Chapter 4 Empty Promises

"Lou, here's some money I saved up as your wedding gift. Now that you and Ted are finally getting married, you should use it to buy the things you need for the wedding." Flora took Louisa's hand and placed it in Thaddeus'. Then, she pressed a bank card into their clasped palms. Louisa's tears fell uncontrollably. She couldn't bring herself to meet Flora's gaze. News of Thaddeus' wedding was everywhere. Flora must have seen it, too. Yet with her cerebellar atrophy, she had naturally assumed that Louisa would be the bride. "Ted, promise me you'll treat Lou well," Flora pleaded, gripping Thaddeus' hand tightly. "Don't you worry, Flora. I'll be good to Lou for the rest of my life. We have a vow—a promise to never leave each other," Thaddeus said, his words piercing Louisa's heart once again. Four years ago, Louisa had accompanied Thaddeus on a business trip. He had taken her to Mount Skyreach, where they had made a wish at the Destiny Stone. Thaddeus had said he wanted her, not just in this life, but in her next and every life thereafter. But now, it seemed they wouldn't even make it through this one. As expected, vows were meant to expire, and promises were meant to be broken. "Lou, Ted, you must come and get me on your wedding day. I want to be there in person to witness it." Flora insisted. "Of course, we'll come get you, Flora. We'll need you to walk Lou down the aisle!" Here with Flora, Thaddeus wasn't the distant and aloof CEO. He was just Louisa's boyfriend. As they left the nursing home, Louisa felt a heavy, suffocating sensation inside. Tears welled in her eyes. "Thaddeus, why make promises you can't keep?" If he could not marry her, why did he say he would? If he could not come for Flora on the wedding day, why did he agree to her request? Thaddeus lowered his head to look at a message Danica had sent him on his phone. As his fingers tapped out a reply, he answered Louisa casually, "She'll forget about it in a while anyway. Agreeing to it just makes her happy for now." So everything he had said to Flora had been nothing more than comforting lies—including his love for Louisa, his promise to treat her well forever, and his vow of never leaving her. "Danica made me supper and brought it over personally. I should head back now. You can take a cab home," Thaddeus said, holding his phone up for Louisa to see, with no intention of hiding the message. He was being transparent, but he forgot that Louisa was a woman who loved him. Showing her another woman's affection for him like this was akin to driving a knife into her heart. A halfhearted hum was all Louisa could manage. She was afraid that tears would fall if she said anything more. Though she was already utterly disappointed in him, the pain remained, sharp and gut-wrenching, tearing her apart from the inside. Over the past three months, Louisa had tasted the most excruciating pain imaginable. She wondered, when Thaddeus saw the news of her marriage in seven days, if he would feel even a fraction of her pain. Thaddeus left, car and all, disappearing into the boundless night. He said he loved her, yet he abandoned her in this desolate darkness. Louisa wasn't blinded by love. She knew Thaddeus' love for her had vanished the moment Danica returned. The only reason he still bothered to humor her was probably that he still had some use for her. Just last week, she overheard him talking to a close friend. "If Danica hadn't insisted on having her handle the wedding arrangements, I would've let her go much earlier." He was only keeping her around to keep Danica happy. The bank card in Louisa's palm dug into her flesh painfully. She turned back to see the light still on in Flora's room, where she could still faintly make out Flora's hunched silhouette through the window. Louisa was an orphan. Her mother had passed away shortly after giving birth to her, and it had been Flora who raised her. Flora was her only family in this world. Two years ago, Flora had been diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer. The fact that she was still alive now was a miracle in itself. All Flora wanted was to see Louisa get married and live happily. Louisa could not let her down. She took out her phone and sent a message to the contact pinned at the top of her chat list. "Will you marry me?"