Chapter 406: Chapter 406: Strangers at First, Strangers in the End (3)
The slow-moving Ferris wheel suddenly began to spin several times faster.
It spun like this for several rotations before finally stopping mid-air. The Ferris wheel’s lights went out.
People were plunged into darkness and panic, and screams erupted all around.
Frowning, he took out his phone and called the amusement park’s main office to tell them what to do. But amidst the crowd on the ground below, he saw someone running like a madwoman...
Annabelle Linton charged through the crowd as if her life depended on it. A bicycle knocked her down, but before the rider could help her up, she scrambled to her feet and took off running again.
She ran out of the gate, and he saw her grab a staff member. He couldn’t see her expression clearly, but he knew she was frantic. He didn’t know what she was saying to the staff member, but she kept pointing at them while wiping away tears.
He couldn’t describe the feeling he had in that moment. He hadn’t thought their situation was a big deal, but seeing how worried she was, he felt a tightness in his chest.
Of course, nothing happened to them. The moment they got off the Ferris wheel, Annabelle Linton threw her arms around him as if the sky were falling, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. "Leona, are you okay? I’m so sorry, it should have been me up there. If something had happened to you, what would I have done?"
’What does she mean, it should have been her?’ At the time, he found her words baffling.
Now, he finally understood.
She meant that no matter what happened, she was willing to get hurt in his place. Even if it meant death, she was willing to die for him, as long as he remained unharmed.
He’d forgotten how he felt when he heard those words back then.
Amused, baffled, a little sour, and yet pained.
Just as he was about to say something awkward, Vivian Yates suddenly fainted. He pushed Annabelle aside, caught Vivian, and took her to the hospital.
In the rearview mirror, he saw her standing there, blankly shedding tears, looking like an abandoned little animal...
’Thinking about it now, what were my feelings for Vivian Yates back then?’
’Truthfully, I always treated her as a friend, and only a friend. I just acted a little nicer to her sometimes to drive Annabelle Linton away.’
At this thought, bitterness flooded Leona Grant’s heart, and a bitter smile cracked his lips.
’She used to love me so much. Why could she just stop loving me now, just like that?’
’What changed them?’
’Time?’
’It doesn’t seem like it.’
Her change had caught him completely off guard... Even now, he found it hard to accept.
Scenes from the past seemed to flash before his eyes, and in an instant, they were replaced by the image of her at her most unloving.
Leona Grant tilted his head back, looking up at the Ferris wheel and wondering, ’In the past twenty-plus years, if I had been kind to Annabelle Linton even once, would things have ever gotten to this point?’
’What kind of relationship would we have now? What would our feelings for each other be?’
’Strangers at first, estranged in the end.’
’It seemed any other relationship, any other feeling, would have been far better than this.’
Under the moonlight, Leona Grant’s perfect profile looked even more handsome and cold. His side profile had a hazy, unreal beauty.
But his whole face wore a melancholic expression, as if lost in a dazed illusion.
Xylas Shepherd looked at him, sighed, then put on his usual jester-like persona. "Whoa, Leona, an amusement park! I haven’t been to one since junior high. We’ve got time today, let’s go check it out, what do you say?"
After speaking, he shot Nathaniel Locke a look. Nathaniel walked in first and said, "Let’s go have a look around. Otherwise, he’ll be whining until dawn."
Xylas Shepherd: "..."
Leona Grant was dragged into the amusement park with them.
The amusement park was crowded and brightly lit. Under the night sky, all sorts of people bustled about, creating a lively atmosphere.
