“There's something I wanted to talk to you about, though.”
“The wedding. Can we push it back a couple of years?”
He paused, as if choosing his words carefully.
“Sarah was just telling me in the hospital room that all her old friends have bought cars recently, and she wants one too.”
“So I went ahead and transferred the money we'd been saving for the wedding. Sent it to her.”
When I said nothing, his voice slipped into that coaxing tone.
“You know the Fox family took care of me growing up. I've always treated her like my own little sister.”
“Her family went bankrupt. If I can help her, I have to help her……”
He went on and on, talking about his loyalty, his gratitude, his sense of duty.
Before, hearing those words would have had me screaming at him until my voice gave out.
Then what am I?
What are my years and my dignity worth?
But now, I didn't even have the desire to fight.
My voice came out flat.
“Do whatever you want.”
On the other end, Paddy's voice lit up with barely concealed delight.
“Carly, I knew you'd understand. You're the best.”
“You weren't saying anything for so long, I thought you were gonna threaten to break up with me again. Scared me half to death.”
I smiled faintly.
“I won't. I'm never going to fight with you about this again.”
His tone shifted, suddenly serious.
“Carly, believe me, this was the last time I'll ever do underground boxing.”
“I'll never let you suffer again, not even a little. The wedding's just delayed, that's all. I swear, when the time comes, I'll give you the most spectacular wedding this city has ever seen. I'll bring you home in the grandest style possible……”
I listened in silence.
He had said the same things so many times over the past five years.
The first time, I was moved to tears.
Now my heart was a dry well, and nothing he said could stir even an echo.
Right in the middle of his grand promises about our future, there was the sound of a hospital door swinging open on his end.
Then Sarah's excited voice cut through.
“Paddy! Karl just drove the car back for me! It's parked downstairs right now, and it looks incredible!”
“Come on, come down and see it with me, please?”
Paddy's heartfelt declaration to me died mid-sentence. His voice switched instantly to indulgent warmth.
“Princess, I literally just got my stitches done……Fine, fine, fine, let me throw something on and I'll go with you. Stop pulling me.”
I didn't listen to the rest. I hung up.
It wasn't always like this between Paddy and me.
When we first got together, Sarah Fox didn't exist in my world.
That changed two years ago, when the Fox family went bankrupt and Sarah was forced to come back from overseas.
That was when I learned Paddy was an orphan, raised on the Foxes' money.
In his mind, Sarah wasn't just a little sister. She was a debt he had to repay with his life.
That kind of obligation was a mountain I could never cross, and it had doomed us from the start.
I took a deep breath, picked up my phone, and called my graduate advisor.
“Professor Lambert, the position you mentioned before, the one at the Iceland Polar Observation Station. Is it still available?”
His voice turned serious on the other end.
“It is.”
“But let me be clear with you again. The security clearance is high. Once you're in, you won't be able to come home for at least three years. You still want it?”
My voice was steady.
“I do.”
He paused for two seconds, then sighed.
“You refused to go no matter what before. So you broke up with that boy?”
I made a quiet sound of confirmation, my eyes stinging：
