However, the only person he cared about was his dear Wendy. Her hand had been the most important thing to him. He couldn’t bear to see it bleeding even a little bit.
But he had not considered that my hands, too, could get injured.
When Tina heard this news, she immediately broke out in tears. She looked at me with pity as she held my hand, apologizing for not doing a better job at raising Steven, which in turn caused the ruin of my life.
However, I only calmly shook my head and answered, “It’s okay. Being alive is good enough.”
At least in this life, I was fortunate enough to not have died at the hands of the one I loved the most.
I plastered a weak smile on my face while I looked up at Steven’s parents.
“Jim, Tina, I’d like to throw a party for my birthday next week. There’s something I want to announce then.”
Tina readily agreed. “Don’t worry, we’ll throw you a spectacular party! It’ll be the perfect chance to shake off all this bad luck.”
“Let Steven know too. He shouldn’t miss it, after all,” I added.
The Houghs were a renowned, prominent family in Luxdoun, so their daughter–in–law’s birthday party would naturally be a grand affair.
My family, the Jordeffs, used to be a prestigious family too. However, since Grandpa passed away and I threw myself into studying medicine, our family name had slowly fallen out of the spotlight.
Still, many distinguished guests came to my birthday party.
I had also invited all the classmates and friends I could get in touch with. I had always been rather popular and made a lot of friends, so quite a number of people attended.
When they heard that I had just barely survived an earthquake, they all congratulated me on my second chance at life.
When Steven finally arrived–and very late at that–it was clear that he had rushed here in a hurry. He didn’t even seem to notice the red lipstick stain on his shirt collar or the obvious bite marks on his neck.
Those who knew what was going on all looked at him with disdain.
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