Chapter 16: The Most Despairing Ten Minutes of My Life
“Sonya, the hospital fired you for no reason! You can’t give in! You have to fight back! Or expose them!” Ashley was furious..
Sonya pulled a large bag of snacks from the bottom drawer and gave them to Ashley.
They often didn’t have time to eat during busy shifts, so they kept snacks on hand. Sonya didn’t eat many; most were for Ashley.
“Sonya, don’t be so nonchalant! They’re treating you this way because they think you’re easy to bully!” Ashley was frantic.
Sonya shook her head and smiled. “Their severance package is good. I reviewed it and signed it.”
“Sonya!”
“I was planning to quit anyway,” Sonya shrugged.“Cloud River is owned by the Jennings family. To truly break up with Julian, I had to leave.”
Ashley calmed down.
“What are you going to do now?”
“Take a break, then find a new job.”
Ashley doubted it. You’re a workaholic. You’ll take a break?”
“Yeah.” Sonya sighed.“I’m getting married. I want to renovate our new home.”
Ashley’s eyes widened. “You’re getting married? You just broke up with Julian. Who are you. marrying?”
“My aunt set me up.”
Sonya carried her boxes out, doctors and nurses waving goodbye, their expressions sympathetic. Sonya smiled back, though they probably saw it as forced cheer.
Ashley walked her to the gate. Don’t trust men easily. If you need anything, call me.
Sonya nodded. ‘Of course. We’re friends.”
Ashley hugged her. You’re leaving; my work won’t be fun anymore.”
“Once I renovate, I’ll invite you over.”
“Definitely.”
Sonya didn’t go back to the villa. She went to her old house in the West District.
The West District had developed rapidly; most of the old houses were demolished. Only a few streets remained..
Exiting the subway, she saw skyscrapers and busy streets to the east, but a quiet alley to the west, with decades–old houses and elderly residents.
Sonya walked to a two–story house–her home.
It had been empty for a while. The windows were broken, the balcony was peeling, the door had a hole, and the yard was overgrown.
But the pomegranate tree
was
still lush,
of ripe, full
red
pomegranates,
Sonya borrowed a chair to climb the wall.
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Seeing the large, ripe pomegranates, she picked one, the seeds plump like rubies sweet pomegranate. Her mother had planted it because she loved them. She always looked forward to the pomegranates ripening, eagerly picking one after the Mid–Autumn Festival, even though they weren’t fully ripe then.
But when her mother asked if it was sweet, she’d always firmly say, “Very sweet!” “Very sweet, she murmured, remembering her mother was gone.
Her father had died when she was a baby. She didn’t know what he looked like, only that her mother said he was handsome, and she looked most like him.
Her mother was also a doctor, in the emergency room, often working late. After high school, one rainy night, she went to the subway station to pick up her mother.
As they walked home, a truck skidded and swerved towards them. Her mother pushed her out of the way but was hit, flying ten meters and falling heavily.
Sonya would never forget that scene. When she recovered, she ran to her mother, who lay twisted on the ground, blood staining the rainwater.
“Mom! Mom!”
She called out, but her mother didn’t respond.
The truck driver fled. It was raining, and the area was remote. Her phone was dead. She frantically sought help, finally flagging down a car.
It was Julian.
Seeing the accident, he called an ambulance. He gave his umbrella to her mother. The ambulance arrived ten minutes later–the most desperate, terrifying, and helpless ten minutes of her life. He stayed with her.
At the hospital, he helped with the paperwork, but they couldn’t save her mother. He stayed with Sonya until noon the next day, leaving after her aunt and uncle arrived. He bought her a cup of warm soy milk.
“My name is Julian Jennings. I’m a freshman in finance at Cloud University. If you want to thank me later, you can buy me dinner.”
That summer, Sonya was consumed by grief.
She enrolled in Cloud
students, including Julianiversity’s medical school. She heard about the campus’s famous
and remembered him.
She asked him to dinner, and they started dating.
Her feelings for Julian were complex. For eight years, she’d forgiven him repeatedly, often because of that rainy night.
“Miss, are you stealing pomegranates?”
A child’s voice brought Sonya back to reality. She saw several elementary school children peeking through the fence.
Sonya smiled.“This is my house.”
No way! If it were your house, you’d open the door instead of climbing over the wall!” a boy scoffed.
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chapter te The Most Despaising Ten
Sonya didn’t argue, pointing to the pomegranate tree. “Want some?” The children nodded, eyes glued to the tree. Sonya picked a dozen, giving each child two. “Miss, run! The police will come and Sonya ruffled his hair. “This really is my house.”
It was temporarily lost, but she would get it back.
arrest arrest you!” the boy said jokingly.
She took a picture under the pomegranate tree and sent it to Henry. She realized how naturally she shared things with him.
He sent her lots of pictures every day–at work, on the street, eating. He summarized his day, every detail, though he didn’t do much outside of work.
After sending the photo, she put away her phone. She didn’t need to wait for his reply or guess why he didn’t reply. She liked this style of communication.
Back at the villa, it was dark, and Mrs. Jennings and the property manager were arguing at her doorstep.
“Contact the owner immediately. I’ll pay top dollar to rent or buy the house, but he can’t rent it to Sonya!”
