Chapter 271: He’s Right Here (Part 2)
Alison stroked Ethan’s cheek and smiled. “Ethan, then I’ll leave Sophia in your care, okay?”
“Sure! No problem!” Ethan patted his chest confidently.
“Mommy wants to go see Daddy. I might be gone for a year.”
“Yes, Mommy! Can you take me and Sophia with you?”
“Daddy is very tired right now. He doesn’t want to be disturbed. He only allows Mommy to go alone,” she said calmly.
She wanted to revisit the places they’d once walked together. Afterward, she would return.
“Mommy, are you finding happiness there?” Ethan lifted his face and asked.
Alison nodded. “Yes.”
“All right then. But after a year, come back, okay? Otherwise, I’ll come find you.”
Alison smiled, touched by his innocence.
“Be good, Ethan. No more running away on your own. That way, Mommy can stay with Daddy without worry.”
“Okay, deal! If Mommy misses home, come back sooner, okay?”
Two weeks after Jack’s death, Alison finally left for Paris—a city filled with memories they had shared.
The winters in Paris were beautiful beneath the snow.
“Alison, let’s go skiing! Everyone’s going—we’re just waiting for you,” Judy said, tugging her hand, eyes sparkling with excitement.
“Sorry. My friend’s arriving in Paris tomorrow. I have to pick them up.”
“Is it your boyfriend?” Judy asked with a teasing smile.
“No, stop guessing,” Alison replied with a laugh.
“Then do you need me to come with you?”
“No need. Next time, I’ll join you.”
“Fine. But when I come back, I want to meet this friend of yours. Is he handsome?” Judy’s imagination was already running wild.
Alison patted Judy on the shoulder. “Get back to work, or you won’t finish in time to go skiing.”
Judy stuck out her tongue and turned back to work.
It had only been three months since Alison left City S, but it felt like an eternity. She missed the children.
Everything around her felt unfamiliar, but thankfully, Bates and John looked out for her, and she managed to get by.
Still, whenever she thought of Aidan, she would instinctively picture Jack instead.
She always felt he was right beside her.
That evening, she strolled down the Champs-Élysées.
She remembered running away in anger years ago and nearly being kidnapped by traffickers—until Jack appeared just in time to save her.
She had lost count of how many times she had walked that street. Everything remained unchanged—only he was gone.
“Jack, are you cold?” she murmured, gazing at her own shadow on the snow.
“Wrap the scarf I knitted for you tightly, or you’ll catch a cold.”
“Jack, I love you.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
Christmas was approaching. The shops along the street were already filled with twinkling trees and tiny neon lights.
She wandered in a daze.
Before her, the pristine stretch of snow glittered softly under the lights.