Crystal’s face turned pale instantly. The comparison was like a direct blow on her. As if she couldn’t believe herself getting treated like that by Benjamin, she froze in place, stunned.
Meanwhile, I curled up in a corner, pretending like I wasn’t there. Well, Crystal brought this on herself. Benson can never return after the head of the Miller family sent him overseas. Now that even her last hope has crumbled, she has no choice but to find Benjamin. Fortunately, Lyle isn’t here to witness this. Otherwise, he will pass out in anger for sure. Then again, I guess he was already incredibly outraged the day Benjamin married Crystal, so most probably, he won’t care about this anymore.
“You can’t do this to me! You’ve drawn a beautiful future for me, yet now, you plan to crush it. No! You’re the one who spoiled me and taught me how to live an easier life in the Tanner family by stepping on Yvonne. How can you abandon me after you made me into a bad woman? Why? Is my love an excuse for you to trick and use me?”
The argument between Crystal and Benjamin went on nonstop. One was crying while begging; another remained cold the entire time. Nevertheless, I couldn’t stay there forever. I came with Julia, so it wasn’t appropriate to leave her alone. On top of that, she was my future mother-in-law.
Just as I was busy brainstorming an idea to get myself away from the balcony, my phone rang abruptly. The melodious ringtone quickly attracted Crystal’s and Benjamin’s attention, causing both to look over in my direction concurrently.
“Yvonne, why are you here?” Crystal shrieked.
“I-I’m only an unrelated person. Please ignore me and go on with your conversation.” With that said, I quickly dashed past them and left the balcony. With how unstable Crystal was right now, she would definitely pick on me if I continued staying there.
Back at the hall, I couldn’t help but recall how Crystal seemed to have grown weirder recently. Her words are becoming more extreme, and her expressions strange. It’s as if she has a mental problem. I shouldn’t get involved with her anymore. What she did before is already considered crazy. If she’s truly gone mad, I can’t imagine what she will do in the end.
The call was from Julia. Since she had a meetup with her friend that afternoon, she reminded me not to stay out late and left. After sending her off, I turned around to find Benjamin beneath a tree, looking at me with a strange expression.
Thus, I nodded slightly at him as a greeting. When I walked past him, he suddenly said, “If I had been the one who saved you from drowning in the lake back then, would you have fallen head over heels for me just like how you did Lyle?”
At that, I frowned. Lyle and I are already in the past, so isn’t it inappropriate for him to mention this now? I then turned around and let out a chuckle. “Mr. Miller, what do you mean?”
Benjamin cast me a meaningful gaze and smiled bitterly. “Recently, I’ve been dreaming about what happened that year. I was lying on the ground and couldn’t move at all. The next thing I remembered, a girl with a pink hairpin was carrying me on her back. She kept walking forward while talking to me, saying, ‘Don’t be scared. Everything will pass. We won’t die here. The bad guy will get his dues one day. Since we didn’t do anything bad, we’re good guys.’“
After pausing briefly, he continued, “When I opened my eyes forcefully to see your young face, I told you that I would protect you forever.”
I understood Benjamin’s persistence on the matter. Indeed, I was once the same as him, treating Lyle as the light of my life. After all, it was natural to fall for the one who pulled you out of hell when you were in utter desperation.
Strangely enough, Christopher, Lucas, and the others knew that I was the one who saved Benjamin, so they had never believed Crystal.
“Mr. Miller, it’s all bygones, so let’s not dwell in the past.”
“But, I…” Benjamin looked as if he had something he wanted to say desperately. However, I shook my head, smiled, and quickly interrupted, “Mr. Miller, you aren’t a bad guy, but you can’t deny that you’re spoiled. You like to prank people, so you get along well with Crystal. Our personalities have always been different from the beginning, so you would never have helped me. Moreover, even if it turns out that you saved me that time instead of Lyle, we wouldn’t have ended well either.”
Upon pondering for a moment, I added, “In the end, we would have only ended up as another tragedy.”
