Five years later.

Abner was twenty-three, and Shirley was approaching the significant milestone of twenty-nine.

Over the years, her relationship with her parents had improved significantly. Perhaps Abner's departure had left her indifferent to everything else, making her past grievances and bitterness seem trivial. She had become a college professor, interacting with many young people. Their youthful exuberance often reminded her of Abner.

For five years, she never stopped seeking information about Abner, but her efforts yielded no results.

Every day after work, she would drive past the high school and pause for a moment.

She still lived in the place she had rented five years ago, which she had since purchased.

Recently, she had a persistent feeling that she was being followed. She reported it to the police, but their investigation turned up nothing.

Until that day, in the most expensive boutique at the mall, she saw a man.

He stood there casually, holding a pair of sunglasses, seemingly waiting for someone.

Then a young woman approached him, linked her arm with his, and smiled at him.

Shirley froze in her tracks. The man was surrounded by several bodyguards who treated him with the utmost respect.

She recognized him immediately-it was Abner.

But he was no longer the skinny teenager she remembered. He had grown, with sharp features and a commanding presence. Even his smile carried a hint of a brisk spring breeze. Shirley stood there for a long time, until her legs began to ache.

the sudden wave of melancholy that overwhelmed her,

her colleagues were

I heard the boutique closed just to accommodate

know. Greenfield has so many wealthy people, we can't know all of

more so than

they chatted, they headed

such gatherings, but she had declined too many times before

realizing Shirley wasn't

are you daydreaming about?

but her mind

group went to Greenfield's most expensive restaurant,

by a distinguished academic, soon to be

barely touched her food, lost in

didn't you

this dinners for your sake.

gaze, Shirley saw a team member

lowered her lashes and

to use

pursued her, some quite persistently,

emotions had

she couldn't possibly have feelings for Abner; she'd always seen him

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