Chapter 24
Three days later, Ryder returned to Boston alone.
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When he arrived home, the lights in the neighboring mansion had been turned on again.
The housekeeper told him that the Sullivans had liquidated all their assets in the States, and new neighbors had moved in just days ago.
Hearing this, Ryder finally fully grasped the reality that everything was irreversible. He spent the night alone in his room, wide awake.
Early the next morning, through his window, he watched the new neighbors tearing down the swing set in the garden, replacing the pink and white curtains with dark green ones, and cutting down the shell wind chimes that hung by the door. Everything connected to the Sullivans–to me–was gradually disappearing from his world.
Helpless to stop it, he turned to alcohol day after day, numbing himself.
His heart, riddled with holes, slowly became hollow, losing the ability to feel emotions.
Love and hate, pain and regret, joy and hope…
All slipped away from him.
His room filled with various items he’d personally salvaged from next door. Only during these treasure hunts did he experience brief moments of clarity. The new neighbors‘ five–year–old son often followed behind Ryder, joining his searches.
The big tree in the yard had been cut down, the soil where roses once grew had been dug up, and the stones painted with cartoons had been smashed.
Each item triggered a flood of memories for Ryder.
The child constantly asked about the origins of these things.
Ryder would stare blankly, words forming on his lips only to die there.
Until one day, they dug out a large wish bottle from a corner.
Opening it revealed a hundred love letters, with familiar handwriting on the covers. Instantly, Ryder’s eyes turned red.
The unsuspecting child, curiosity taking over, casually opened the top letter and read it aloud.
“Dear Ryder, Hello. By the time you see these letters, we should already be together, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t know these letters exist. We’ve known each other for nineteen years, and all this time, you had no idea I’ve liked you for so very long, did
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you? You might wonder, if I liked you, why didn’t I tell you? Well, I knew I wasn’t the one you liked. I could see stars dancing in your eyes when you looked at her, so I could only bury my feelings.”
“But now she’s gone, and I’m the one by your side. Though you never mention her name anymore, I think you must have moved on, which is why you’re with me now. Even though you’re still not ready to make our relationship public, I can wait— whether it’s three years, five years, or ten years. As long as I have a place in your heart, I can wait.”
“Do you think I’m silly? But we’ve been by each other’s side since our earliest memories. Since you were my beginning, I hope so much that you’ll be my ending too. I don’t know what the future holds, but the one thing I’m certain of is that as long as you care for me even a little bit, I’ll wait for you to come back. Forever and ever.”
By the time the boy finished reading, Ryder’s face was streaked with tears.
With trembling hands, he clutched the box of letters to his chest and stumbled to his feet, heading for the airport.
As if carrying one last thread of hope, he desperately needed to go abroad, to try to win back the person he might have already lost.
During the long flight, Ryder read these letters non–stop.
The love hidden between the lines was like honey, like poison.
It made him cry one moment, smile the next, then feel dejected, then hopeful.
Two extreme emotions kept cycling through him, reigniting his heart that had grown numb with despair.
Was this the final flare before plunging into darkness, or the rebirth of hope before dawn?
Ryder didn’t know what awaited him.
He could only pray.
Pray that the teenage sentiments I had poured into these letters would save him from his self–made hell.
Give him one more chance.
Just one chance would be enough.
