When I first met Hallie, she wasn’t yet known as a legendary genius.
She was just seen by the neighbors as a troublesome child with a quiet and strange personality.
No friends and no family. Her parents didn’t like her simply because she was a girl.
After their divorce, they passed her around like an unwanted burden.
Nashville’s winter was freezing cold.
Wearing only a thin undershirt, Hallie trembled in the stairwell. Feeling sorry for her, I brought her home.
While her father was playing games, he happened to notice her incredible skill in math.
From that moment, Hallie’s life completely changed.
At ten years old, she won the International Mathematical Olympiad and by fourteen, she entered Phoenix University without needing to take the entrance exam.
At sixteen, her published work gained global attention, earning her many awards.
The parents who once didn’t want her now fought over her custody, but she knelt before my father and bowed three times.
"I know in my heart who truly cares for me and who really loves me."
"From now on, you and Calla are my real parents."
"I’ll take good care of you and Byron."
After that day, Hallie kept pushing forward, never once thinking of leaving me.
When I was being recommended for university admission, she asked the school to lower the required score for me.
When I decided to stay and teach at the university, she requested a position through her student connection.
I often worried that I couldn’t keep up with Hallie, but she looked at me and said, "When I was eight, my parents divorced and neither wanted me."
"I sat alone in the stairwell from sunset to sunrise and you were the one who took me home."
"From that moment, I promised myself that I would never leave you."
"Byron, without you, there wouldn’t be who I am today. No matter how far I go, I will never leave you behind."
That’s the kind of person she was, unbelievably stubborn. Once she decided on something, she would hold onto it tightly.
Even when doing research projects, chasing after me and even when she cheated on me.
“Cheated?”
Hearing that, Cooper’s eyes went wide in shock.
“You two grew up together, childhood sweethearts, such a close bond and she still cheated?”
“Who’s the other man? A second-generation heir? A good-looking guy?”
“Or one of those scheming flirts from TV shows who love stirring trouble?”
Neither of those.
Hallie’s affair partner was a dark-skinned, skinny, plain-looking flower farmer. By that time, Hallie had already reached great success in her career.
She no longer chased after money or fame. She began putting more of her time into personal interests.
She didn’t care for stocks or investments, didn’t care for beauty or fashion.
But one day, she suddenly became interested in flowers. Imported, cheap, ordinary, rare, she liked them all, bringing every kind to her small garden.
Among all of them, her favorite was the iris I once gave her for her birthday.
"It was this flower that made me fall in love with flowers from all over the world."
"Such a simple seed, with a little human care, can grow into something so beautiful."
"The whole process amazes me."
She said she loved flowers, but what she loved even more was watching them bloom.
In that small world of hers, she was like the ruler of everything.
Flowers opened and faded, died and grew again. It all depended on her.
What Hallie said, I couldn’t really understand. To me, a flower was just a flower; it bloomed when it wanted and faded when it was time.
