A Toast To A Love That Never Was Chapter 14
Dustin looked at Melanie, who seemed to have recalled something and carried a faint smile on her lips. He felt a surge of emotions, as if something was about to spill out of him.
After a long silence, he finally stepped forward and stood in front of her.
Dustin was at least a head taller than Melanie. Now, standing before her, his shadow seemed to completely envelop her. He raised his hand, as if he wanted to touch her, but he let it fall back cowardly in the end. “Mel, I’m sorry.”
The apology was three years too late, but he couldn’t help but think to himself that it was only three years. It was better than never seeing her again for the rest of his life.
The sudden and random apology stunned Melanie.
“What?” she blurted out without thinking. But as soon as the word left her lips, she seemed to recall something and fell silent. It was hard to say which incident he was apologizing for.
Across from her, Dustin explained, “I didn’t know my mother would force you to leave. I never meant for you to go…”
Before he could finish, Melanie shook her head and cut him off. “She didn’t force me. She only happened to suggest I leave at a time when I was already planning to leave.”
Hearing this caused Dustin’s heart to ache even more.
In the years after Melanie left, he had imagined countless possibilities. Once he learned Miriam had played a role in her departure, he often comforted himself with the hope that Melanie hadn’t left willingly. He clung to the idea that she had been forced.
He had imagined what it might be like if they met again. Would she be happy to see him? Or would she still hold a grudge against him?
But he had never once imagined that Melanie had left of her own free will, and that she would treat him with such indifference when they met again. It was as if he were just someone she once knew–someone insignificant.
A sharp pain seized his heart. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words were choked back and trapped in his throat.
Melanie was so heartless–so much so that after all these years, she wouldn’t even bother to soften. the truth with a white lie.
And yet, even as he stood on the verge of giving up, the voice inside him howled in defiance. It insisted that things weren’t supposed to be like this, that she shouldn’t be so cold.
Dustin said, “I know about everything that happened back then, Mel. I’m sorry. I was too narrow- minded.
“I couldn’t stand that you saw me when I was so weak, so I couldn’t face you. I was too young and childish. I treated my pride as if it were everything, thinking that was all I wanted…”
As he spoke, his eyes reddened. Before Melanie could respond, Dustin continued, “Also, I’ve realized how many times I wrongly accused you. I’m sorry. I was too arrogant and always thought what I saw was the truth. If not for later…”
That day, he had asked someone to take Jane home, but she had run off alone instead. There was nothing he could do but send someone to pack Jane’s things, only to discover purchase records and remnants of the poison that she hadn’t disposed of.
Only then did he realize that Melanie hadn’t poisoned Jane at all.
Because of that discovery, he went back to review the surveillance footage from the auction and uncovered just how many times he had wrongly blamed her.
But the truth had come far too late. He had never been able to apologize to her in person. And when he finally got the chance, she no longer seemed to care.
It was true that Melanie no longer cared. The truth had come too late, and it no longer mattered to her.
What use was this casual apology now? Dustin couldn’t undo all the damage he had done. So many years had passed, and she wasn’t about to let herself sink back into pain over something that had long passed.
Melanie said, “Mr. Hart, do you have anything else to say? If not, I’ll be going. My boyfriend is waiting for me outside.”
