Three years would pass soon.

Three years later, Elvira would still face the world alone.

She couldn’t let herself have the idea of relying on someone.

She kept telling herself that she had had no one to back her up in the past, nor would she count on anyone in the future.

Elvira had always been soft-hearted. She was moved by Nigel's kindness to her and was grateful to him.

But she had been hurt too deeply in the past to open her heart to another person.

Around strangers, she was alert like a rabbit.

She had been trying to become stronger, though.

When the news that she had married Nigel, an air force major general, the heir to a multinational consortium, got out,

people said that it was like a Cinderella's dream come true.

Her father, Harlow, used to be a successful businessman. When Elvira was little and her mother was still alive, her family had been rich, and she had been spoiled like a princess.

When she was in junior high, her father's business started to have problems.

Harlow trusted one of his classmates very much. One day, the man said that he wanted to start a new business with Harlow. Harlow had agreed. However, before long, his classmate was arrested.

The business he had spoken of turned out to be illegal. To prove his innocence and ignorance, Harlow had pulled a lot of strings and spent a lot of money.

But his company was severely influenced by the scandal.

The surname of the arrested man was Liu. He used to visit Harlow's family at festivals. Elvira would call him "Uncle."

His father had valued their friendship. The deception was a heavy blow to him. He had never been the same ever since.

Some people cared about the people around them,

because they thought every person they met in their life was a gift from the God.

So they cherished their friends and family.

On the other hand, there were also people who did the opposite. They were mean and selfish.

They cared about nobody but themselves.

Elvira and her father were the former. After the scheme of his classmate had been exposed, Harlow drowned his sorrows in wine every day. He frequently fought with Elvira’s mom, Faye, and was harsh to Elvira.

The loving father was gone, replaced by a grungy, grumpy man. Elvira felt she didn’t know her father anymore.

Faye would cry in the bedroom. When Elvira saw that, she would go over quietly and comfort her sad mom.

Elvira didn’t understand why her father had changed so much all of a sudden,

until afterwards her mom told her that her father’s company was in big trouble.

Harlow was hot-tempered. But before the problem of his company, he had been a gentle and caring father. He cared about her study and days.

He was a chauvinist and barely expressed his feelings even if cared.

In this respect, she took after her father. She was as reserved as Harlow.

She had thought she knew Harlow and understood him.

However, her father’s temper was getting worse and worse. She couldn’t take it anymore. She hated him.

The way he treated her and her mother was unfair. Even though he was unhappy, he shouldn’t have taken it out on his family.

Whenever she complained to her mom about her father, Faye would remind her how Harlow had doted on her when she was little.

She told Elvira that Harlow would carry her around in his arms when they went outside.

Elvira was very shy, so every time someone teased her, Harlow would be unhappy about it and stop them.

He knew how sensitive she was. He was afraid that his little daughter would be scared.

The devastated Harlow drink and smoke at home every day. When he went out, he messed around at bars. The company was neglected and failing. Faye was worried.

She tried a lot of things, but nothing worked. In the end, she decided to take over Harlow’s position and keep the business running.

She was new in business. It hadn’t been easy, but she was a quick learner and she did it. The company’s situation got better.

Yet, Harlow didn’t intend to go back to work. He had given up the company.

Faye was disappointed. She didn’t expect him to care about the business anymore. Despite the difficulty, she decided to hang in there and try her best to run the company.

Two years later, Elvira was in high school, and Faye could hardly go on.

On a fine day, Elvira got a phone call from the hospital.

Her mom had a car accident on her business trip.

She had been distracted while she was driving. She was the only one that had been injured. Sadly, she didn’t make it.

As a woman, she had worked hard for two years in a new industry.

What for?

For her daughter. She wanted to provide a better life for her.

For her family. She wanted her family to be happy again. Only when her family was happy would she feel happy.

However, she died before she could make her dream come true.

The thought of her death pained Elvira greatly.

But tears wouldn’t come out from her eyes.

She was too sad.

The past haunted her. The deep-buried long-time grief was suffocating. Sometimes she couldn’t breathe,

feeling there was a wound in her chest.

She wished she could cry, letting it all out. She could feel the tears in her eyes, but they wouldn’t come out.

All she could do was endure the pain, endure everything that wasn’t fair.

And just like that, many years had passed while she was enduring it.