From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

“… … Before you were born, I was pregnant twice, but both times I miscarried.”

“When I was pregnant with you, I was terrified. I had to consider the worst-case scenario.”

“Then, your birth went very smoothly. From that moment on, I considered you my miracle baby.”

This was a secret.

A secret belonging to Andrea and Jason, a secret before Evan was born, a painful memory hidden in the family history.

So, when the astrologer said that Evan should not have appeared in this world, Andrea broke down and could no longer control her emotions.

Although Evan was still curious about how Jason had regained his memories, he realized more and more that he couldn't hurt his mother and needed to find a way on his own.

After dinner, Evan returned to his dorm, deciding to start with the diary.

However, Evan's roommate, Samp, stopped him.

That chubby goth boy, always with a weird hairstyle, always bringing all kinds of girls back to the dorm, always unruly and never serious, now snatched the diary from Evan's hands, shaking his head with a serious face.

“I’ve been rethinking what you’re doing. Things might be even worse after you wake up.”

Evan gave a wry smile, “Worse than now?”

However, not in the glamorous image he had imagined.

Gaunt and gloomy, broken and shrinking, curved spine, hunched shoulders, evasive eyes, one could tell without words the scars that time had left deep in her soul.

At this time, she was just a waitress in a run-down diner, serving food and coffee, and accidentally breaking a plate, the diner owner cursing beside her.

She hurriedly cleaned up the mess, but found that the bald middle-aged man was taking the opportunity to grope her. She was startled but didn't dare to speak out, quickly dodging away, forcing a smile at the middle-aged man, staggering back to the kitchen, pretending to be calm.

Involuntarily, Nicholas thought of Kella's father, George, and younger brother, Tommy, and an ominous premonition gripped his heart, making it hard to breathe.

If even Nicholas had such a reaction, what about Evan?

In the movie screen, Evan stood outside the diner, witnessing this scene, the smile slowly stiffening at the corner of his mouth, the sorrow and sigh slowly revealing in his eyes, the brightness of those eyes gradually dimming.

Evan didn't go forward to disturb Kella.

He thought that maybe Kella didn't want her embarrassment to be seen; so, he hid in the parking lot and waited patiently until Kella got off work.

“Hey.”

Evan cautiously called out, with a hint of nervousness.

Kella heard it, stopped, and turned around, but subconsciously took two steps back, fully alert, keeping her distance, ready to run away at any moment.

That subconscious defensiveness and resistance really revealed too much information.

Evan walked out of the darkness, not getting close, but keeping his distance, looking at Kella with a somewhat restrained and shy expression, carefully concealing the complexity in his eyes, secretly sizing up the figure in front of him with the corner of his eye.

Kella was stunned.

Looking at this slightly unfamiliar but seemingly vaguely familiar face by the moonlight, familiar memories surged like a tide, the vigilance slightly relaxed, with hesitation and uncertainty, tentatively opening her mouth.

“… … Evan?”

The big boy in the white T-shirt and jeans scratched his head, the smile on his lips lifting slightly, “Hey, Kella.”

With a greeting, those lost times surged in mightily.

Kella paused slightly, quietly gazing at Evan, joy and happiness gently spreading in the depths of her eyes, just standing there, letting time and the breeze flow gently, the world paused.

An exchange of glances, but the world has already changed.

The next second, Kella came back to her senses and couldn't help but become nervous.

Kella hurriedly took out a cigarette from her pocket, trying to light it, but found her fingertips trembling so badly that the lighter wouldn't light no matter how hard she tried.

Finally, after many attempts, she finally lit it.

Kella took a deep drag of the cigarette, calming down a little, and seeing Evan coming towards her, she still subtly kept a little distance, constantly looking him up and down, as if seeing something novel.

Casual small talk, back and forth.

From Kella's understated words, one could know that Tommy was eventually caught, but because he was a minor, he was released after being detained in a correctional facility for a few years and is now working as an apprentice in a repair shop.

Kella moved out at the age of fifteen to get away from her father, and because her mother had remarried and obviously didn't want anything to do with her past, Kella had to drop out of school and start working early to make a living.

A few words, pretending to be relaxed.

Kella's words had no embellishment or exaggeration, trying to be as nonchalant as possible, but more pain could be felt in the wounds between the lines.

The two walked slowly in the night, walking and walking, it seemed that they could just walk to the end of the world, never having to worry about tomorrow again.

However, Evan couldn't.

Despite struggling, despite hesitating, Evan still mustered the courage to ask—

That afternoon, when he was seven years old, when George was filming with the camera, what happened between them, and what ended up happening in the basement?

Or rather, what happened in the basement?

Why were Kella's eyes full of tears? Why weren't they wearing their own clothes? Why did George tell him to shut up and keep it a secret?

As soon as the topic was brought up, Evan didn't even have time to touch the core of the topic before it immediately stung Kella's sensitive nerves, like a hedgehog showing all its spikes, and her words became intense.

Evan tried to comfort Kella, “Whatever happened, it's not our fault. We were just kids, we don't need to be responsible for what happened… …

“Shut up, Evan.” Kella exploded, “You're wasting your time.”

After speaking, Kella didn't give Evan a chance to continue speaking, turning around and fleeing.

Evan looked at Kella's back, he also wanted to turn around and leave, but took a deep breath and turned back again, “You can't blame yourself for your father's twistedness.”

However, Kella also exploded, turning back again, rushing towards Evan angrily, “Who are you trying to convince, Evan?”

“You ran all the way back to mess up my life just because you have bad memories?”

“So, what do you want? Do you want me to lean on your shoulder and cry silently and then tell you that everything is fine now?”

“Get out! Damn it! Evan, everything hasn't gotten better, and everything will never get better.”

Kella turned away in grief, but in the end, she couldn't help but turn around again, standing in the moonlight, shouting loudly at Evan across the space.

“You know what? If I was really that perfect, why didn't you call me? Why did you leave me here to rot?”