Take My Breath Away

The words that spilled from the bartender's mouth pained Blair's heart to the core. 'Wesley proposed to someone else.' "How... How did he propose to the woman called Patty Chang? I mean, what did he say?" she continued to ask, suppressing the sadness in her heart. She never knew Wesley would be that romantic. A proposal. Who would have thought?

"Well, nothing in particular. He just put the ring on Patty's ring finger, but that gesture was enough to get tears falling. She couldn't wait to say yes. Everybody in D City knows that Patty is head over heels in love with the guy. I bet that she would've proposed to Wayne if he hadn't done it first. So, Wayne didn't need to do a whole lot," the bartender blurted out. Since Blair had paid him a ton of cash, he poured out every fact that he knew.

He kept prattling on about the gossip and rumors surrounding Wayne and Patty. But his words landed on deaf ears. She was immersed in her own sad thoughts. S

he didn't need any more information now. All she knew was that Wesley was married to a woman named Patty.

She reached for the ring that Wesley had given to her. She'd hung it on her neck like a pendant. A sardonic smile crept along her face as the ridiculous fact sank in.

When she took the sleeping pills that night, she'd worn it then, too. Because she wanted to leave this world with the most precious thing in her life. But this man bought another ring and gave it to another woman.

To make sure the bartender was straight with her, Blair paid off a few other waiters. She still couldn't believe the story. Much to her disappointment, she got the same answers.

Wesley did get marriage licenses for Patty.

Oh, to be precise, it was Wayne who married Patty.

But in Blair's mind, Wayne or Wesley, it meant the same. They were the same guy. Wesley did everything, though. He was Patty's husband now.

The next thing Blair knew was that she was already outside the night club. She couldn't even remember walking out of it.

Without a specific destination, she wandered along a street near the club, just like the first time she visited the city.

She walked to the same footbridge where she saw Wesley and his men last time. But this time, there was no one in camo fatigues, or uniform for that matter. And more importantly, no Wesley.

He was busy flirting with his new bride in the club.

A ton of dark thoughts flooded her mind. For a moment, she was overwhelmed by the urge to jump off the bridge and end everything.

But then she thought of her family. Her grandfather, aunt, uncle and Joslyn. She remembered how sad and worried they were when she first committed suicide. 'No, I can't do that. I can't make my loved ones worry about me again, ' she told herself.

She kept walking and stopped in front of a pawn shop. After a moment of hesitation, she made up her mind and walked in.

A few moments later, she came out.

The ring and bracelet were no longer hers. She'd sold them to the pawn shop.

She didn't see any reason to be good anymore. She wouldn't pay Wesley back for the 300, 000 dollars. She'd keep the money she got from the ring and bracelet, and use it to travel the world. She would be swimming in boyfriends. She had suffered enough loving Wesley. Life's too short. She vowed to lead a happy and relaxing life.

The next day, Blair flew back home. As soon as the plane touched down, she got a call from an unknown number.

But she didn't answer it.

The person on the other side called a few more times, but she rejected them all. If she didn't know who it was, she wasn't going to answer it.

Finally, whoever it was gave up.

Two days later, she got a call from Cecelia. She called to tell her what Wesley told her. "Blair, what you saw is all fake. It's Wayne Chen who's married to Patty, not Wesley. Wesley has only one woman in his heart. That's you, Blair. He's loved you for a long time, and will do so forever."

Cecelia's voice sounded nervous. She had written down her son's words on a piece of paper, in case she'd miss something.

But Blair didn't feel anything after hearing all that.

She still couldn't accept the ironic fact that when she committed suicide for him, he was alive, loving another woman. She couldn't get over the fact that he married Patty, fake identity or not. She couldn't understand why he didn't let her know he was alive, after surviving the explosion. Why was it so important for him to propose to Patty first instead of giving her a call? Didn't he realize she was weeping over him because she thought he was dead?

And why in the hell would he marry Patty? Was that part of it? What kind of mission was that?

Cecelia expected Blair to leave Wesley a message. But no matter how she comforted Blair, the girl didn't have anything to tell her son. Instead, Blair said, "Aunt Cecelia, thanks for taking care of me. I won't forget you and will visit you whenever I have a holiday. But please, stop talking about Wesley, okay?" The mere mention of this name pained her heart.

Cecelia wasn't angry or disappointed. On the contrary, she supported Blair. "I get it. I got your back. You've waited for him, loved him and worried about him for so many years. It's payback time."

Blair was surprised to hear her say that.

Her love story was a little different from everyone else's. Most of what she did in her story was wait—wait for the hero to come back. If all she needed to do was wait, she was okay with that. She didn't mind waiting for years if she had to.

However, reality was much more complicated than she expected. There were a lot of things about this love that made her feel insecure. They tortured her a lot.

Blair didn't say those words to Cecelia because she was angry at Wesley. She was indeed heartbroken. She was determined. If Wesley couldn't be bothered to call her and explain to her, then it was over.

She would give up on Wesley.

Quiet days went by. And just when Blair thought everything between them was over, Wesley came back.

That day, Blair had just styled her long, straight black hair into red curly hair. Holding a well-dressed man's arm, she walked out of the hair salon. They were talking and laughing happily.

Blair was dressed in a revealing, fashionable dress. She looked quite hot. A lot of men she passed took a second look.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught glimpse of a man in a familiar uniform. Naturally, she tilted her head to look at the man. In an instant, her heart skipped a beat.

It was the guy she missed for so long and was now trying to erase from her thoughts and heart.

The man stood on the other side of the road, holding a box of preserved roses.

As she met his intent gaze, Blair's eyes went red with tears.

But she quickly recovered, shutting down her emotions and regaining her composure. Pretending not to see him, she turned to the man next to her and continued laughing and talking.

"Blair," Wesley called out.

Blair didn't stop but her date turned around and remarked, "Sounds like someone's trying to get your attention."

She maintained the smile on her face. "I didn't hear a thing."

"You heard me alright. Hi, Blair." The soldier had already walked up to them and blocked their way.

The smile froze on her face. "I'm sorry, sir. Do I know you?"

Wesley threw a glance at the confused man beside her. "She tell you she's married?"

The man was even more confused. "No."

Blair was stunned too. "What are you talking about, Wesley?"

"Now you know me." Wesley shifted his gaze back to her.

Blair was left speechless.

The well-dressed man was from a rich family. If it were any other guy, the man would have stepped up to defend his lady's honor. But this was Wesley. Well-connected, well-respected. He just figured it wasn't a good idea to cross him. Looking at the rank on Wesley's uniform, the well-dressed man instantly broke free of Blair's arm and said, "Blair, I should take off. Goodbye."

"No, wait. Stay, please..."

Blair called out to stop the man. But he fled as quickly as he could.

When the well-dressed man was out of sight, Blair smoothed her hair and pulled a long face.

She ignored Wesley and walked in the other direction.

Wesley stretched out his arm to stop her and stuffed the box of flowers in her arms. "Blair, I'm back. First thing I did was come and report to you."

'I bought you the red roses you like.

I'll give you everything you want from now on.'