Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph

I slowly lifted my head, and when I finally saw the woman's face, my eyes filled with tears. Bella grabbed the wine glass from the waiter, glanced at my shocked expression, and grinned, "Emily, you look so different now. Even the way you hold a wine glass screams 'successful woman.""

I was shaking as I put down the wine glass, my vision all blurry. I couldn't hold back my emotions and just threw myself into Bella's arms, hugging her tight.

"Bella! I've missed you so much!" I blurted out.

I could hear Bella's soft laughter right by my ear.

"Don't cry," she said with a faint smile, "People might think we're having an affair, that I'm the heartbreaker, and you're the wronged one."

Bella was still the same as ever.

I pulled back from her embrace, looking at her with tear-filled eyes. She had lost a lot of weight and looked a bit worn out, with faint crow's feet at the corners of her eyes. But at least her personality hadn't changed. "Bella."

I hadn't said her name in so long, thinking I'd never get the chance again. But here she was, right in front of me, and just saying her name made my heart ache, tears streaming down my face.

Bella pinched my cheek, saying, "I'm happy to see you here."

We grabbed our drinks and found a quiet booth to sit down.

"Bella, how have you been?" I asked.

She took a sip of her drink, put down the glass, and said lightly, "I've been fine."

Just three simple words, clearly she didn't want to say more.

In two years, it seemed like we had both been through a lot, and we couldn't just chat and laugh like we used to.

"Emily, I admire you for achieving such success today, and I'm really happy for you," Bella said.

I looked at her sadly, "Bella, why didn't you want to contact me?"

Bella didn't speak for a long time. After a while, she took out a necklace from her pocket, the one I had given her, but it was missing the pendant.

"Emily," she said seriously, "I wore this necklace you gave me all the time, even when bathing and sleeping, because it was a gift from you. One day last year, while walking on the street, the chain broke, and the pendant got damaged. Even though it was broken, I wanted to keep it as a cherished memento. But I found something inside the pendant."

Bella took out a small bag containing something that looked like a chip.

"What's this?" I asked, my voice shaky.

She said lightly, "I asked someone who knows about these things, and they said it's a tracking chip."

I was floored.

"A tracking chip?"

Bella saw my shocked expression and gave a faint smile.

"So you were in the dark too? I don't think you did this, but I have every reason to believe it was Ethan. That's why, even though we hid in such a secluded place, and even Zachary said it was hard for others to find, the police still found us easily."

I was completely speechless. The necklace was indeed given to me by Ethan, who specifically asked me to give it to Bella. I never thought of anything else, really believing he was just trying to make amends for not being able to help Bella's father.

"Bella, I really didn't know about any of this. You must hate me, right? It's my fault Zachary got caught. I'm so sorry!"

Bella laughed, picked up her drink, and downed it in one gulp.

"You don't have to be sorry. Justice may be delayed, but it is never denied. He may have wronged many people, but he never wronged me. He treated me well with his life, and I can never repay that."

Since Zachary was caught, Bella's days have been tough.

"Bella, are you mad at me? Is that why you didn't want to contact me?"

Bella shook her head, snapped her fingers, and ordered more drinks from the waiter.

"I'm not mad at you, I just didn't know how to face you. If I were still mad at you, I wouldn't have come to see you."novelbin

My nose tingled, and I hugged her arm, leaning on her shoulder.

"Bella, did you come specifically to see me?"

She poked my forehead with her finger.

"What do you think? I heard about Ethan, and I knew you must be heartbroken. I couldn't rest easy, so I came to check on you."

I leaned on her shoulder, my tears soaking her clothes.

"Bella, thank you. If even you ignored me and didn't want me, I wouldn't know what to do."

Bella smiled gently, a bit sadly.

"Emily, you married a DEA agent, and I married a drug dealer. It's all fate! God's plan is already cruel enough. If we keep hating each other, we're just making it worse for ourselves, right? We used to be such good sisters. God wants us to break up, but we won't follow his script!"

She still had that carefree tone, and I was already crying too hard to speak. That night, we drank a lot, getting completely wasted. We laughed and joked, as if we had temporarily forgotten all the sadness and pain.

At that moment, it was just the two of us, and it felt like we had gone back in time. Back when we were both single, still innocent, and hadn't been through so much pain or those heart-wrenching loves.

We supported each other, staggering out of the bar, hailed a cab, and I took her back home. I had moved back to Ethan's villa, leaving the house I bought to Sophie. When we got back, Bella said she wanted to see the kids.

The two kids were already asleep. We tiptoed in, and the nanny woke up, reaching to turn on the light, but Bella gestured for her to stop.

Standing by the cribs, we quietly watched for a while before silently retreating.

Back in the room, we snuggled into one bed, just like old times.

Since Ethan left, I had been sleeping alone in an empty room, often suffering from insomnia. Tonight, with Bella here, I finally felt a bit of warmth.

Bella took out two necklaces from her bag, saying they were gifts for the kids.

I said, "I'm just happy you came to see me; you didn't have to spend money."

Bella shoved the items into my hand, lay down, and wrapped herself in the blanket.

"I know you have everything you need. This is just a small token from me. If you don't mind, just take it."

With her saying that, I of course accepted without hesitation.

Snuggling into the blanket, I hugged her.

"Bella, where's your child?"

"I didn't bring him. It's inconvenient to travel with a child," she said.

"Then who takes care of him when you're gone?"

Bella said, "Jennifer is on break and went back home. She's great with kids, and my child likes her a lot. So while I'm away, I left him with her, and I'm very at ease." She took out her phone and showed me pictures of her child.

The little boy looked like Bella, with big eyes, very cute.

Judging by the time, he shouldn't be much older than Hunter and Harper. Bella found out she was pregnant not long before I did.

I thought of Oliver and couldn't help but ask, "Did Oliver come to see you? Did you meet him?"

Bella nodded but didn't say more. Staring at the ceiling for a while, she said, "As long as Zachary is alive, I'll wait for him. There will be a day when he reunites with us."

That day, we talked late into the night. The next morning, during breakfast, I hesitated for a long time before saying, "Bella, go see Uncle Leonard. Don't leave any regrets."

She said with a slight smile, "Don't look at me so seriously, like a principal scolding a student. I'll go in a bit."

After breakfast, Bella left. When she called me the next day, she said she was already on the train. I didn't expect her to leave so quickly. I had planned to buy some gifts for her child to take back. In the end, we couldn't go back to the way things were. After all, we both had our own ties now.

In the afternoon, I went to see Faris, and we went shopping together. Faris took the groceries to the scale, and the girl at the scale screamed and took a few steps back. Faris stood there awkwardly with the groceries.

The girl must have had a reflexive reaction to seeing Faris's hand. After screaming, the girl realized her reaction was rude, so she repeatedly apologized and helped us weigh the groceries.

Faris was silent all the way back from the supermarket. Actually, he had become quiet and withdrawn since Dakota's incident. He used to be slick and mischievous, always driving me crazy. Now that he had suddenly become so quiet, I was not used to it and felt an indescribable sadness.

After we got back, I washed the vegetables and cooked. Faris offered to help, but I refused. He still followed me into the kitchen, remained silent for a while, and then smiled faintly.

"I just lost a finger; I'm not really disabled."

He poured the vegetables into the sink, turned on the faucet, and stubbornly insisted on helping me wash them. I looked at his hand in the sink, a pair of once good-looking hands now flawed. The man who used to shine with handsomeness now had to endure strange looks from others because of this hand.

I whispered, "I'm sorry."

He turned off the water, faced me, and used his wet hand to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. Faris looked at me, as if wanting to say something, but in the end, he said nothing, just smiled gently and continued washing the vegetables. During dinner, I served a bowl of soup, sat down across from him, and held my chopsticks without moving for a long time.

He took a sip of soup, looked up.

Faris said with a gentle smile, "What do you want to say?"

I looked at him, deliberately avoiding his hand. Because every time I saw his hand, my guilt overwhelmed me.

"Faris, go wherever you want, and do whatever you want. You have no obligation to stay with me."

The smile in Faris's eyes gradually faded.

Faris said, "Are you trying to get rid of me?"