistreated me, my adopted mother and siblings were hostile to me. I'd get beat up at home, and maybe not even have spending money for the month, but during that time, I felt like our life was simple and happy."
"If you want to say something, Georgia, just say it."
Travis felt his heart eat away, full of too much bitterness and sourness to dispel.
"Travis, you know how it was. Back then, I liked you, and you liked me. It was simple between us, and we've never lied to each other. Maybe, if we hadn't had our accident, we might have been happy the rest of our lives. But our lives didn't go the way we thought. You suddenly disappeared, and after I got sad for a few years, I slowly put it down and focused on my studies and my life. Maybe, at that time, when I hadn't gotten in a car accident and been framed for plagiarism, we might have had a chance at getting back together if you returned.
"But fate didn't give us that chance. You were still drifting out there, still suffering, and I was forced into prison. Do you know what I've been through behind bars? The people there bullied me and beat me every day. I was with child, and almost miscarried. Thankfully, pregnant women don't have to be together with these people. In solitary confinement, I managed to survive and give birth. But the child was born sickly, and the stress of life itself was about to crush me. I was forced to let Vanessa raise the child. Prison is no place for a kid, we had to be separated.
"Then I got put back into regular prison, and in those years, those people still targeted me, and I had to think of some way every day to avoid getting beat on, to just have it a little better, to survive. In those days, I fantasized in the beginning about someone falling from the sky and saving me. I thought about you, too. But after too much despair and pain, I forgot to look forward to you. You disappeared utterly from my life, because I knew nobody was coming to save me. I could only rely on myself.
"After I got out of prison, I got tangled up with Robert. A lot of unpleasant things happened up between us, and he even hurt me once. But when I was facing the worst hardships, he saved me, not once, but several times. When I was at my lowest point, he washed my name clear of the perpetrator behind the car accident, and found evidence that someone had plagiarized my work. He saved me when I was suffering the most, and sometimes, feelings blossom at those times. I'll never look back."
"The two of us was just a missed opportunity. There's nothing wrong with you, but after the miss, I met someone who treated me very well, so I can't come back to you. You should get over it too. I know you're not to blame. For these past ten years, you've been muddled and confused, so your feelings towards me remained in the past, or perhaps it's your longing for the good times of the past itself. In reality, life has gone by for ten years. You should have stepped forward long ago instead of staying still."
A tear rolled down Travis' face as he stood before Georgia.
"It's just so unfair, Georgia. Why did I have to wake up? I thought the two of us were still back in that happy little world, but time had gone by for ten years. You've experienced all that, and even found a new lover. Had your own child. I don't know how to move on. These ten years passed in a blink of an eye for me. I don't blame you, either. And I understand. I won't bother you anymore."
Travis got up and prepared to leave, but when he reached the door, he turned around and spoke to Georgia again,
"Even so, I wish only the best for you. So if you have any difficulty and need my help, please don't avoid me for such a reason. I might not expect a future with you, but I want you to live well, too. It would make me happy to help you when you're in trouble."
With that, Travis pushed open the door and left.
Georgia suddenly knelt and burst into tears. The memories of the past spilled over a vat of acid, and she felt like she was gulped at seawater. It was sour, bitter, and salty.
No one was in the wrong here.
Neither of them was to blame. Fate had simply planned something else.
A long while after Travis left, Georgia walked out of her office door.
Elsie found it strange.
"What did the two of you talk about? Travis was looking a bit sad when he left, and his eyes were red. The man was crying. What did you say to him? Did you reject his feelings? Robert is gone. You can have a new life, a new love. Why draw your boundaries like that? Who knows what's going to happen in the future?"
Georgia forced a smile at Elsie.
"A missed opportunity was just that, a missed opportunity. I don't want Travis to be hung up over me. He's a good person. An excellent person. He ought to find someone who can love him fully without wasting his time on me."
"Oh forget it. I don't understand sappy men and women like you. It's better not to get too casually involved with your feelings so you don't end up trapped in a mire."
Elsie finished that, then shot a subconscious look at Wilson and bounded over to him.
"Can I ask you something?"
Wilson looked up, nonplussed.
"What?"
"Do you have some secret longing, some ex-girlfriend you're still deeply in love with, someone you can't be together with, or some girlfriend, or some secret lover, or... you actually like men?"