Dorothyâs pupils contracted sharply, and she blurted out, âNo way!â
âI have Abigail and Langston and thatâs enough for me.â
He had never dared to hope that he could have children with Dorothy, let alone twins! Everett wanted
nothing more. Dorothy had no doubt about his sincerity indeed. But she was absolutely not okay with
what he was gonna do.
âEverett, youâve got decades ahead of you. Letâs not make lifeâaltering decisions too hastily.â
The future was too far off to fathom.
What if Everett fell for someone else down the line? He was outstanding and shining bright like the sun,
always the center of attention wherever he went. In the long years ahead, surely a perfect match would
appear for him. If they were stuck with a hasty decision made today and unable to have more children,
that would be a huge regret.
âAre you planning on having another one?â Everett asked with a casual arch of his brow, âIâm just
worried about the burden thatâll bring you.â.
âI didnât mean me having another!â
âThen who else would I have a child with?â Everettâs tone shifted from teasing to a trace of irritation,
âWho are you trying to set me up with?â
It had been a long while since Dorothy had seen him angry. She looked down instinctively, her lips
muttering an attempt at an explanation, only to feel she had nothing to justify.
âIf I could let go of you, why would I spend years trapping myself in place and enduring the suffering?â
Everett wanted to move on as well. Countless nights he had to rely on his memories of the past, just to
make it through to dawn. Countless times had he frantically searched Bay Residence for any trace of
Dorothy. The sheets sheâd slept in, the pillow sheâd used, the clothes she left behind, and the dishes
sheâd used â Everett had carefully preserved them all.
It was as if Dorothy had never truly left with those items kept by him..
But Dorothy didnât know any of this. That was why she could say such things.
âIâm sorry.â Dorothyâs voice was hoarse with apology, âI thought you were ready to start fresh when you
had the tattoo removed.â
When she saw the bite mark but no tattoo, she assumed that Everett had moved on. He just happened
to run into her again.
âI did want to start over because waiting for you was too painful,â Everett revealed his chest tattoo,
urging her to take a closer look, âI tried to get it removed, but I overestimated my own restraint. I
couldnât handle not having this sequence of numbers on my skin, so I had it tattooed on again.â
Those numbers had been with Everett for over a decade. After having them removed, he couldnât even
bear to look in the mirror while blowâdrying his hair!
It was too unsettling that the feeling drove him mad.
As Dorothyâs gaze fixed on the tattoo, she could clearly see the signs of it being redone.
She couldnât help but reach out and stroke theâslightly raised skin, struggling to imagine the turmoil of
having it removed and then redone.
âGetting a tattoo over the scarred skin must hurt more, right?â
âNot at all. Whether it was the first time or the second, I was just happy.â
It felt to him like she had come back.
Back into his body.
How could he not be happy?
âEverett,have you already got so puerile in middle school? Werenât you afraid of your parents finding
out?â Back then, tattoos were a big taboo for students.
Getting caught by the school meant serious consequences.
âNo one knew about it and you hadnât said yes to me as well. So what was there to show off?â
Comments(0)
Join the discussion — sign in to leave a comment
Sign In to CommentNo comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!