Tangled Temptations

Nighttime.

Eloise received a call, it was from Max's sister, Olga. Her voice was choked with sobs. "Eloise, my brother is not doing well. Could you see him one last time?"

Eloise was shocked. The last time she saw Max was on the day of their college reunion.

Olga wept. "He had a car accident. He's at death's door, but he kept calling your name. He was found holding the amulet he gave you."

Eloise's phone slipped from her hand.

Late at night, she appeared at the hospital in black attire. In the end, Max never saw her one last time.

A white sheet was covering his face. The Velona family was mourning deeply inside. Disregarding Max's character, he had always been the pillar of the family, and now, he was gone.

Upon seeing Eloise, Olga burst into tears again. "Max, Eloise is here."

Eloise slowly walked over. Under the harsh white light, she gently lifted the sheet. Max's face had been cleaned. Aside from being pale, he looked just as he did in life.

Eloise gently stroked his face, murmuring, "Max, our past grievances are long gone, I've long since forgiven you. Why did you have to do this?"

He had an accident near her home. When the ambulance arrived, he was clutching the lucky amulet.

Eloise felt a complex mix of emotions. She had loved Max, and also deeply hated him, but all these feelings were about to disappear with Max's death, because there would be no more Max in this world.

Tears slid down her cheeks. She slowly covered his face with the sheet again, whispering, "Goodbye, Max."

Eloise didn't stay long and quickly left. In the hallway, Olga caught up with her. "Eloise!"

Eloise turned around.

Olga slowly approached, her voice sounding hoarse from crying. "Before my brother passed, he entrusted me to give you two things. He said he wanted you to have them."

A lucky amulet and a key.

Olga covered her mouth. "He got the lucky amulet for you, but he didn't get one for himself."

Eloise silently took the items.

Olga sniffled and continued, "Eloise, my mom is too proud to apologize, but she asked me to do it for her. She said if she could have persuaded my brother back then, maybe you two could have been happy together. He... he truly loved you. Eloise, what I fear the most is that you won't believe that he loved you... He didn't have a good life all these years."

Eloise didn't have a good life either. Who didn't have a first love that left a deep impression?noveldrama

Max's end was so tragic.

In the car, Baron noticed her expression and softly asked, "Ma'am, shall we go home or..."

Eloise looked down at the key in her hand. She quietly said, "I want to go somewhere."

Without asking any more questions, Baron drove to an old neighborhood in the east of the city. He respectfully stayed in the car, waiting.

Eloise went up alone.

Years ago, the Velona family had temporarily lived here when they were down on their luck, in an 800-square-foot apartment. It housed the entire Velona family.

Back then, Eloise would often come over to cook for Max. He was always very busy. When he came home, she would often be found asleep at the dining table.

This place held all her youthful memories.

She opened the door; the inside was almost the same as before, with a few new additions, indicating that someone had been cleaning regularly. Even the dining table had a plate of freshly washed fruits.

On the wall hung a large painting, a group photo of them in college. Eloise confessed her feelings to Max when they were in their twenties.

Their pictures were also by the bedside in the bedroom.

Eloise stood silently for a while, then went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Inside were plenty of fruits and vegetables. She calmly took out a few items and made a simple meal of two dishes and a soup, Max's favorites.

Once done, she served the food on the dining table. Eloise thought that if souls did exist, he would remember to come back for a meal.

When she left, she left the key behind. She wouldn't come back again.

As she walked down the stairs, the nighttime breeze was chilling against her face. Eloise didn't know if they could have had a good life together if he hadn't betrayed her back then, but she knew that all choices were irreversible. She once loved Max, but as he was at his end, all she could do for him was to cook him a meal.

When she got to the ground floor, the scene was chaotic.

Ravenna had arrived, along with some of the Velona family. Olga was holding onto Ravenna, crying. "My brother is gone, Ravenna, what more do you want?"

Ravenna looked distraught. Her chest heaved with emotion as she glared at Eloise. "He died because of you! He came to me, pleading for you. After leaving, he went to see you. Even in death, he was thinking of you. He kept this place just as it was. He came over every week to clean and wait. Eloise, did you ever think of him at all?"

Ravenna was desperate and jealous. She seemed to have lost her mind, while the people around her tried to hold her back.

Eloise remained calm. "I'm married."

Being married, how could Eloise still think of a past lover?

Max was dead. She might've felt a hint of sadness, perhaps a bit of sorrow, but she couldn't reciprocate his feelings. What was missed was missed, especially considering what Max had once done to the Laurent family.

Baron opened the car door for her.

Eloise got in, her nose was slightly red, and she softly said, "Let's go."

The black car slowly drove off.

Ravenna was still causing a scene. She found it hard to comprehend how, despite being the most recent woman Max had been intimate with, his thoughts were still dotted with images of Eloise. The Velona family had even given Eloise all of Max's prized possessions.

The autumn night grew colder and the rain heavier. Ravenna knelt on the ground, wailing...