Chapter 8
Four years later, I started working at the top financial firm in the country.]
Right after landing at the airport, I ran into an old high school friend.[]
“Scarlett! Long time no see!“[]
I smiled and said hi.]
It really had been forever.]]
These past four years, my parents flew out to visit me, but I never came back to avoid drama.[]
“Where’ve you been all these years?! You never replied to messages, changed your number–we thought we’d never see you again!”
I explained about studying abroad, and she totally got it.[]
“Oh, by the way, our old homeroom teacher is really sick. We’re all visiting him tomorrow–want to come?“]]
I thought about it and nodded.]]
My high school teacher had been good to me, helped me out a lot. I should go.]]
But I didn’t expect to run into Ryan at the hospital.]
At the pharmacy window, Ryan stood with a prescription slip, his thin, gaunt figure catching my eye.[]
He saw me and froze, then frantically tried to hide what was in his hands.[]
Someone bumped into him and pill bottles scattered across the floor.]]
He crouched down like a panicked rabbit, frantically collecting them. One bottle rolled to my feet.[]
I picked it up.[]
Lamivudine–anti–HIV medication.[]
He looked up at me, his eyes full of shame and embarrassment.[]
I held out the bottle.
He took it, carefully avoiding touching my hand.[]
Actually, I didn’t care. That report was something I’d given to the dean, who passed it to the police.[]
So from the night he left, I knew what would happen.[]
Madison had a history of seducing guys with girlfriends and sleeping with them, using her senior status and club position. This
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wasn’t her first rodeo.]]
The men who got infected because of her–they had it coming.[]
I could’ve warned Ryan, but I didn’t.[]
People have to face the consequences of their choices. Why should I interfere with karma?]
But I did leave him an out–if he’d taken the preventive meds right away, he probably wouldn’t have gotten infected.]
Ryan wiped his hands on his shirt, forcing an ugly smile, his voice like sandpaper:[]
“Scarlett, hey… long time no see. You’re still as beautiful as ever.“[]
I didn’t respond.[]
He got awkward and kept talking:
“How’ve you been these years? Uncle Marcus and the family moved out of the community. I never heard anything about you after that.“]
“Yeah, we moved the year I left.”
Maybe seeing how calm and cold I was, Ryan’s face showed sadness.
“Scarlett, are you still mad at me? I’ve known I was wrong all these years. I’ve been wanting to apologize to you. Look, I still have the gift you gave me…“]]
With that, he pulled out a keychain from his pocket–something I’d made by hand right after graduation, that I’d hung up for him myself.
The old memento stirred up buried memories–a story that started beautifully but ended in complete disaster.
Thinking about it still felt like swallowing a fish bone–couldn’t get it down, couldn’t spit it up.[]
“Ryan, hate is an emotion you only feel for people you still care about. To me, you’re a stranger.“[]
His whole body shook and his eyes immediately went red.]
I turned to leave, but got called back at the hospital entrance.[]
“Scarlett! Wait!” Ryan’s mom had chased after me.[]
She looked so much older, nothing like the cheerful, fashionable woman I remembered.[]
“Could you… could you maybe talk some sense into Ryan? I know it’s asking too much, but I really don’t know what else to do…“[
With red eyes, she told me about Ryan’s situation over the past few years.[]
Turns out he’d gone to the hospital right away, took the preventive meds, and all his tests came back negative.[]
But Ryan developed what was like AIDS phobia.[]
Me Bad!
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First it was constant hand–washing and showering until he scrubbed his skin raw.[]
Then he was getting tested every few days. Even though doctors kept telling him he wasn’t infected, he still wouldn’t believe it.
Eventually he started taking anti–HIV drugs on his own.[]
“The doctor says it’s a psychological disorder and it’s gotten really serious. But he won’t listen and get treatment.”
“If he keeps taking those pills, he’ll make himself sick even if he’s not!”
I glanced at Ryan standing in the distance, watching me with that anxious, lost look, then turned back politely:
ནནོ། ། ‘ ‘
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Castellano. I can’t help you with this. You should get him to see a specialist.”
Ryan’s eyes went dim.]]
He slowly walked over, his twenty–something body moving like an old man.
“Scarlett, if I get treatment and get better, could you… could you maybe…‘”
I turned to look at him, holding up my hand–the diamond sparkled brilliantly.
“No. I’m engaged.”
In just a few seconds, Ryan’s face went from shock to grief to devastation.]
Like his heart had been completely shattered, leaving him utterly broken.[]
“Scarlett, if I hadn’t played that game that night…”
A car horn interrupted him.]
A Rolls–Royce pulled up in front of us.
The car door slowly opened and I walked toward it.
“There are no what–ifs. What was meant to happen would’ve happened eventually.“]
