Chapter 25
Hannah closed her suitcase and moved it to the door. Doris hurried over, her face full of curiosity. “Do you remember Anna?” she asked. Hannah paused, her mind drifting back to a time when Anna was still around. Anna had left with her ex–husband years ago, and Hannah hadn’t thought about her since.
Doris tapped on her phone, pulling up some entertainment news and showing it to Hannah.
“Anna had a miscarriage,” she said. Hannah’s eyes widened in shock as she read the article. It seerned Anna had faced difficulties there. The Carter family, her ex–husband’s family, wasn’t pleased with her, and after some gossip and judgment, Anna had tragically fallen down the stairs. To make matters worse, there were rumors about Aiden and another woman, which had led to yet another argument between them. What happened after that was unknown.
Putting her phone away, Doris explained that since the West family had connections with the Carters, Anna had asked her to pass on an apology to Hannah. Hannah listened silently. She and Anna were never supposed to have any connection. When Hannah married Zachary, Anna was already married and living abroad. It was Zachary’s indecision between them that had poisoned everything. At the end of the day, it was Zachary’s fault. With Hannah set to move to Zion and not planning to return, her friends threw her a farewell party. Wine bottles were emptied one after another, and when the mood was still high, they decided to hit another spot–a club. Hannah, not wanting to worry Doris, opted out of the next round. After waving goodbye to her friends, she stood by the roadside, preparing to hail a cab when a car horn blared nearby.
“Hannah, get in,” came a voice. She frowned, recognizing Zachary behind the wheel, and instinctively stepped back. But he seemed determined to wait her out, and the cars behind him were honking impatiently. Finally, she climbed into the back seat. Zachary remained silent, driving away. Neither of them spoke until the car rolled to a stop outside the West family home.
Just as she was about to thank him and get out, Zachary called her name. “Hannah.” Her hand paused on the door handle, and she turned to face him, puzzled. “Hannah, if there hadn’t been that promise to Anna, would we still have been together?” he asked, a hint of hope in his voice. Hannah let out a laugh, as if he’d just told a joke.
“After all these years of you pining for Anna, we were never meant to be.”
In the rearview mirror, he could see the cold detachment on her face. “Even without her, we wouldn’t have worked. As a husband, you never knew me–you didn’t know my dislikes, my phone number, or what gifts I’d like. You never cared about me. I was just there. You’re just uncomfortable with my leaving because I spent five years trying to be good to you. That’s not real love.”
“What is real love?” he asked quietly.
“Real love is unwavering. It’s heart for heart. It’s remembering every detail about me. It’s eliminating every obstacle when you want to spend your life with me. It’s standing by me, believing in me, defending me, listening to my side. It’s choosing me without hesitation when things go awry. Which of these have you ever done?”
Zachary, the pampered heir, had always expected others to love him but never figured out how to love someone else. If he had understood even a bit, he wouldn’t have chased after Anna while married, nor would he have comforted her in secret, causing unnecessary misunderstandings in her marriage.
