Chapter 18 

I frantically clawed at the soil with my bare hands, dirt and blood collecting under my fingernails. I kept digging until I uncovered bone. In that moment, I broke down completely. 

I carefully excavated the remains entangled in the tree roots. Among the soil, I discovered fragments of the white coat he’d worn that day. 

It was Joseph. I’d found him! After all this time, I’d finally found him! 

It felt as though he’d seen my grief and gently tapped my head, as if saying, “Don’t waste your anger on those who don’t deserve it. Let the past rest.” 

I cradled his skull and whispered, “Let’s go home. We’re finally going home.” 

I took leave from work, brought his ashes back to my country, and laid him to rest beside my mother. 

On the day of the burial, Jackson appeared. He’d lost considerable weight, his face gaunt and exhausted. He placed two white chrysanthemums on my mother’s A Joseph’s graves, 

telling me he’d figured everything out. 

He showed me an apology video on Sara’s Instagram. In it, she confessed to everyone she’d 

deceived. She admitted she hadn’t traveled the world as claimed–she’d fabricated that 

persona to make Jackson yearn for her, and she’d been cruel to me out of jealousy over my engagement to Jackson. 

After we watched, Jackson called Sara right there. Her voice dripped with remorse. “Jackson, I apologized like you asked! You promised we’d get married–is that still true?? 

“No,” he replied coldly. “I won’t marry you. You lied to me, and I lied to you. We’re even 

now. I only made you apologize because you hurt Zoey. Let’s never cross paths again.” 

He hung up, blocked her number, and turned to me. “About the camera–I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was your mother’s memento.” 

When Love Becomes a Thing of the Past 

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Chapter 18 

shook my head. “Don’t bother apologizing. I’ll never forgive you.” 

Jackson bowed his head heavily. “I’m sorry about my brother too… He reached out many 

times after leaving for the Nyara Republic, but I always berated him, blamed him… I knew our parents forcing me to break up with Sara wasn’t his fault, but I lacked the courage to leave. I envied him.” 

He stared at Joseph’s gravestone. “If I hadn’t been such a coward, if I’d gone with him… 

maybe I would have met you, had a fair chance with you.” 

“No one can go back to the past,” I replied evenly. “What–ifs don’t matter. I loved Joseph, 

that’s all there is to it.” 

Jackson sighed softly. “Perhaps I’ll join Médecins Sans Frontières… try to be closer to you, 

atone for my regrets.” 

I remembered something then. “Someone once said your brother never really wanted to be 

a doctor. He always thought of you, hoping you’d discover who you truly wanted to be. 

Don’t set yourself up for more regrets.” 

Jackson froze, his eyes reddening with memories. 

I picked up the chrysanthemums. “Neither of them liked white chrysanthemums. Don’t bring them again.” I handed the flowers back and walked away.