Chapter 15 — There Is Light At The End Of The Road

Life is like a calm river, quietly flowing forward. The gallery's business has been on a stable trajectory, and I've also devoted more time and energy to the things I really love. I studied pottery making, flower arranging, and even signed up for a French class. I started traveling alone. I've been to the Louvre Museum in Paris, watched the sunset in Florence, and fed stray cats in the blue-and-white town of Santorini. My world is getting bigger and bigger. Wide enough to fade away all the people and events of the past, until no trace remains. Occasionally, I still hear some news about Luc Triet. It is said that after that he went to a small district very far away, working as a worker in a factory. His mother's illness fluctuated in severity, consuming all of his savings. He never married again. Never contacted me either. As for To Van, it was as if she had disappeared from the world, and since then there has been no more news. It's like she never appeared in my life. Winter two years later, Hai Thanh welcomed its first snowfall. I was arranging newly arrived paintings in the gallery when the postman brought a letter. There was no return address on the envelope, only a faint postmark. It was sent from a small district, the last place Luc Triet had ever been to. I opened the envelope. Inside were several sheets of paper filled with letters. It's Luc Triet's handwriting. Seeing a letter is like meeting someone face to face. When you read this letter, I may no longer be on earth. Please don't misunderstand, I don't want to use death to threaten you, nor do I want to gain your pity. I just want, before I end my life, to make a few things clear. He has cancer, terminal liver cancer. He no longer has money for treatment, nor does he want to have treatment anymore. For the past two years, he lived very miserable. Every day I think, if I hadn't made the wrong choice that year, what life would be like now. Maybe we're married, maybe we even have children. Every winter, I will still remind you to wear that blue coat like before. After work, I will bring you your favorite chestnut cake. We will be the happiest couple in the world. Unfortunately, life doesn't have the word "if". I admit, when I first approached you, I indeed had a purpose. Your family background and background, for me at that time, were a temptation that I could not resist. I used to think that if I had all those things, I would be happy. But after being with you, I gradually realized that I really did love you. I love the meals you cook, love the way you smile, love the image of you quietly beside me every time I work overtime. That feeling is completely different from when being with To Van. Being with To Van is passion, desire, two lonely souls warming each other. Being with you is peace, a feeling of security, a feeling of home. He was greedy and wanted both. While I want the peace you bring, I can't bear to give up To Van's passion. So I lied, deceived you, and also deceived her. He thought he could hide everything and enjoy the happiness of two women at the same time. Until the day of the wedding, when I stopped abruptly turned and left. Only then did he realize that what he lost was not just a rich fiancee. It's the person who treated me the best in this world. After that, he went to look for To Van. She placed all the responsibility on him. She said it was you who ruined her, saying that from beginning to end she never loved you, the person she loved was only your money. No, it's my money. We had a huge argument, and from then on we never saw each other again. When he fell to the bottom of his life, everyone avoided him like evil. Only you, even when I knelt down and begged, you still gave me a sum of money. I know, it's not because you still love me. It's because I'm too honest. Du Du, I'm sorry. This apology has come too late. If there is an afterlife, I hope I can become a good person. Someone worthy of me. Saying goodbye to the girl he once loved, who was also hurt by him. I wish you a lifetime of happiness. At the end of the letter was a photo. That's the only photo of me and him together. Taken on the stadium of the university campus. In the photo, I smile so carelessly that I don't even know how to worry, while he looks at me with gentle eyes that seem to melt into water. It was our first date. I held the photo and looked at it for a long, long time. Tears suddenly fell. I don't cry for him. I cried because of the girl in that photo, the girl who smiled so brightly. She will never come back again. I walked up to the fireplace and threw the letter and photo into the fire. The orange-red flame immediately swallowed each line of words and the youthful smile on the photo. The paper curled up in the fire, gradually burned, and finally turned into ash. Just like that painful past, it finally completely disappeared from my life. I stood up and walked to the window. Outside, snow is falling, the whole world is covered in pure white. A whole new world. A whole new world, mine alone. The phone suddenly rang, it was Kieu Na calling.

"Du Du, look outside quickly! It's snowing! Come have a drink with me!"

I smiled. I put on my coat and walked out of the gallery. The cold wind blew on my face, very cold, but also made my mind more alert than ever. I raised my head and reached out to catch a snowflake that was slowly falling. The snowflakes quickly melted in my palm. That cold feeling only lasted for a blink of an eye. Just like the people who entered our lives and then left. Nothing is eternal. Except for yourself. And people who truly love you. I walked towards the bar where I had arranged with Kieu Na. The streetlight made my shadow very long. I know, from today onwards, I will go on a very long journey alone. But I'm not afraid. Because I know, at the end of that path there is always light.