Chapter 39: Discovering Secrets
I took a deep breath and finally swallowed back the words that followed.
I’m not qualified to say anything that Bella Hill hasn’t even spoken up about, and with Ulysses Will in this situation now, knowing that SWEETHEART is his daughter, he can’t do much about it, he can’t just make a scene and let Ulysses Will snatch SWEETHEART away from him.
Things are not as simple as they seem.
Hearing me mention Bella Hill, Ulysses Will’s unperturbed eyes finally changed for a second, and I’m afraid that Bella Hill is the only thing in the world that can make his emotions fluctuate.
I looked at his foot in a cast and said, “I’ll take you back.”
“No need for …”
I interrupted him in a cold voice, “Don’t be paranoid, I’m just giving you a ride for the sake of growing up in an orphanage together, let’s go.”
Seeing that he was having trouble with his legs, I wanted to assist him, but he asked the nurse to find crutches.
A bitter smile spreads in my heart, he is really guarding himself for Bella Hill, afraid of getting involved with me.
Ulysses Will walked ahead with his cane, and I followed behind with his medicine and drawing pad.
We took a cab in front of the hospital, expecting him to join me in the backseat, but he pulled open the passenger door and got in first.
Looking at his cold side of the face, the mask can not completely block the face of the hideous horror of the scars, the heart of the little bit of unhappiness also instantly evaporated.
I pulled open the back door and got in, and after he gave his address, the ride was silent until he got out of the car.
After getting out of the car it was a short walk to the rental, Ulysses Will stopped with his cane and reached out, “Give me my stuff, you’re going home early too.”
I stared at him and asked rhetorically, “Are you that eager to kick me out?”
My words caused his outstretched hand to pause in mid-air, his four eyes locked, and after a half a second, his eyes flickered slightly, he turned around, and said coldly, “As you wish.”
Dropping the words, Ulysses Will walks forward with his cane.
It was an alley with potholes in the ground, and it had been snowing for several days in a row, so the ground was wet and waterlogged, and a couple of times Ulysses Will stepped in the water, and his pant legs were splattered with sludge.
I looked at his thin and slim back.
He was struggling a bit to get up the stairs, but didn’t ask for help, when suddenly, he missed a foot and leaned backward.
“Careful.”
I held him up from behind.
After standing firmly, he said in a cold tone, “Thank you.” , continuing on with his cane.
Ulysses Will is proud, he’s more stubborn than anyone else, and how could I not understand that after knowing him for so many years.
He could have had a sparkling life. With his talent for painting, it is not impossible for him to become a world-class painter, he is the brightest star.
But now I could no longer see that kind of light from him, as if the whole world had gone dark at once.
When I got to the door, Ulysses Will took the key and opened the door, it was the first time I stepped into the place where he was living now, the house was messy, the floor was covered with discarded paintings, the table was covered with bottles of wine, by the bed, at the edge of the table, there were also empty bottles of wine rolling around, the unpleasant smell of wine came to my face, I subconsciously frowned.
He sat on the edge of the bed, his voice cold as he hurried, “Now you can go.”
As if I hadn’t heard, I put the medicine and the drawing board on the bed and bent down to gather the bottle, “Since when did you start drinking.”
He used to not drink a drop of alcohol.
Now judging by the number of these empty bottles, he was more than a drinker, he was an alcoholic.
Ulysses Will’s gaze lingered on me for a few seconds and then quickly moved away, looking down and removing his mask to reveal that scarred face, casually taking his cigarette from the bed and lighting it.
I was stunned that he smoked with skill and grace, and that he, who once said he hated smoking, had finally become the man he hated in his mouth.
He took a couple deep drags on his cigarette, exhaling slowly like a junkie again, and called out to me in a raspy voice, “Alva.”
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I looked at him, expecting him to say something more, but he suddenly stopped talking and just lowered his head, his mouth softly shouting my name a few times, as if he was shouting it to himself, and his tone was filled with sadness, as if it was a name he had shouted thousands of times when no one was around.
The tip of my nose was particularly hard.
The cigarette burned at his fingertips, his hand trembled slightly, his eyes suddenly reddened as his gaze fell on the tip of the cigarette at his fingertips, and he hastily turned on his side and took another hard drag.
He seemed to be trying desperately to suppress his emotions and not let them out.
Ulysses Will like this is something I’ve never seen before, and my heart lurched hard, “What, what’s wrong with you?”
“It’s okay.” He tilted his head and wiped the corners of his eyes, staring out the window with a distant gaze, “Suddenly I remembered my days at the orphanage.”
And how have I not missed it.
I know Ulysses Will has something on his mind, and if he doesn’t tell me, I don’t ask.
I gathered up all the empty bottles and looked at the time, it was one o’clock noon, and I asked him, “What’ll it be?”
Ulysses Will doesn’t say anything again, he just lowers his head and smokes, I look in the kitchen and without consulting him again, I open the fridge, which only has wine with noodles, and thankfully two eggs, which is all I can do to cook two bowls of egg noodles.
I could feel a burning gaze behind me the whole time I was cooking the pasta.
When it was done, I took the pasta out and he looked at it, “It’s been a long time since I’ve had anything you’ve cooked.”
We used to cook spaghetti in the rice cooker when we were hungry in the middle of the night when the two of us shared a basement, just thinking about it, that was a really long time ago.
“Eat while it’s hot.” I handed him the chopsticks.
He lowered his head and took the chopsticks, he used his left hand, I was shocked again in my heart, he laughed bitterly and said lightly, “His right hand is wasted, he can’t make any strength.”
He’s a painter. His hands are his second life.
Now he says that his right hand is wasted, so all these paintings all over the floor were drawn by him with his left hand?
How did he overcome the difficulties and frustrations of being right-handed to start learning to use his left hand?
How in the world did he survive the fire that was so devastating to him back then?
What kind of gray life is it when you fall from heaven to hell?
I was suddenly clogged up inside, like there was a big stone weighing me down and I couldn’t breathe.
From the moment he entered the house, he took off his mask and stopped looking at me; he was afraid the hideous scars would scare me.
“There’s no cure?” As soon as I opened my mouth, I realized there was a slight catch in my voice.
He smiled, still cloudy: “It’s useless, this is also quite good, living … is quite good.”
Live …
Life is worse than death.
I had no appetite for this meal and kept my eyes on his slightly trembling right hand.
He finished eating and glanced outside at the sky, “You should go, it’s New Year’s Eve and you have to go back to THE Richter family.”
I pursed the corners of my lips, there were so many words in my mind, but I couldn’t get them out.
After I left Ulysses Will’s room, I was so depressed that I didn’t even think about how to explain myself when I returned to the Richter family, all I could think about was Ulysses Will’s forlorn look when he smoked, the tone of his voice when he said that his hand was ruined in a cloudy manner and the bottles of alcohol all over the floor.
How has he survived this year?
Ulysses Will never said he loved me himself, that window was never broken, and his liking for Bella Hill wasn’t really a betrayal, just wishful thinking on my part.
I’m not even in a position to blame him.
Love aside, I had a childhood friendship with Ulysses Will, and how can it be good to see him as he is today.
It was at that moment that I suddenly and truly let go, no more hate or resentment, only heartache, heartache between loved ones.
I went back to the Richter family disoriented, the hall was empty and I went straight to my room, and just as I pushed the door open, I was pressed against it by Walker Richter.