Love's Bitter Edge (Eva and Leonard)
Chapter 356

Chapter 356 Looking Forward

This was the first time I saw Jack smoking. I didn't know this was something he did too. His place was clean, and there wasn't any tobacco smell at all. When the smoke drifted over, I choked and coughed a couple of times. Jack immediately snuffed out his cigarette and tossed it into the ashtray in the car.

"I'm sorry. I don't usually smoke."

stood next to me, shoulder to shoulder. He didn't say anything either, but I

I shook my head. I was unsure what to say. Jack walked over to my side and s felt very calm.

"I always come here when I feel down in the dumps. Back when I failed miserably at my business, I lost over a hundred million dollars. Then, I saw you. You almost jumped into the river."

"Huh?" I turned my head sideways and looked at him incredulously. I parted my lips, but I had no idea what I should've asked him.

Owing to different time zones, it was midnight in my part of the world when I received the phone call. There was no one else by the time I groggily walked over here, aside from some hobos. Back then, I was determined to kill myself. However, Ichickened out when I was at the bridge. yon. I cried for a

I was overwhelmed with fear because I was scared of dying. On top of that, I was also worried that my mom would have no one to rely on. long time as well that day, the same way I did today.

All of a sudden, I heard a light chuckle over my head.

"You didn't cry at first. You repeatedly tried to leap over the railing. After seven or eight attempts, you still couldn't do it. The average height for the people here is taller, so the railing is pretty tall as well. "Meanwhile, you're rather short in this part of the world. You searched for several spots to leap over the railing but failed. That was when you started

crying.

"You cried way more miserably than you did today. I was standing at the end of the bridge, watching you. I wanted to see how long you could cry, I even removed my shoes, just in case. If you dared to jump off the bridge, I would've immediately run over."

I looked at Jack, feeling speechless. Then, I cast a glance at the end of the bridge. "I would've fallen into the river by the time you ran over."

"I can swim." Jack's lips curled into an enchanting grin. He was indeed handsome. It was quite scary when he kept a stern expression, but he looked stunning when he smiled.

I was stunned for a second before I turned around hurriedly. Jack didn't seem to notice my unusual emotions earlier. Instead, he continued, "Actually, I was in a bind of my own back then. I wanted to talk to Astrid about it, but I was concerned that I'd make her worry as

well. yours. I

"It was hard to balance things between the McLennon and McLennan families. The situation in my family was as messy as the one you faced in came here to seek some peace and quiet, only for you to cry so loud that even the beggars hiding below the bridge were grumbling and planning to beat you up."

I lowered my head in embarrassment. I did lose grip over my emotions a little back then. I thought it was exactly because I cried so hard that the beggars didn't dare approach me.

"But ultimately, you wiped your tears and left despite crying so miserably. So, what reasons did I have to feel down in the dumps?

"Afterward, I picked this up from the floor, and I thought you had a loose screw in your head. It occurred to me that even a mentally ill lady was able to muster up her courage. So, I didn't have anything to complain about my situation."

Jack pointed at his head and then opened his palm, revealing a hair clip for little girls. It had a cartoon duck on it, and it was something that a six-year old girl would wear

I took the hair clip, feeling a little uneasy.

"The little girl sleeping in the hospital bed next to mine gave it

for it."

gave it to me before she died. I was too confused that day. After that, I spent a long time looking

The little girl's face flashed in my mind again, and it very nearly made me cry again. However, I suddenly realized that something didn't add up. "I'm not intellectually challenged, Jack." "Yeah." That was his brief r challenged?

Iresponse to my statement, and it made me angrier. What did he mean by "yeah"? Did he still think I was in

intellectually

Then, Jack took the hair clip away from ine again and stuffed it into his pocket.

"That's mine. Finders keepers." Jack shrugged, acting unreasonably.

I gritted my t

my teeth and decided to bear with it. After all, he bought me a new necklace as a replacement.

All of a sudden, Jack squinted and looked at me. "Are you feeling better?"

My expression froze for a second. Then, I nodded.

"You'll feel better after you cry. You'll replace that you're no longer as sad as you were."

"I know that. We have to always look forward."