After Faye had died, Harlow's company fell in complete neglect.

Just then, Colette appeared.

Knowing Harlow’s company was going out of business, she showed her concern, trying to cheer him up, and told him that she wanted to help him.

Then Harlow married her. He had never talked to Elvira about the marriage.

After the wedding, Harlow still drank, only less. He cared about neither the company nor Colette.

Whatever she did, he never asked or cared. Colette and her ex-husband had a son. After she had married Harlow, she changed her son’s surname to Tao. So he was now called Cedric Tao.

Elvira didn’t understand why her father had married Colette, since he didn’t seem to care about his new wife at all. By now Elvira was totally disappointed in him.

Harlow lived like a walking zombie. He didn’t look after his family anymore. The family was falling apart.

Elvira realized that she had to depend on herself from then on.

She worked hard at school and became a flight attendant. She wasn't ambitious. All she wanted was to be self-sufficient. Then she would be happy.

Gradually, Elvira learned that the world wasn’t made up of only good things; sometimes the world was cold and cruel.

She used to think the world was a beautiful and warm place, with sunshine, blue skies and white clouds.

Then she found out that was just one side of the world.

On the other side, it could be full of darkness and pain, just like the day her mom died.

That day, the sun was shining warmly. Flowers bloomed like smiling faces. Everything seemed so beautiful.

However, the phone call from the hospital changed everything. When her mom’s body lay there, stiff, Elvira felt she was enveloped by coldness and loneliness.

But it was a sunny day.

This was life. It was not perfect.

"I’m fine,"

she said to Nigel, lifting one arm to hug him, her eyes moist.

She hadn’t expected him to care for her so much.

Not knowing how to express her gratitude, she embraced him. His warmth made her heart soften.

If a person loved someone, the other person would feel it. Otherwise, it was not love.

It was either love or not.

There was no other possibility.

Elvira could feel Nigel's concern for her, but she wasn't sure whether it was love or not. She didn’t want to jump to conclusion.

In nature, she was discreet and always thought everything over before making up her mind.

The process of consideration was important, because it might lead to a wrong decision which might bring about serious consequences.

"I’m fine."

Another person had said that to Nigel before.

Only,

back then, that person hadn’t been fine at all.

Right now, Elvira was telling Nigel not to worry about her. She wanted to face everything on her own.

Each person had to cross at least one bridge in their life.

Most of us had to cross more than one bridge.

On the bridge, one would experience tribulation. If they could overcome it, they could move on with their life.

It they failed, they would fall of the bridge and become a stone in the river.

There were already millions of stones in the river,

because tribulation was never easy to overcome.

It was like a demon dragging the person on the bridge by the ankle to make them fall, while shouting and smiling viciously. It tortured people to make them suffer.

Even so, people had to find their ways to survive.

This was Elvira's case.

She was struggling in her life. She was fighting bravely.

Although there was still a long way to go before she became strong.

Nigel let go of her and tucked some of her loose hair behind her ear.

Somehow, his heart ached when he looked at her face.

Her limpid eyes glinting, she gazed at him.

Suddenly, he wanted to tell her everything about him, including his past, the things he had buried deep down in his heart.

Nigel had been proud and independent ever since he was a little boy,

because he thought that the only person that was reliable in this world was himself.

Nobody would be always by your side.

After contemplating for a while, he smiled at her and talked with her on some random topics.

His casual tone and the relaxed expression on his face made Elvira wonder if she had been imagining things a moment ago.

On second thought, Nigel decided to wait for a right time to tell her everything about him.

Gretchen was furious when she was back home. She had met Nigel first. She had grown up with him, but now he was with another woman. This was unacceptable.

"Hey,

Dirk, check someone out for me please,"

she said over the phone on the balcony. The wind mussed her hair. Her brows were knitted tightly. Anger was plain in her eyes.

That woman has to be gone.

At the dinner at Randal’s house, Randal had reminded Nigel of the party. The old man had stressed the matter a few times just in case Nigel took it lightly.

Nigel had remained indifferent. He thought his grandpa was worried too much. He was a grown man. He could handle a party.

But since his grandpa attached so much importance to the party, Nigel was going to make it big, although he didn’t want to draw too much attention.

"We should visit your parents sometime. When do you think is a perfect time?"

Nigel asked Elvira as he sat in front of his computer, checking the list of the candidate pilots operating the unmanned planes.

Elvira was eating snacks while watching a show. Hearing his words, she stopped eating.

She didn’t want her father and stepmother to know she was married. Three years later, she and Nigel would be parted. She didn’t want them to ruin her current peaceful life, no matter how short it would be.

But now that Nigel had brought the issue up, how was she supposed to answer him?