章 27: His Hope Was Slowly Extinguished

Lucas' attempt to speak to Daphne was fruitless. She didn't call the police but, she asked for help from the apartment supervisor. The old man sternly told him to leave now before he involved the authorities.

Not knowing where he could head, Lucas dragged himself back to his family home. It was the only place he could think of now.

To be frank, Lucas was so tempted to contact his two best friends. But, his pride stopped him from doing so.

With much difficulty, Lucas brought all the bags and the box with him. He almost stumbled on his step a few times before he finally reached the house.

"Lucas? What are you doing here? What... what's wrong with that bags?"

Linda was so shocked to see her eldest son showing up at the door. More so when Lucas appeared so disheveled. His hair was unkempt and the look on his face was listless.

"Mother, I'll stay here for a while... okay?"

Lucas lacked the energy to explain anything. He put the bags down in the entryway before he kicked the shoes off. The remains of cold air still made him shudder.

"Well... it's fine, no problem," Linda stuttered at first. She quickly closed the door, cutting off the cold air from infiltrating the house, "Really, what's your problem? Did you fight with Daphne?"

"Something like that," answered Lucas mutedly.

He sounded so exhausted with his eyes barely open. What occurred today had certainly taken a toll on his mind. He hung the winter coat on the standing coat rack.

"Geez, what happened? How could you fight with her? Have you apologized to Daphne?"

Linda followed Lucas from behind, nagging him without trying to understand her eldest son's situation.

Ever since Daphne was appointed as a teacher in a public school, Linda was happy with the idea of having a civil servant as her future daughter-in-law. She already forgot how unhappy she was with Daphne before because of her ordinary background.

"Things happened, Mother," Lucas grew irritated as he walked down the hallway leading to the living room, "I don't have work tomorrow. I'll tidy my things later."

"Yeah, up to you..."

Linda mumbled under her breath, dissatisfied with Lucas' lack of response. He turned on a deaf ear, trying not to show his distress toward his own mother.

Lucas entered the kitchen, finding that only some rice was left in the cooker. From the look of it, his mother didn't cook much tonight.

"Father's not at home?"

Lucas washed his hands under the running water, relishing the warmth. Linda stood at the kitchen entrance with both hands on her hip, eyeing her son in doubt.

"Your father's on another business trip again. This should be the last one before the New Year holidays. Just make something simple for yourself. I'll cook more dishes for you tomorrow."

"It's fine, Mother. You should head to bed now."

Linda left Lucas to tend to himself. Her and Richard's bedroom was on the first floor while Lucas and Kevin had their own on the second floor. She wasn't interested to know more about what kind of trouble her eldest son was in.

Lucas just let his mother be. Even though he was already used to such a treatment, it was still upsetting.

"I should make some fried rice," murmured Lucas to himself.

No matter how devasted he was right now, a hungry stomach had to be filled first.

Lucas quickly cooked some egg fried rice. The fragrant smell rose from the pan as the rice was still sizzled by the heat. In no time, a plate of fried rice was served on the kitchen island.

While wolfing down the food, Lucas checked his phone.

A shred of hope was still lighting up his heart, thinking what if Daphne regretted her action and tried calling him back? He would immediately return to the apartment even though he had to drag the bags and the box with him.

Yet, nothing happened.

Lucas was both sad and annoyed. Everything was too much for him. He typed a few texts to be sent to Daphne but, not even one went through.

Lucas opted to call Daphne's number. His desperation spiked up when only the operator's voice echoed from the end of the line.

"We're sorry to inform you that the person you've called is unreachable..."

He was blacklisted!

Lucas put the phone down on the kitchen island. His eyes were stung with tears as he looked at the wallpaper. It was a photo of him and Daphne during their trip to the amusement park a few months ago.

At that time, no cracks had yet to form in their relationship. Daphne was still the same girl he loved during his youth.

"Daphne..." Lucas' breath was heavy. Tears were threatening to slide down his face, "...just why?"

How could they reach this point?

Was everything irreparable?

No! He couldn't accept that!

Since that day, Lucas tried getting a hold of Daphne by walking around outside the apartment. He could only do so when his work schedule was free but, he was unable to even catch sight of Daphne.

When his attempts failed, Lucas tried mingling outside Daphne's school. The snow and harsh cold wind did nothing to falter his effort. Still, it was useless. He couldn't even see a strand of her hair.

The Christmas gift that Lucas got for Daphne this year remained sitting in the box. It was small but, held his longing.

With more days passing by, Lucas' agony stretched out far. The burning hope that he held slowly got smaller, leaving a barely lit fire.

Until...

A cold and harsh truth extinguished the last of his hope.

Almost one week in, Lucas got off work early to head to the apartment. It was nearly the end of the year. Bracing the falling snow, he ran until he arrived outside the apartment block.

What he saw almost snatched his soul out of his body.

A silver sedan car pulled up opposite the entrance. Lucas was shocked to see Daphne getting out of the car. He remained rooted on the ground as he watched her smiling brightly at whoever sitting inside the car.

Soon, a man emerged from the driver's seat. It was an unfamiliar face. The man rounded the car to get to Daphne.

In the next second, he saw them exchanging passionate kisses.