Love Can’t Be Defeated

On the year my parents passed away, my mother's best friend, whom I called Auntie, took me into her house.

She cared for me with meticulous tenderness, supported me and gave me a love that I had never known before.

As a young boy who had just fallen in love, I made a secret vow that I would marry my aunt when I grew up.

However, on the day of my coming-of-age ceremony, when I finally took the opportunity to confess my love to her, she was furious!

She deemed my love a violation of moral principles. It violated the rules of ethics and decency.

From that moment on, she grew colder and more distant from me. She even agreed to a business marriage with the Lombart Family, just to shatter my hope completely.

I was so heartbroken and gave up my dream. I boarded a cargo ship bound for distant seas, determined never to look back.

However, Auntie cried hysterically and begged me to look at her again.

***

"Harry, when you're going on the voyage three days from now, take me with you.”

The bleak autumn wind chilled me to the bone as I stood on the seagull-filled shore when I typed out the message.

When I hit send, a sense of relief finally came over me.

Finally, I could let go of this forbidden love and made the decision to leave.

Not a second passed by after I sent the message and Harry called me.

"Joey Caplan, are you joking?" Harry Robinson's voice boomed from the receiver, "Do you realize what you’re saying? This voyage will take you away from your home country for ten years, maybe even a lifetime! Are you ready to live adrift forever?”

“I can’t allow it. If you leave, how am I supposed to explain it to President Morris?”

Harry was the captain in charge of my company's overseas shipping operations.

The President Morris he was talking about was my Auntie, the same woman who had raised me for ten years and was also the company's CEO.

I had expected his reluctance. I even prepared my excuse.

"Harry, this isn't a decision I made on a whim," I told him. “You know I’ve loved my Auntie for years. It’s caused nothing but trouble for her. If I leave, it will be better for everyone.”

“Besides, if you don’t take me, I’ll find another ship or leave the country on my own. You can’t stop me," I threatened.

Harry went silent for a long time. Then his voice sounded on the other side of the phone. With a weary sigh, he finally relented. "Fine! At least if you come with me, I can keep an eye on you. You’ve been through enough already, losing your parents so young. Pack your things. We’ll leave in three days.”

After Harry hung up the phone, I stared at my phone's lock screen, lost in thought.

It was a photo of my Auntie and me. In the picture, my nineteen-year-old Auntie looked dazzling, even when she was as a roadside barbecue stand.

She was standing tiptoed with mischievous look on her face as she tried to pour beer into my cup. Meanwhile, a nine of year old me was trying desperately to stop her. We both had scratches on our face. Behind us, people were watching our antics on the background with smile in their faces.

That was the moment that I would always remember.

Back then, I was still in elementary school. I was teased mercilessly for being an orphan. One day, the taunts escalated into a fight and the other kid’s parents humiliated and even hit me.

When Auntie found out, she stormed into the school without hesitation and avenged me on the spot.

As I recalled the memory now, the emotion that I had managed to let go almost resurfaced. So, I diverted my attention and texted my aunt.

"Auntie, the day after tomorrow will be your twenty ninth birthday. I want to cook for you personally. Is that okay?"

I stared at the chat screen as the words "typing ..." appeared, only to vanish moments later.

It took a long time before I got a cold and polite reply from my Auntie.

"Joey, I hope you understand. Even if we’re not related by blood, it will never happen between us.”