Chapter 2

After the wedding was canceled, our relationship was over too.

Back then, because Emily still had feelings for Ryan, she suggested that we get married first and register later, and I agreed.

Looking at it now, that really was a smart move.

There was another person who was heartbroken in this relationship, and that was Emily’s mother.

Before the wedding, in order to reassure Emily’s mother and let her hand her daughter over to me, I had specially prepared an expensive bride price.

Ten ounces of gold, five hundred thousand dollars in cash, and some precious jewelry.

But because the wedding got canceled, that bride price that was right there in front of us flew away.

I still remember the next day after I left the wedding venue, Emily’s mother suddenly came to visit.

She brought a big basket of fruit and my father’s favorite bottle of liquor.

When someone flatters you for no reason, they are either up to something or no good.

After opening the door, I did not let her in right away. Instead, I asked, “Mrs. Carter, what brings you here?”

She bent slightly at the waist and said, “I came to apologize to you.”

“I saw what happened just now too. It really was our daughter’s fault for starting all this.”

“She shouldn’t have run off from the wedding so many times, but she was just not ready yet!”

“For a girl to leave home and get married, it’s only natural to feel a little worried.”

Seeing what she was thinking, I said directly, “So you still want me to marry Emily?”

Mrs. Carter nodded again and again.

I went cold. “Then where is she?”

“Well...” Mrs. Carter suddenly stopped.

“She’s busy, so she asked me to come and apologize to you.”

Hearing that obvious lie, I could not help laughing.

She was busy, all right. Just busy rekindling her old flame.

Right then, my phone had just received a photo from Ryan.

They were lying on white sheets.

Ryan’s neck was covered in little red marks, and his chest was full of scratches.

And my fiancée, Emily, was lying in his arms asleep.

Even in her sleep, she was still holding on to Ryan.

She looked just like a clingy little cat, a side of her she had never once shown me.

I had already received this kind of photo many times.

Every time Emily ran off from the wedding and did not come home that night, I would get photos sent by Ryan.

Maybe it was provocation. Maybe it was mockery.

But what really stung was the peace jade pendant hanging around their necks.

I still remember that winter when Emily kept coming down with a fever.

Every time she had one, it would last half a month.

Every day, I would drive her to the hospital for IV drips.

Looking at her pale cheeks and bluish lips, my heart ached.

So I asked a friend to help me find a good piece of jade.

I personally carved the raw jade little by little into the shape of a rabbit.

Because Emily was born in the Year of the Rabbit.

I put the finished peace jade pendant on her myself and said with a smile, “Em, I hope you stay safe and healthy.”

Her eyes welled up with tears, and she wrapped her arms around me. “Ethan, thank you. I’ll wear it all the time!”

Maybe it was the placebo effect. Maybe it was the effect of love.

After Emily wore the peace jade pendant, her health improved quickly, and she hardly got fevers anymore.

After we left the hospital, she took my hand on her own and said, “Mine is a little rabbit, so I’ll carve you a carrot!”

“We both have to stay safe and sound, Ethan.”

I spoiled her as I rubbed her head. “Okay.”

But Emily always got excited for only three minutes.

Because she thought carving it was too much trouble, she quickly wanted to give up.

That day, she leaned toward me in a pleasing way and said carefully, “Ethan, I didn’t realize carving it would be so much trouble. Can I just buy you a jade piece instead?”

Every time this happened, she would deliberately look pitiful, making it hard for people to refuse her.

Of course I could not bear to be harsh with her either.

I shook my head. “It’s fine. If it’s too much trouble, then don’t carve it. Your thought is enough. You don’t need to buy me anything.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and hugged me. “Baby, you’re the best!”

Looking at how relieved she was, I could not help feeling sad.

Actually, the more someone pretends not to care, the more they usually do care.

And now I was seeing a carrot-shaped jade pendant around Ryan’s neck.

I suddenly remembered that day when I asked Emily why she wanted to carve me a carrot.

She said it was because a rabbit could not live without a carrot.

And a carrot without a rabbit would lose its meaning too.

So love does not disappear all at once. It only gets transferred.