Chapter 1The Kite and the String

Julian Reed and I were childhood sweethearts. I had a stepfather, and he had a stepmother.

We depended on each other as we grew up. He said he liked to wander, so I wandered with him.

I thought we would be together forever.

Until, in that dilapidated rental apartment, I saw Julian shirtless with my own eyes, bending down to pick up another woman's underwear.

I asked him why. He didn't answer, just told the woman to get dressed and leave.

After a long time, he said he wanted freedom.

And I was his biggest lack of freedom.

The day he left, I gave him a kite.

I said, "I wish you freedom."

* * *

I had imagined the scene of my reunion with Julian countless times.

But I never expected it to happen under these circumstances.

The hospital called me using Julian's phone, saying he had been in a car accident and asked if I could come.

Only then did I learn that Julian had returned to the city at some point.

In the bustling metropolis, the streets were still busy even in the early hours of the morning. I rushed to the hospital, asked for Julian's bed number, and hurried over.

In a not-so-spacious single room, a woman with a good figure stood by the bed with her back to me, her tone coquettish: "Julian, I was the first to rush over to visit you. Aren't I good to you?"

"Yeah, you're the best to me."

The familiar voice rang out. I stood frozen on the spot, blinking, and withdrew the hand that was about to push the door open.

Julian and I hadn't been in touch for a few years. The breakup was heart-wrenching back then, but time has always been a healing medicine. Now when I think of him, my emotions rarely fluctuate.

But hearing that familiar voice suddenly, I realized that maybe it wasn't that I didn't love him anymore, but that the feelings were too heavy, forcibly sealed away by me.

I didn't dare enter the ward. I asked the nurse for Julian's hospitalization number and paid his fees.

After leaving the hospital, I parked my car on the roadside and smoked for a long time.

I had been a good student and a good girl since childhood. Smoking was the only bad habit I inherited from Julian, learned only after breaking up with him.

Work pressure has increased over the years, and so has my addiction to smoking.

After finishing half a pack, my mind wasn't any clearer. Instead, I choked on the last puff and coughed violently.

How pathetic.

I leaned against the steering wheel and smiled bitterly.

Logically, I should have appeared in front of Julian looking glamorous, saying "Long time no see" casually.

But I didn't even dare to look at him with my own eyes. Just hearing his voice made me flee in panic.

Maybe I am a bit cheap, loving nothing more than offering my sincere heart to be trampled on.