Looking at the bangle in her hands, I frowned but didn't reach out to take it. Instead, I looked at her and said, "It's a bangle from your grandmother. Even if it's to be returned, it should be me giving mine back to you. I'll give it back to you, if you are here to collect it. You don't need to give yours back to me. The bangle was my gift to you, a symbol of the association between both our families and our friendship. At that time, I thought our friendship was a bond that could never be broken by anything. But it seems that I was wrong. Even though we have ended up like this, I don't want something I gave with all my heart returned. You can throw it into the bin if you don't want it anymore."
I shut the door immediately as soon as I finished my sentence.
She briskly blocked the door from closing. She gazed at me, not passing the bangle to me but said after a moment of silence, "Arianna, thank you!"
I gave her a faint smile, but didn't say another word. I would accept any outcome no matter how things ended between us. I've known since a young age that I wasn't a person who had too much attachment to other people. Take Hendrix as an example, despite having such strong feelings for him, I still gave up on him after three years of not seeing any hope.
The same went for me and Naomi's friendship. I could understand and respect Naomi's choice in the face of the difficulties that she was facing. However, I would make my own decisions too.
Since it had come to this point, there was nothing more to be said. Thus, I chose to keep my silence. "There's no need to thank me. I wish you a bright future."
Wishing someone a bright future seemed to be such a beautiful blessing. However, I soon realized that this phrase was meant to wish someone a good life after separation.
We shared a last goodbye, which seemed to be poetic in a way that couldn't be described in words.
Feeling a little surprised by the things she said to me, I looked at her meaningfully. "Alright, I know, thank you!" After a moment of hesitation, I added, "I'll protect myself."
She lowered her head down without speaking another word and turned to leave.
Deep down in my heart, I knew that she wasn't a bad person, just someone who fell in love with the wrong person.
Following Dahlia was an unexpected move. I had originally planned to meet her in person, but I was afraid she would alert Sebastian if I went to her directly. If that happened, Sebastian would try to harm Bobbie. He knew of Bobbie's weakness, but Sebastian didn't have any weaknesses. The only way for such a vicious man to keep his secret was to kill everyone who knew about it.
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