Chapter 18

I frantically clawed at the soil, dirt and blood staining my fingernails. I dug until I uncovered bone. In that moment, I collapsed.

I carefully excavated the remains, entangled in the tree roots. Among the soil, I found fragments of the white coat he'd worn that day.

It was Joseph. I'd found him! After all this time, I'd finally found him.

It felt as though he'd seen my grief and gently touched my head, whispering, "Don't waste your anger on those who don't deserve it. Let the past rest."

I cradled his skull and whispered, "Let's go home. We're finally going home."

I took leave from work, returned his ashes to my country, and laid him to rest beside my mother.

On the day of the burial, Jackson appeared. He'd lost considerable weight, his face gaunt and drawn. He placed two white chrysanthemums on my mother's and Joseph's graves, saying he'd understood everything.

He showed me an apology video on Sara's Instagram. In it, she confessed to her deception. She admitted she hadn't traveled the world as she'd claimed—she'd fabricated that persona to make Jackson yearn for her, and she'd been cruel to me out of jealousy over my engagement to him.

Afterward, Jackson called Sara. Her voice dripped with remorse. "Jackson, I apologized as you asked! You promised we'd get married—is that still true?"

"No," he replied coldly. "I won't marry you. You lied to me, and I lied to you. We're even now. I only made you apologize because you hurt Zoey. Let's never cross paths again."

He hung up, blocked her number, and turned to me. "About the camera—I'm sorry. I didn't know it was your mother's memento."

I shook my head. "Don't bother apologizing. I'll never forgive you."

Jackson bowed his head. "I'm sorry about my brother, too. He reached out many times after leaving for the Nyara Republic, but I always berated him, blamed him… I knew our parents forcing me to break up with Sara wasn't his fault, but I lacked the courage to leave. I envied him."

He stared at Joseph's gravestone. "If I hadn't been such a coward, if I'd gone with him… maybe I would have met you, had a fair chance with you."

"No one can go back to the past," I replied evenly. "What-ifs don't matter. I loved Joseph, that's all there is to it."

Jackson sighed. "Perhaps I'll join Médecins Sans Frontières… try to be closer to you, atone for my regrets."

I remembered something. "Someone once said your brother never really wanted to be a doctor. He always thought of you, hoping you'd discover who you truly wanted to be. Don't set yourself up for more regrets."

Jackson froze, his eyes reddening.

I picked up the chrysanthemums. "Neither of them liked white chrysanthemums. Don't bring them again." I handed him the flowers and walked away.