Hearts Remember What Minds Try To Forget by Rex Wilder 59

Rufus’s knuckles whitened around the Divorce Certificate, his thumb tracing Carice‘ decisive signature repeatedly. 

Yet disbelief gnawed at him. 

The garage lights hummed overhead as he suddenly spun and grabbed his bodyguard’s collar:“What else did she say that day?” 

“Did she leave any instructions with you?” 

“Mr. Sackhoff…” 

The bodyguard staggered from the chokehold:“Madam’s wrist wound keeps bleeding. She only told me to deliver the gift to you.” 

And also… 

He pulled out a kraft paper envelope from his chest pocket, “This one is for the Thwaites family.” 

Rufus snatched the envelope and tore it open. On the yellowed letter paper, Carice‘ handwriting remained neat:“Mr. Thwaites, Mrs. Thwaites, this is the Adult Child’s Petition to Sever Legal Ties and a bankbook for you. Honestly, if you think about it carefully, I should never have been found in the first place. The Adult Child’s Petition to Sever Legal Ties severs our ties, and the bankbook repays your upbringing. From now on, I am no longer a daughter of the Thwaites family…” 

Rufus’s hands trembled uncontrollably. 

He had a feeling–Carice was truly leaving for good. 

“Deliver this to the Thwaites family.” 

“Understood, Mr. Sackhoff.” 

Half an hour after the bodyguard left. 

Mr. and Mrs. Thwaites called. 

Rufus took a deep breath and answered. Mrs. Thwaites‘ frantic voice nearly shattered the receiver:“Rufus! Has Carice contacted you? She left an Adult Child’s Petition to Sever Legal Ties at home, saying she’s cutting ties with us!” 

Rufus’s nails dug deep into his palms. 

“How would I know?” He suddenly sneered, “You can’t even control your own flesh and blood–why ask me?” 

not for you and Annalise… Carice would never…” 

“How dare 

you speak like that!” Mrs. Thwaites‘ voice quivered, “If 

“Enough! Were you any better? You handed your family’s legacy to Annalise–what right do you have to blame me now?” 

Rufus abruptly hung up the phone, the mobile slamming onto the car hood with a dull thud. 

A gust of wind blew by, bringing a chill, and he suddenly remembered how Carice used to be there, always attentive to every detail. 

Those ordinary little things, yet she had always persisted in doing them. 

Rufus slumped into the seat, reaching for the cigarette box only to find it empty. 

The frustration in his heart grew even deeper. 

“Mr. Sackhoff, Madam was indeed quite seriously injured at the time.” 

The assistant’s voice suddenly spoke up, “She said… she said some things, if not done now, there’d be no chance later.” 

For the first time, he realized that Carice, who would quietly fix the buttons on his suit sleeves and stay up all night making porridge when his stomach ached, might have truly been pushed too far away by his own hands. 

And this time, she didn’t even leave him a chance to look back.