Her New Beginning, My Final Ending Chapter 08

Her New Beginning, My Final Ending Chapter 08

My time had come.

“Come on. It’s time.”

A low voice came from behind me. I turned and looked toward the bedroom, where Grandma and Claire were sleeping. I

had promised them I would come back and see them tonight.

I drifted slowly into the room.

They were both asleep.

Claire’s brows were drawn tight even in sleep, as if she still could not rest easy.

Grandma was no different. Her eyes were closed, but tears still slipped quietly from their corners.

I smiled, reached out, and touched them both as gently as I could. Then I left one last thing on the table beneath my

picture.

After that, I stood there looking at everything in the room with aching reluctance, as if I could never look long enough.

When I used to watch those TV dramas, I never understood why people on the verge of leaving this world seemed so unwilling to let it go. Only now, when it was finally my turn, did I understand that kind of longing.

‘Come on. It’s time.”

The voice behind me urged me on again.

I turned without looking back this time. My body grew fainter and fainter, and the world before me slowly dissolved into

white.

Somewhere in that blur, I thought I heard Grandma and Claire crying.

‘Natalie, come visit Grandma in my dreams, okay?”

‘Natalie, in the next life, let me be the one to find you first, all right?”

I closed my eyes.

What remained in my heart was not fear, but a deep, quiet sense of peace.

I only hoped that in whatever life came next, happiness would no longer stay just out of reach, and that this time I

would truly be able to have it.

Epilogue

Two years later, Adrian brought Claire back to the countryside in the north.

Grandma had passed away the year before, after grief and worry had finally worn her down

Natalie’s death had shattered the Whitmore family. After suffering a stroke. Mr. Whitmore was left partially paralyzed

and spent his days staring blankly at Natalie’s photograph.

Mrs. Whitmore had become a nun and now prayed for Natalie every day at church.

Claire had taken over the family business and spent her days rushing from one obligation to the next.

Adrian, who should have been Natalie’s husband, helped Claire manage the Whitmore company.

He sat in the backyard, where Grandma had buried Natalie’s ashes two years earlier. Now an osmanthus tree had grown

there.

He still remembered how much Natalie had loved osmanthus blossoms. Every September, she would rise on tiptoe to

shake the branches until the flowers came fluttering down, then cling to Claire and beg her to turn them into sweet

osmanthus syrup.

Time really does fly. It’s already been two years,” Adrian said softly.

Claire gave a quiet hum in response.

By now, her little sister had probably already been born into another life.

She would be two years old now.

Claire wondered what Natalie looked like in this life, and what kind of child she had become.

She reached out and gently touched the trunk of the tree, and for a moment, it was as if Natalie’s laughter echoed

through her mind again.

“Natalie, I’m wearing the necklace you gave me today.”

“It always feels like if I keep it on, you’re still with me.”

A faint smile touched her lips.

In all those years, she had only dreamed of Natalie twice.

The first time had been the week after Natalie died. In the dream, Natalie had smiled and waved to her

“Claire, I’m going now.”

“Don’t lose the necklace I gave you, okay?”

The second time had been the year before. Natalie had smiled at her again.

“Claire, I found my family. They’ve been so good to me.”

Claire lowered her head and carefully ran her fingers over the necklace, wondering what kind of family Natalie had

found in this life.

But maybe that was for the best.

Anything was better than staying with the Whitmores, better than a life where happiness was always just one step too

far away.

Claire stood up, gave the osmanthus tree one last look, and smiled.

Natalie, if fate is kind, maybe we’ll meet again someday.

‘Let’s go.”

She gave Adrian a small nod, and the two of them left Grandma’s house together.

But the moment they stepped outside, they saw a little girl come skipping past, with a smiling couple following behind

her.

“Sweetheart, slow down. Daddy can barely keep up with you.”

“And don’t forget to thank Grandma for the candy, okay?”

The little girl’s smile was bright and carefree.

i

Claire stood to the side watching her, and a smile touched her eyes too, heavy with memory, because she could still

remember Natalie smiling that way as well, lighthearted, bright, and full of life.

But after they had been separated for those years, Claire had never seen that kind of smile on Natalie’s face again.

Claire turned and walked away without looking back.

And yet, as if she had sensed something, the little girl suddenly turned to look after Claire.

What Claire never saw was the pale red birthmark at the nape of the little girl’s neck, exactly like the one Natalie had

once had.

“Sweetheart, time to go home.”

The little girl turned back around and threw herself happily into her parents’ arms.