I hadn't been painting for over a year. Despite this, the brush was like my old friend. Even if we hadn't seen each other for a long time, our bond remained unaffected.

In the following period, I immersed myself in the paintings that belonged only to me.

At night, the stars twinkled. The sea beat with blue tears, sparkling with a surge of brilliant blue. In the painting, a little girl was dressed in a long dress. Standing on her tiptoes, she was kicking the water and smiling with satisfaction. Behind her, there was a carefully attended flower field. Next to it, there was a wooden shabby house. As the light shone down vertically, the distant mountains were lit up, and the girl's happiness was plausible.

When I put down the brush and finished the painting, I was at peace.

"After you finish painting, come and have a meal. These are all specially made by Jessa for you."

Maybe the sound insulation effect of the garden was too good, or maybe I was too immersed in my world, so I didn't even notice when Gavin and Jessa arrived.

"It seems that I need to change the lock at home."

"I'm not hungry. You guys should go ahead."

Being disturbed, I was extremely displeased in my heart.

"What's your attitude? Jessa has been busy all morning making these delicious dishes for you. She was afraid of disturbing you, so she waited in the room for you for two hours while hungry. She is still a patient, and her body has not fully recovered. You should have thanked her, but you treat her like this instead. Do you have any conscience?"

Maybe it was my words that provoked Gavin when I asked them out, or maybe he had prepared his words. He snapped at me in front of Jessa.

If it were normal times, I would probably make excuses and take the initiative to admit my mistake. After all, I knew that the consequence of not doing so was that he would stop talking to me for two or three days at least, or even a week.

Every time, it was me who had to bow my head to reconcile with him.

"Gavin, it's been almost half a month since the fire broke out. This should be our first meeting, right?"

My sudden retort caught Gavin off guard.

Not only did it catch him off guard, but it also caused the eavesdropping Jessa to panic.

I knew she was hiding there. Jessa was the most faulty and pretentious girl in the world, but she was not clever. She didn't even notice her shadow stretched out by the sunlight.

"You know it. Jessa lost her parents when she was young. She has been alone for so many years. The incident that day scared her, and her cat died in the fire. She can't handle all this alone. She needs someone to accompany her. I thought you were generous enough, and you wouldn't mind these things."

As expected of Gavin, even when defending himself, he blamed me.

If I went along with his words at this time, it would make me look petty. In the end, it would turn into me being unreasonable and driving them away. Besides misunderstanding them, I drove them away.

Similar things had happened more than once. I knew very well what kind of people they were.

"I know she's always timid. I didn't mean to blame you. Her health hasn't recovered yet, so you should take her back soon, or it could get worse."

"Scarlett, don't be like this. I know you're angry with me, but you need to understand me..."

"I understand you, and I'm not angry. You and her are innocent, I know. I'm just concerned about her health. I don't mean anything else."

What I said is true. Since he appeared, my emotions have been stable. They were no longer worth my anger. All I wanted now was for them to leave my home as soon as possible so I could regain my peace and immerse myself in the painting.

"Scarlett, if you're not angry, can you explain it to everyone? Jessa feels a lot of pressure and guilt about this. She woke up early today and made a table of dishes to apologize to you. I did something wrong at that time, but your cell phone was turned off. I couldn't find you, so I couldn't go to you to accompany you. What I want to say is, can you..."

Gavin spoke hesitantly. I wondered if it was because of the guilt in his heart or because he felt ashamed of his words.

Until this moment, I finally understood the purpose of their visit.

"That's right, if it weren't for being scolded, they wouldn't have gone through so much trouble to find me."

Normally, I wouldn't just let it go like this, but now all I wanted was peace.

Before he could finish her words, I picked up my cell phone and deleted that post on my Facebook account in front of him.

"Well, I was wrong in this matter. I will make it up to you. Look, what is this?"

Gavin took out two concert tickets from his pocket. The tickets were for the concert of my favorite star. They were hard-to-get front-row tickets.

I had long wanted to go to this concert, and I had been pestering him for a while.

But now, he took the initiative to please me in this way because of Jessa

Sure enough, I was in second place. It had never changed.

I didn't touch the tickets. I was very tired from staying up all night and painting. I walked through the living room and went back to my room. Then I hit the sack.

"What should we do? Scarlett seems to be angry with me. Gavin, maybe you shouldn't accompany me today. You should accompany Scarlett here."

Jessa's voice came through the crack of the door. I could instantly know that she must be lowering her head and looking aggrieved.

I have been in this kind of situation too many times.

"She is always like this. She will be fine in a few days. Let's eat first!"

After Gavin finished speaking, he pretended to call me once, but I was too tired. I was in no mood to pay attention to him. I just wanted to have a good sleep.

I slept until the evening. I didn't know when they had left. When I opened the refrigerator to get water, I saw a sticky note.

[Be good. Stay at home alone. The food is in the refrigerator. Heat it in the microwave, but be careful not to burn yourself. I'll be back later to accompany you.]

The notes were written by Gavin, but the tone indicated that it was Jessa's idea.

Before, I used to leave sticky notes for him over and over again. This was the first time he left one for me.

Sure enough, Gavin was willing to do anything for her.

The next morning, they showed up again.

This time, Jessa seemed enthusiastic. As soon as we met, she suddenly hugged me.

The sudden hug brought my thoughts back to the night when the fire happened.

That night, the sudden big fire scared me, and I didn't know what to do. I threw myself into Gavin's arms like this. But he didn't even say a word of comfort. Citing that Jessa was at home, he pushed me away and quickly ran out of the door.

The sudden surge of thick smoke almost choked me to death.

Because of the fire, the water and electricity were all cut off. Fortunately, I had the habit of taking a bath before bed, so I filled the bathtub with water early on.

But when I ran to the bathroom with my blanket, I saw the two of them, who were wrapped in a damp blanket, running out from inside.

I wondered if anyone could understand the feeling of having my water used up by others so openly when the fire broke out.

I was so powerless and desperate at that time. No one could relate to me!

I didn't want to die, so I went crazy and poured all the available liquids on the blanket from the refrigerator.

I acted too forcefully, and the refrigerator fell over. Not only did I break my left leg, but I also almost died in the fire.

Fortunately, a kind-hearted woman heard my plea for help. She not only helped me move the refrigerator but also supported me, who was limping. Then we ran out of that place, where all human beings were being roasted.

It could be said that without that woman, I would not have been reborn.

During my hospitalization, I kept asking about her whereabouts. Later, I found out that her house had been burned down. Now she has returned to her hometown with her family. To protect their privacy, they did not give her phone number to me. In the end, I wrote a letter and asked them to give it to her. My phone number and address were on the letter. I didn't know if she received that letter.

"Scarlett, look at what this is?"

Jessa's words brought me back to reality. Looking down, I saw her take out a box from behind. Through the packaging, I could see a limited edition doll inside.

Gavin told her that I liked this thing.

"What's the matter?"

I was disturbed by my sweet dream early in the morning, so I looked rude, especially when facing them.

"Scarlett, that's enough. Jessa has been restless these days because of you. Yesterday, she went to five different malls to find this doll as a gift for you. Don't make things difficult for her anymore!"

Seeing my indifferent look, Gavin showed a hint of displeasure.

"Gavin, it's been so many days. Have you ever asked me how I broke my leg?"

I suddenly looked up into his eyes. At that moment, I felt the panic and avoidance in his eyes.

"Scarlett, don't blame Gavin. It's all my fault. If it weren't for worrying about me, you wouldn't have suffered such a serious injury."

"It's all my fault. I'm so sorry."

Jessa bit her lips, her voice trembling. After she bowed deeply to me, her eyes were red.

Seeing her pitiful look, Gavin felt sorry for her. He took out a tissue from his pocket to wipe her eyes. Meanwhile, he looked at me reproachfully as if I had done something wrong.

Jessa lived up to her reputation. With just a few words and a few tears from her, Gavin, who had been blaming himself, resented me instead.

"Scarlett, you haven't had breakfast yet, right? I heard Gavin say that you like food from KFC. I'll go buy some for you now."

Jessa wiped her eyes and ran out of the room. As for Gavin, he glanced at me with dissatisfaction and followed her.

The sound of notifications rang out on my cell phone.

After a while, I received a message from Gavin.

He told me that he and Jessa had been staying in a hotel these past few days, which wouldn't be a feasible solution. The compensation might not be resolved for a while. Feeling worried about Jessa, he wanted to move in with her here.

Jessa was too embarrassed to raise such a request. He wanted me to mention this matter later. Then he would echo and support it. Jessa would probably move in after that. Then he could take care of both of us.

Indeed, he was both cunning and deceitful. He would only play up to me when he had to ask something from me.

"I just want to live my life in peace. Why won't they both leave me alone?"

"I'm going abroad to participate in a competition, so I don't want anyone to disturb me during this time."

The two of them came back happily with food. Later, I told them about this matter.

For me, the most important thing now was to participate in the international event and let the whole world see my painting. Whether my statement would make them unhappy wasn't something I should consider.

"Scarlett, what do you mean by this? Didn't you agree not to participate in the event before? Now that you want to take part in it, what about our wedding?"

Gavin thought I would cooperate with him. He even looked at me and gave me a signal before sitting down, but my words surprised him.

"The wedding can proceed as scheduled, but the bride won't be me. I am not your bride. She is."