"I met Harry Hall when I was 20, at a defense meeting. I fell for him at first sight and shamelessly started to chase him."
"Later on, I found out that Harry was a celebrated figure in our law department. Once I started chasing him, the whole department knew, and behind my back, they never stopped ridiculing me, saying the toad wanted to eat swan flesh."
The Hall family had a significant international reputation, and Mrs. Hall never knew how to keep a low profile, so many people were aware that Harry was the young master of the Hall family.
He was good-looking, came from a wealthy family background, and had a high level of education; many daughters of noble families were lining up, waiting for him to choose. At that time, except for my face, I really had nothing else that matched up to him.
"At the time, I didn’t understand what I was thinking; I knew I wasn’t worthy of him, but every time I heard someone ridiculing me, I just couldn’t control my temper and insisted on chasing him. And the result..."
At this point, she laughed, "I actually managed to win him over."
However, there was a trace of self-mockery in her tone, far from any sense of pride.
"After being together a while, I realized that Harry was very reserved. You could talk to him for half a day, and he’d barely muster a few words in response. As for the sweet nothings that couples exchange in love, you could forget about hearing them from him."
"Therefore, in other people’s view, Harry didn’t like me. He was just annoyed by my constant pestering; I was a woman throwing myself at him, so why not sleep with me if it’s free, right?"
When Elly heard her underrate herself like that, she couldn’t help but frown.
"Actually, I’ve always thought the same way. I had no noble family background, nothing impressive to offer, and relied on a face that wasn’t uniquely beautiful. How could I possibly make such a distinguished young master from a noble family fall for someone like me?"
As she said this, her gaze invariably darkened, and in the end, she sighed, suppressed the sorrow in her eyes, and said in a low voice, "I’ve thought about giving up, I really have..."
Her voice was so low it was barely audible, but since it was just the two of them in the private room, Elly heard her very clearly.
"But I couldn’t let go. I worked so hard to catch up to him; why should I let go? At worst, when he gets tired of me, he can just dump me, right?"
Helen Melendy looked up at Elly, her eyes slightly reddened.
Elly said nothing; she understood Helen’s feelings all too well.
The same unwillingness she had felt countless times with Adam Jones.
How could she willingly let go of a man she had spent so much effort loving and adoring, a man who had hurt her so deeply she couldn’t pick herself up?
"I just waited like that, waiting for the day when he’d get tired of me, waiting and waiting, but he never did. Why is that?"
There was a hint of confusion in Helen’s eyes.
"I dated him in fear and trepidation for four years. He wasn’t very good at expressing his emotions, but he was very attentive to me."
"When we lived together, he cooked, he did the laundry, always folding the clothes neatly. Whenever I couldn’t find something, he was able to bring it to me at any time."
"When I got my period and was in unbearable pain, he would stay up all night massaging me. He would cook all my favorite foods, making me increasingly dependent on him, unable to leave him."
"After returning to the country, he said he wanted to take me to meet his parents and marry me. I didn’t know how to react at the time; those four years of unease felt ridiculous."