One Last Call Before Goodbye Chapter 10
Marshall felt as if he had been dragged into the depths of the ocean.
He suddenly opened his eyes, a lingering pain still throbbing in his head.
Everything before him was both familiar and strange—Darlene was packing her luggage, folding clothes one by one into the suitcase.
He remembered this scene.
It was the day they broke up, when she was moving out of the house, and he stood by, doing nothing to stop her.
A moment ago, he had still been in that car accident on a rainy night, closing his eyes while holding Darlene’s note.
The next second, he was standing here.
Marshall looked down at his own hands—no blood, no wounds.
Daylight shone outside the window, not the torrential rain of that night.
So, had he and Darlene returned to the day of their breakup?
Darlene finished packing everything, not glancing once at Marshall, who stood to the side.
She pulled up her suitcase and walked silently toward the door.
“Lena.” Marshall spoke, his voice even hoarser than he had expected.
“Lena.” Marshall spoke, his voice even hoarser than he had expected.
Darlene paused in her steps but did not turn around.
He stepped forward and grabbed her wrist: “I don’t agree to break up.”
Darlene turned around, trying to pull her hand free, a slight frown between her brows: “Marshall, I’ve made it very clear to you, I’m tired.”
“Stop pestering me, just let me go, okay?”
Marshall did not let go.
Heaven had given him this chance to go back, so no matter what, he would not let her go again.
“I know.”
Darlene was startled: “What do you know?”
He pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head, his voice muffled: “I know about the deal you made with my mom, and I know about your illness.”
The person in his arms instantly stiffened.
Darlene curled her fingertips, her voice tense: “How… how do you know?”
Marshall tightened his embrace, as if afraid she would disappear the next second: “Lena, if I told you this is a chance heaven gave me to start over, would you believe me?”
She frowned, her face full of confusion: “What are you talking about?”
Marshall loosened his hold a little, lowered his head to look into her eyes, and spoke each word seriously.
“I’m from five years in the future. After this breakup, we separated, and your illness… got worse and worse.
“After you left, I only learned about all of this. Later, I got into a car accident, and then I came back to today.”
A barrage of words left Darlene at a loss, her mind feeling like it had been turned into a muddled mess.
She did not understand what he was saying, but she looked into his eyes.
In those eyes was a sadness and determination she had never seen before, making her instinctively want to believe him.
“Let me think about it. Louie is still waiting for me downstairs.” She lowered her eyes.
Marshall’s hand paused slightly.
Darlene knew he was wavering. From the very beginning, he had never wanted to make things difficult for her.
“I promise you, I’ll seriously think about what you said.”
Marshall slowly withdrew his hand, his voice low: “Alright, I’ll wait for you.”
“Okay.”
Darlene pulled her suitcase and walked out the door.
Downstairs, Louise leaned against the car, rubbing the car keys in her hand.
Darlene walked over, but suddenly remembered what Marshall had said. A sharp pain flashed in her mind, and images of ceramic toys, getting treatment in New York, and Louise crying while holding her corpse surfaced. Yet these memories seemed both hers and not hers.
She shook her head, trying to shake these memories out of her mind.
She saw Louise standing ahead, forced herself to appear calm, and walked over with her suitcase: “Louie.”
Louise stepped forward to take the suitcase, but couldn’t pull it away.
Thinking of those memories, Darlene hesitated and spoke: “Louie, I want to try again.”
Louise let go of the suitcase and raised an eyebrow: “Why did you suddenly change your mind?”
Darlene lowered her eyes, her voice very soft: “He knows about what happened between me and his mother, and he knows about my illness. He said he wants to face it together. I want to believe him.”
“Then why did you come downstairs?”
“He said a lot of things I couldn’t understand, and he was very emotional. I’m afraid I’ll make a decision too impulsively, so I want to calm down and think it over first.”
Louise didn’t ask further, only gently patted her shoulder.
“I support any decision you make. I’ll always be by your side.”