Chapter 24
683words
"I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have lied to you. Wren and I are done, and her child… the child is gone too.
"Please, forgive me this once. I can't live without you. I'll pay any price if you'll just come back to me."
Still, there was no response.
"Honey, please don't—" Luther's voice trembled, but before he could finish, the call ended abruptly.
He panicked and redialed, only to find that he'd been blocked. An overwhelming despair washed over him, leaving him gasping for air.
Jane called at that moment.
"Mom, can you… can you help me find her? I miss her so much, but she won't even take my calls anymore," he pleaded.
Jane's throat tightened. Her proud son was now reduced to begging. He must have been utterly desperate.
"Why don't you let it go, Luther? Please, just let it go. Come home, try to live a good life, and leave the past behind."
"But I can't let go. I really can't."
There was a long pause when neither of them spoke. Jane simply listened to his muffled sobs, and her own eyes welled with tears.
If only she hadn't meddled back then, things would have been so different. Luther and Callista could have been the happiest couple, and her grandson would have been four years old by now.
"I'll help you keep looking," Jane finally said.
But finding someone who didn't want to be found in a sea of strangers was almost impossible.
Just like that, another month had passed.
Luther's repeated near-misses with Callista took a toll. His health deteriorated, and he ended up in the hospital.
Meanwhile, after marking "not interested" on related topics multiple times, Callista had effectively erased any news of Luther from her feed.
She fully immersed herself in her journey, traveling through two more countries with Jude. One evening, as she packed her bags for the next destination, there was a knock on her door.
To her surprise, Jane stood there, looking haggard.
Callista's smile immediately faded.
"Luther is in the hospital. I didn't tell him where you are, or he'd stop at nothing to find you," Jane said with a bitter smile.
"May I speak with you for a moment? You don't want him chasing you across the world like this, do you?"
Moved by the last remark, Callista stepped aside to let her in. "Just five minutes. I'm in a hurry."
"I've divorced your father-in-law. He found a young girl who looks like I did in my youth.
"Luther knew about it but kept it from me. It's only now that I understand how you felt back then. Callista, I owe you an apology—for the child, for Wren, for everything."
Jane bowed her head in remorse.
Even so, Callista's heart didn't stir from it. The weight of delayed guilt no longer moved her—it only felt repulsive.
Luther's public admissions of guilt and relentless pursuit had also become exhausting to endure.
After a couple of minutes, Jane straightened up.
"I'm living with the consequences of my actions. This is my karma, and my fault alone. I swear I'll never interfere in your relationship with Luther again.
"Callista, I'm begging you. Please give Luther one more chance."
Callista pressed her lips together. Jane, with her hair half-white and her demeanor utterly humble, looked pitiable.
Jane then handed over her phone, showing a video of Luther.
He was half-reclining on a hospital bed with an IV drip in his arm. The hospital gown hung loosely on his emaciated frame, and he looked frail. He was almost unrecognizable,
"He truly knows he was wrong," Jane said softly.
Callista stared at the screen. In less than six months, Luther had turned himself into a shadow of the man he once was.
Just then, Luther's call came through, and Jane answered on speakerphone.
"Mom, did you find Callista? Will she give me another chance?"
Jane's pleading eyes turned to Callista. She waited for her answer.
Callista exhaled slowly and finally spoke. "Luther..."
