Chapter 2
In the lab, Charles's and Nolan's eyes were brimming with excitement and anticipation.
On the table, a machine was emitting a blinding light.
"Dad, can we use this to go back and find Sherry?" Nolan asked.
Nolan turned his eyes playfully with a look of wonder on his face.
"Yes," Charles replied, a rare softness flickering across his face at the mention of Sherry. It was a look I'd never seen before.
Nolan's eyes sparkled. "I like Sherry the best. She's so pretty, but Mom looks like some old, boring lady. I don't want an old lady to be my mom."
Charles tousled his hair. "Don't worry. When we go back, Sherry will be your mom."
I spent ten whole years caring for them, and it meant nothing in their eyes. They were willing to risk turning back the clock to see Sherry again.
But none of it mattered to me anymore.
As the light swallowed Charles and Nolan, I dashed in, managing to touch the machine as the glow was almost gone.
The next second, a powerful force yanked me in.
*****
When I finally snapped back to reality, I was standing in the middle of an empty road. Everything around me was both unfamiliar and strangely familiar. I had really gone back a whole decade.
Thrilled beyond words, I barely had time to process it when I suddenly heard someone beside me say, "Why are you here, too?"
I looked up and met Charles's deep eyes.
"Don't tell me you followed us here just to make trouble, Winona. You really should give up. Even though you're back, there's no way we're ever getting back together," he said, his brows tightly knit with wariness written all over his face.
"Bad woman, you'd better stay away from Dad and Sherry!" Four-year-old Nolan jumped in front of Charles, clenching his little fists and glaring at me like I was the villain.
I pressed my lips together, looking utterly bewildered. "Sorry, but I think you've got the wrong person."
Charles paused for a split second, but the suspicion in his eyes never faded as he stared at me.
"The wrong person? You think I'm going to fall for that, Winona? What's your real game here?" he snapped.
I ignored Charles and turned to walk away.
"Stop right there!" Charles snatched my wrist. "Come clean. Did you follow us on purpose? Are you here to ruin things between me and Sherry?"
His grip was so tight that it nearly made me cry out. I yanked my hand free, staggered a few steps, and crashed right into someone standing behind me.
The girl behind me yelped in surprise. I barely managed to stammer an apology before Charles smacked me hard across the face.
Charles spat on the ground. "Winona, you really are vicious."
Gritting my teeth, I looked up and saw Charles cradling the girl I'd crashed into, gazing at her like she was something he'd thought he'd lost forever.
"Sherry, are you okay?" he murmured gently.
"Are you blind?" Nolan yelled and then hurried over to Sherry with worry written all over his little face.
They actually knew how to care about someone.
I remembered that time I was down with a terrible stomach bug. I couldn't even get out of bed and had to ask Charles for help getting some medicine.
He just frowned and said, "Can't you go yourself? I have to work at the lab. I'm busy."
Then he grabbed his bag and left without a second glance, leaving me alone in the room. My face was white as a sheet, and I nearly passed out from the pain.
I asked Nolan to call a doctor for me, but he just kept gaming on his phone and glanced at me impatiently. "Wait till I finish this round."
It wasn't until hours later, when the cleaning lady found me passed out from the pain, that she called an ambulance and saved my life.
But now, Sherry just got bumped into, and Nolan made fun of me while Charles hit me. Honestly, it was ridiculous.
Sherry leaned against Charles's chest, her face pale and eyes shining with unshed tears. With a look like that, one would think she'd just been terribly wronged.
"Winona, apologize to Sherry now," Charles barked.
He glared at me where I sat on the pavement, his face dark with anger.
"I'm okay, really. She didn't do it on purpose," Sherry murmured, nervously biting her lip. "Charles, who is this?"
Charles hesitated for a while. "She..."
"Sherry, that's the mean lady who wants to take my dad," Nolan chimed in instantly.
When Nolan said that, Sherry's eyes flickered as she glanced at me.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I interrupting?" she said in a small voice, lowering her gaze.
"No, nothing is going on between us," Charles quickly explained, making it clear he had nothing to do with me.
After ten years of marriage, his simple words wiped away all those years as if they never happened.
I let out a mocking laugh, struggling to stand up. "Mister, I don't even know you. You shoved me and hit me. Now you're saying all this weird crap. Are you crazy or something?"
"Quit pretending. You just happened to show up here and expected anyone to believe you didn't follow me?" Charles said with a frown, his eyes full of disgust. "Let me make it clear. I was never into you. Stop trying to mess with me."
"Yeah. Dad only likes Sherry, not you, so stop dreaming already!" Nolan piped up, siding with his dad.