A self-mocking laugh escaped his throat, unsure of how long he had been standing there as dawn broke.
Evan had spent the night sleeping in the car. When Phoenix got in and sat in the driver's seat, he noticed Evan stretching in the back before turning over to continue his slumber.
Just as Phoenix was about to start the engine and leave, someone knocked on the window. Sliding down the glass, he saw Julia's finely chiseled, gender-neutral face outside.
"Let's have a talk," the woman's voice was tinged with lethargy, as if she had just woken up.
Phoenix glanced at Evan in the back seat before returning his gaze to Julia. "Where do want to talk?"
Julia lifted her chin, "How about the passenger seat? Do you mind?"
Phoenix unlocked the doors, and Julia wasted no time in pulling the door open and sliding in. From her pocket, she extracted a slim ladies' cigarette. "Do you mind?"
"Just say what you have to say."
Gentle plumes of smoke curled from Julia's nostrils and mouth, carrying a blend of tobacco and mint, not unpleasant.
"I want you to stop bothering her," Julia cut straight to the point, making her intentions clear. "Meaning, I don't want her to see you."
The 'her' in question, naturally, was Serena.
Hearing confirmation that Serena was truly alive, Phoenix stiffened, his grip on the steering wheel tightening, veins popping on the back of his hand.
His throat worked, his voice raspy, "Why?"
Julia wasn't entirely devoid of sentimentality. "If you really miss her, I can show you snippets of her daily life. I only ask that you don't disturb her, that you don't let her see you, to avoid triggering her."
"What do you mean?" Phoenix turned to stare at her.
Julia snickered. "What do I mean?"
She looked out the window, flicking ashes off her cigarette. "Mr. Lee, I'm actually a very merciful person. If you two showed no remorse, I wouldn't be calmly discussing this with you right now; I'd be stabbing you twenty times with a scalpel, avoiding all vital organs, and I would get away with a minor injury. Do you believe that?"
"You're not getting to the point." He believed her words, but unfortunately, she lacked the capability.
Aside from Serena being in her hands, she held no cards.
Yet, she held the ace card.
Julia's gaze drifted afar, as if recalling, "During the Nightingale family incident, I was planning to return with her, but I had a patient at the time, and she seemed fine, so I let her go back alone. She had severe depression and often didn't take her medicine on time. When she was overseas, I had to monitor her closely."
"I don't know what happened to her in here. Every time I called her, she said she was doing well."
"My decision to return was spontaneous, to surprise her. I didn't tell her in advance and didn't contact her those two days. Who knew..."
Julia recounted calmly, her lips quirking with a slight choke in her voice. She wiped her eyes and continued,
"Who knew my colleague would fish her out of the sea!"
"Do you know how long it took us to revive her?! She had no will to live. If it weren't for owing me her life, owing me a promise, she wouldn't have opened her eyes again."
That was the second time Julia saved Serena, strictly speaking, the third if counting the accident during childhood.
"After Serena woke up, given her condition, she wouldn't have lived long. My doctoral specialization is in psychoanalysis, and hypnotizing her was a shot in the dark. Her current state, under the effect of hypnosis, seems good, vastly different from before. However, hypnosis largely relies on the patient's cooperation with the therapist, akin to dreaming. I don't let her see you because I fear the sight of you might trigger her memory. So..."
Her message was clear, and Phoenix understood.
"I understand," Phoenix's voice was low and hoarse. Accepting this reality, he was puzzled, "But why did you bring Serena back?"
Knowing she was alive brought joy, but recalling what Serena had gone through only made Phoenix feel more suffocated and anguished.
Julia gave him a look, her emotions now stable. "Through hypnosis, I can only partially alter her memories or bury those bad ones deep. But events like her parents' passing are hard to conceal. Her mother's memorial is coming up soon, and she insisted on returning."
Moreover... she heard about Miss Monahan's dinner party and decided to stir things up. If she couldn't harm them directly, causing them discomfort was the next best thing. Little did she expect to witness such a spectacle.
It also slightly altered Julia's attitude toward Phoenix and Evan.
"Thank you," Phoenix sighed softly, then got out to open the door for Julia personally. "Please take good care of her."
Julia scoffed, "Better than you."
Extinguishing her cigarette, she exited the car gracefully.
"Julia! You sneaked out again without me, didn't you?"
A clear voice rang from behind, freezing Phoenix's hand on the door handle. His entire body tensed, veins popping on his hand, uncontrollable.
"Serena, why are you out here?" Compared to Phoenix, Julia appeared much calmer. "I was just meeting a friend and grabbing breakfast."
Serena's attention clearly wasn't on her, and Julia dared not speak further.
She stared at Phoenix's back for a while before letting out a light laugh, her voice sounding wronged, "After all these years, is Phoenix still angry at me?"
The tall figure seemed to tremble, turning around in disbelief, his eyes locking onto the thin figure before him.
"About going abroad without telling you, are you still mad at me?" She fidgeted, feigning bashfulness, resembling the naive girl who once followed Phoenix around, untouched by life's hardships. She looked up, a faint smile playing on her lips, "Phoenix, are you here to pick me up? Can you forgive me?"
As she finished, she was pulled into a familiar, warm embrace.
Intensely nostalgic.
"I'm sorry," Phoenix rasped, "I'm not angry. It's my fault. I'm here to take you home."
Serena smiled contentedly, her arms circling Phoenix's waist.
Julia massaged her forehead in exasperation.
Frustrated and heartbroken.
It was clear Serena's memories were muddled.
She remembered Phoenix, of course, but Julia assumed Serena selectively suppressed the bad memories. Little did she know, they had morphed into this.
But, it had to be this way.
She just wanted Serena to live well. As for still liking Phoenix, that was beyond her control.
Women, huh.
Ungrateful little thing, all her care for these years seemingly forgotten.
But, there was nothing to be done. Those years abroad, what kept Serena going wasn't the medication, but her obsession and longing for Phoenix.
The person she loved her whole life, from childhood to adulthood.
Is truly impossible to forget.
So, she could only deceive herself.
