Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven

When Ellie woke up the next morning, she seemed to have renewed hope for the future.Her psychiatrist had said that all her depression stemmed from a lack of hope. "Once a person has hope, other unhappiness will disappear." Jenny once said. Why does a man's attention make a woman feel like life isn't so bad?At twenty-one Ellie thought success was a very important factor in life.She left her hometown and ran to New York where dragons and snakes are mixed together to seek fame and wealth. The results of it?As soon as she met her first serious suitor, she forgot all her dreams.She gave up everything to make Martin successful.In the end, she couldn't do it after all.She couldn't force him to pursue his proclaimed dream, she couldn't prevent him from sabotaging the chances of success she'd arranged for him.

Yet when fate gave Ellie a second chance at success, she took it.She once abandoned the opportunity to make a career in the art world, but seized it when fate knocked on the door for the second time. So now, as she stretched out of bed, Ellie felt that this morning was the best mood she had been in years.Last night's experience was the most romantic she had ever had in her life. Yesterday she was desperately wanting to know who that man was, but this morning it was different.Today she thought that if she never saw that person again, she could still live on.In fact, maybe she didn't really want to see him again.Maybe she just wanted to seal last night in her heart forever, just like a photo freezes time.

She puts on jeans and a cotton shirt with silver buttons slowly.This outfit is not very eye-catching, but she knows that Yihua will understand the value of these clothes.She took out the gift for Xiaode, and then decided not to bring the gift to the big house.For she thought that most of last night's guests were still in the big house--and all waiting for her. Ellie forced herself to look straight ahead, not to the left or right, as she walked toward the big house.She didn't want to look like a monkey in a hurry to find "Midnight Cowboy". Arriving at the big house, she was about to knock on the door but found it was open, so she went straight in.Yihua appeared immediately as if he had been summoned.

"We are all waiting for you." Yihua said. Allie controlled the urge to moan.Is the whole weekend going to be like this? "I promise this is the last time," Yihua said, as if reading her mind. "All the ranch employees are here, and they're all holding books waiting for you to sign. Help me out this time, and I promise I won't bother you again." Ellie really wanted to say something witty, something that would make Yi Hua laugh.She would have picked it up any other time, but when she heard "ranch staff," her thoughts froze and there was only one question on her mind: would he be there?

She hoped Yihua didn't hear her pounding heartbeat. "It's okay," she muttered, and then wanted to kick herself hard for the bland reaction.Looks like she's not going to come across as bright and witty this weekend. Yihua placed a stack of Ellie's recently published books on a small table in front of the door leading to the balcony.Just a little inside the door, a cowboy stood with a hat in his hand.He smiled shyly at Ellie when he saw her. Ellie unconsciously smiled at the cowboy in front of her, and then sat down at the small table. The ranch has many men and women employees.Yihua seems to have bought out Ellie's entire batch of new books, so each employee has at least three to ten books waiting for Ellie to sign.An hour later, she started feeling hungry, thirsty, and bored.

"The last one." She heard Ade's voice behind her. She was signing autographs for a young woman who asked for autographs with a long list of relatives.Hearing Ade's voice, Ellie smiled slightly. "It's not worth signing this one." Ade said in a teasing tone. Ellie could hear the love in his voice, and her smile widened.Finally she could see Ad's son.Ellie closed the book and handed it to the woman. After thanking her, she threw all the autographed books into a big shopping bag and returned them. Ellie turned back, looking down, expecting to see a little boy.All she could see was a pair of thick-soled black boots, and she immediately understood who was standing in front of her.

"Introducing you to my brother," Ad said over Ellie's head. "He lives on the ranch, but he's kind of shy and doesn't like party situations, so we didn't have him over last night." Shy?Ellie thought.What's your definition of shy?She really wanted to ask. She raised her head slowly, her eyes moving up his body.After last night, she was quite familiar with this body.Her legs once held his buttocks for two hours, her arms once wrapped around his waist, her hands clasped his chest tightly, her head once leaned against his back for so long, even if blind Even with squinting eyes, she could distinguish its lines.

He was smiling at her, the kind of sneaky smile a man gives when he has some secret that no one knows.She always thought he was the blacksmith of the ranch, but he already knew her true identity. There are always advantages to being old, Ellie thought, one of which is that you don't have to worry about your reputation being tarnished or someone reporting you to your mother for misbehavior. What would her heroine, Nijoda, do in this situation?She was thinking wildly.Of course, that's if Jorda and Mike's marriage isn't happy? Trying not to let anyone see the effect this man had on her, she stood up from her chair with a sweet smile.Then, she stood on tiptoe as calmly as possible, hooked brother Ade's neck with one hand and kissed him.This kiss was not violent and flustered, but peaceful and passionate.

His arms were still hanging at his sides, and he just looked at her amusedly as she pulled back.Playful and with great interest. Ellie turned to look at Ade.I saw him standing there with his mouth open.Behind him, even Yi Hua stared at them in surprise.In fact, Ellie could tell that everyone in the room stood there dumbfounded. It was a ranch hand who broke the spell.He was past middle age, with a face that seemed born in the saddle.The big beer belly protrudes from the waistband of the trousers, and when he walks, the characteristics of the denim legs suddenly appear. He stopped on the other side of Ade's brother. "I'm next," he said, before bending over, pursing his lips, and closing his eyes.

The tense atmosphere in the room dissipated, and everyone burst out laughing on the spot.Several people laughed and patted Brother Ad's back—she still didn't know his name—and then patted Ellie's back.Twice, she was filmed rushing forward, narrowly missing the man's chest. "Fortunately, I'm still worrying for you that living alone in the summer house will be too lonely," Yi Hua said, with a low voice that only Ellie could hear. "My God! I thought you'd be bored." The man stretched out his hand and said in a loud voice that overwhelmed the voices around him, "Jessie Wu. Nice to meet you."

Ellie smiled and shook his hand, and the tense air disappeared.People in the house no longer need to hold their breaths to show respect for the famous writer, and start to enjoy leisure, food, and the company of old friends. "Go ahead," Ad said to his brother. "You two can go out." Ellie was speechless, because she only realized the information revealed by the man.God help her, the man's name turned out to be Jessie! Coming outside the house, without other people watching, Ellie's feeling is more than just "weird".What can she say? Twice she glanced up at him and gave him a guilty smile, but she really didn't know what to say.They've been through it together...how should I describe last night?Lust?Or more than that? As she approached the front door of the summer house, Ellie felt her footsteps getting heavier.What did he expect her to do?Going to bed together for a wild morning?Last night, by moonlight, she would have done it.She might regret it afterwards, but she might have done it.But it was broad daylight, and this man she had only spoken a few words to.She touched his upper body with her hands, but she didn't speak to him. Jesse fixes everything. He stepped up the porch steps, ignoring Ellie still standing a few steps away, and opened the door for her. "Bet you're hungry," Jesse said. "I heard that Yihua's guests nailed you to the dining table to answer questions last night, and you have been signing autographs this morning. How about I fry an omelet for you now?" Ellie instinctively refused, saying she wasn't hungry.But her stomach grumbled just in time, and Ellie looked at Jesse with wide eyes.They laughed at the same time, and the tension was lifted. When she walked into the kitchen, he had already taken the dishes out of the cupboard and the ingredients he needed from the refrigerator. "You seem to know this house very well," she said, trying to talk to him, thinking that this man was attractive to her because of his good looks. Ellie sat on the high chair on the other side of the bar that divided the living room from the kitchen. After what seemed like a few seconds, Jess set down a "Bloody Mary" in front of her. "Drinking in the morning?" she asked. "Yeah," Jesse grinned, then raised an eyebrow. "Let you relax first, and then you can be presumptuous after a while." As if he had figured out what was on her mind, he expressed the fear in her heart in one word, which made her laugh uncontrollably. Turning his back to her, he took out the frying pan, more ingredients, and began to move in a serious manner. "Tell me, what do you want to know?" Jessie asked with his back to her. The Bloody Mary was strong, just to her liking, but on an empty stomach, a shallow sip was enough to calm her down. "About what?" she asked. Jessie glanced back at her, as if to say that she knew exactly what his problem was. Ellie took another sip of her drink. "Everything about everyone," she said. "It starts with you." "I don't have much to say about it," Jesse said. "My brother is the protagonist. He—" "No!" Allie stopped in a warning. "Tell me about you." She couldn't see his expression, but could feel him smiling. "Well, I'm forty-two. Married once but it didn't last. I went out a lot and she felt lonely, so she found ways to deal with the depression. Mostly with other men. We didn't have kids, so Divorced." He sets down a bowl of cornflakes and some paprika sauce in front of her. "And what else?" she asked, and from the way he handled the knife, it was obvious that this was not his first time in the kitchen. "Nothing. I've been working for my brother for quite some time. Ten years? Maybe only eight, I don't remember." "What do you do?" "Managing the place, it's one of a kind." She could see that he didn't want to talk about himself, and to her it was a plus for him.Martin was always talking, and sometimes Ellie had to hide from him so she could have a few minutes of silence. Coincidentally, the phone rang just in time, breaking the brief silence.When she picked up the phone, she heard a man's voice asking for Jesse.Apparently everyone at the ranch knew where he was. He dried his hands with a towel, went around the bar and took the microphone from her for a while to listen.From his expression, it could be seen that the message on the phone was bad news.Her gut feeling is that Ade is having a heart attack. "I'll be right over," Jesse said softly, and put the phone down. "I have to go," he said, already moving toward the door. "I'm sorry the breakfast isn't ready yet, and..." His words faded away. "What happened?" She covered her mouth with her hand in fear. "Is it Ed?" Jesse paused at the door. "No. Last night an employee committed suicide and has now been found." The word "suicide" made Ellie stop suddenly.This thought has haunted her constantly for the past three years. Jessie reached out to touch her cheek and smiled. "Listen, we've got to talk. There's something special about us..." He didn't seem to know how to describe their special relationship any better than she did. "I'll come back and have a good chat with you after I finish dealing with Louis' matter." After speaking, he opened the door and left the summer house. For a moment Ellie just stood there in a daze.As long as he didn't touch her, she could still control herself.But once he touched her, she seemed to be taken away by him. "Louie!" she exclaimed; the next second, she was running out the door to catch up with Jesse. "You mean McLouis?" she asked him. "The guy who flew me here? He killed himself?" "Well," Jesse said, without stopping. "Sorry to add to your unease. You're a guest, why don't you go back to—" "Why did he commit suicide?" Ellie asked. "He's a nice guy and I like him a lot." Jessie gave her a sharp look when she heard the words, but she still didn't slow down. "Louis was in a bad mood, very depressed. I knew about it, and some people at the ranch knew about it, but we didn't know how to help him. It's too late to do anything." Panting, Ellie tried to keep up with him, but accidentally bumped into a rock, and she instinctively grabbed his arm. Jessie stabilized her body in time, then frowned slightly. "I think you should go back to the summer house. In fact, I think it might not be a very good time for you to be here." Ellie pretended not to hear him. "What was on that phone call?" she asked. For a moment Jesse blinked in confusion. "Are you a writer's curiosity, or do you really find this kind of thing interesting?" "I like him," she said, her lips drawn into a straight line.She wouldn't back down from this one. "Okay," Jesse sighed. "His wife, Shannen, found his body this morning. She said they had a big fight last night. She had wanted to leave the ranch for months. She wanted to go back to the East Coast and start her own business, but Louis Refusing to leave, she asked for a divorce last night. Looks like Louie shot himself while hurting himself." For a moment Ellie just grabbed Jessie's arm and looked him in the eye, but she didn't see it.All she really saw was the nice man who picked her up at the airport. "Louis didn't love his wife that much because he flirted with me," Ellie said softly. "Also, he loves to see his wife start her own business. I can tell by the proud look on his face when he mentions his wife decorating the summer house." Jesse frowned. "Only by men flirting with women—" he cut himself off mid-sentence.He was silent as two men rode past them.Judging by their expressions, they have already learned about Louis. When they were alone again, Jessie leaned down and whispered, "I know a little more than the rest. Honestly, I'm not terribly surprised that he killed himself. Shannon told me a long time ago that Louis He is two-faced. At work, he is very competent, but privately he is difficult to get along with. Shannon sacrificed a lot for him." "Suicide", "depression", "sacrifice a lot", and more importantly, "for me", these words ran through Ellie's mind, and she almost exploded. "Let me guess," Ellie said through gritted teeth. "His wife said that for him, she gave up her brilliant career and moved to this place where birds don't lay eggs to be with him. She lives for him." Jess let go of her hand and stared at her carefully, as if trying to determine if she was insane, but Ellie couldn't seem to keep her mouth shut. "Tell me," Ellie said bitterly. "Did that woman act very reluctant to tell you how miserable her life was? Did she say that all she wanted was a husband, but that Louie was more interested in making money than in her? Did she imply that Louie might... er , not insane?" Jessie stared at her in shock, and Ellie snapped back to his terrified expression. "Sorry," she said, and started to back away from him. "I believe she is a good woman, and what I just said is just my personal experience—" Jessie was still looking at her as if he were a patient who had escaped from a madhouse. "I've got to go. I have to go... get changed," she said, scrambling for words, not wanting to just turn around and walk away. "I think Yihua will come to me...for something," she said, continuing to back away.He still stood there staring at her, seemingly frozen. "I'm sorry I said those things," Ellie said, trying desperately to dispel the idea that she was crazy.Divorce court demanded that she prove her sanity, which she couldn't do then and doesn't look like now. "It's just that I like Louis very much, I really like it." As she said, she still stepped back, widening the distance between her and him. "But I didn't feel any depression in him. And I think with the experience of the past three years, I should be able to see people who are depressed. May Ha is depressed, Louis is not." "Who's Maycho?" Jesse asked back, minutes from his first four words. Allie waved impatiently. "A friend of mine." Jessie glared at her, eyebrows drawn into a straight line. "What is his relationship with you?" It took a while for Ellie, who was thinking about Louis, to realize Jesse's question. "Mei Hagi is a woman." She said, and then took a deep breath. "If you're thinking about the man I live with, I have a husband, and he's probably dining with someone right now, tell him or her how bad I am, because I went away for the weekend without even telling him, Location unknown, company unknown. But unlike before, this time he's right. And I'm sure I'll pay more this weekend than he's asking me to." She knew it didn't sound right, But how does she explain her ability to see things like this? "I really should go," she stammered. He still stood there without saying a word, so she gave him a hard look, hoping he would leave.He is not suitable for her.Louie reminded her that she was still married and still had to fight for divorce.And this weekend has turned into a farce. "I think you're right," she said softly. "I think it would be more suitable to come here as a guest at another time. I think...tell Yihua..." Ellie couldn't think of anything else to say, so she reacted directly—fleeing back to the summer house with her tail between her legs and He closed the door tightly. Once Ellie decides on anything, she takes action immediately.Anyway, an hour and a half later, she had packed her luggage, apologized to Yi Hua, and sat on a chair on the front porch of the summer house, waiting for the driver to take her back to Los Angeles.What was supposed to be an escape from reality over the weekend turns into horror - and now she's back to face her own nightmare. For three years she had considered how she would deal with that man if she could do it all over again.She would gladly hire a private eye to follow her ex-husband.She had mulled over how to find someone close to him and find out where he was hiding the money he had stolen from her.For years she had fantasized about how she could get back at him. But now she's sitting on an overstuffed chair, facing the California mountains, too scared to go back.She is just scared. "boarding." Ellie looked up to see a jeep pulled up in front of her with Jessie in it.He frowned at her as if she had done something he didn't like. She didn't obey his orders. "I'm going back to Los Angeles right now." "No," he said. "I need you." This sentence made Ellie stunned.Is this the new courtship language? "Perhaps you don't know that I'm married, and whether I want you or not, I'm still married." Jesse leaned over to the passenger seat with a displeased expression on his face, and opened the car door. "It's not the kind of law that needs to be done," he said. "I mean, I do have that need for you, but it can wait. I can wait until you're divorced if I have to, but right now I need your mind." "You're sure to make Maygi very happy," Ellie muttered, but she stayed in the chair and didn't get in the car. "Someone is coming to get me, I have to go back to town." "No one can leave the ranch today," he said. "Sheriff's order. He thinks Louie might have been murdered." Jessie watched Ellie's reaction to his words without blinking. "The suspect is his wife?" Ellie asked softly. Jesse didn't speak, just sat there silently.Ellie knew he wouldn't tell her anything unless she obeyed.She wanted to hang on, but the writer's curiosity got the better of her will.She made a grimace and stood up, walked down the front porch and climbed into his jeep.He didn't start talking until the car moved. "No," he said at last. "Not his wife. She has been devastated by her husband's death." Ellie's gaze fell forward. "Oh." she responded.She felt Jessie glance at her, but she didn't turn her head.It's not her problem.She has big problems of her own coming up soon, and she has only three weeks to prepare. Jessie was driving, and it occurred to her that she should ask him where he was taking her.But he didn't say anything, and she didn't ask, and the car just drove onto a dirt road.When he arrived at a place, he got out of the car, opened the gate, and then got back into the car and drove in.When the car stopped again on the other side of the gate, Ellie got out of the car first and closed the gate. "I like useful women," he said as she got back into the car, and pushed the gear to move on.Ellie smiled slightly, because "useful" was what she liked about him. They went on in silence for a while, and it occurred to Ellie that she should be mad at him: he was too confident.He knew he could convince her to go with him, and he assumed— Oh hell, she thought.It would be wrong to share a car with a handsome man on a deserted road, she must have something wrong with her heart. "Where are you taking me?" she asked. "Go to a secret place and bully me well?" His eyes stayed on the road, but she could see a smile escaping from the corner of his lips. "I thought you were writing suspense and murder novels," he said. "I write those kinds of novels, but they're also romance novels. Come on, where the hell are we going?" "Where others can't find us," he said, and then, taking a sharp turn, they turned into woods among the mountains, facing a pretty lake.He stopped the car and looked at her. "I want to know what you know. Tell me in detail," he said, and got out of the car and walked towards the lake. Ellie followed him to a large boulder by the lake, and watched him throw stones at the lake. "She's beautiful, a total beauty," he said, and Ellie knew intuitively that he was referring to Louie's wife, Shannen. "And I feel sorry for her. She's very talented but always feels like she's a dragon." He paused and picked up a few more stones. "she told me--" "She loves Louis very much, very, very much." Ellie couldn't help talking too much, with unconcealable bitterness in her voice. "Yeah," Jessie said, turning to face her. "How do you know so much?" It was her turn to face her problems.Ellie shrugged. "I've been through a similar situation. Did Louie ever complain about her?" "Never, he was proud of her. If Shannon hadn't told me, I would never have guessed that there was anything wrong between them." "How many people has she complained to?" "I don't know. I thought she just told me." This time it was Jessie's turn to speak with anger. "And what's the sheriff's purpose now?" Ellie asked. For a moment Jesse's mouth was drawn into a straight line. "Because of my big mouth. You made me suspect Louie didn't really kill himself this morning, and I told the sheriff about it. Two hours later, they arrested Boie." He looked at Ellie. "Remember that man who tried to kiss you this morning?" She didn't understand him at first, but then she couldn't help smiling at the thought of the cowboy with the beer belly who made everyone laugh. "That's Boi. He was taken back to the police station for interrogation." "What?" she asked. "He doesn't look like a murderer at all." "He really doesn't look like that. But he has a good sex. A few years ago, one of Yihua's drunken guests had an unfortunate accident. The next day when she woke up, she saw Boyi in broad daylight and decided to file a lawsuit. .Ad took a long time to get Boye off the hook." "And now it happened again?" Ellie asked. "I'm not going to stand by!" Jessie said, throwing a small rock diagonally across the water.Turning back, he looked at her. "So, if she killed the person, how do we find out?" He looked at her as if that was her specialty. "You told the sheriff everything you know?" she asked. "That's how Boey gets into trouble, isn't it? If I hadn't said that I suspect Louie is as depressed as everyone says, maybe the sheriff wouldn't have asked someone to question him, and he wouldn't have found out that Boie had a crush on him." Louis' wife." "I see. If I hadn't said it first..." "That's right," he said. "We were both at fault for this. So how do we save it?" It's one thing to write about a housewife who gets a lot of jokes for playing detective, but it's another to actually do it in real life. Ellie stood up. "Look, this woman might be the murderer, and I don't want to stay and find out. I'm on borrowed time, and I don't want to change my future and die because of it." Jesse blinked puzzled. "You know what? Sometimes the things you say are really weird. You talk about future events as if they've already happened, as if you can tell." "Don't talk nonsense," Ellie snapped back. "Who can predict the world's events? I just—I mean, I—" "Say it," he said. "I'm listening to your explanation." "Anyway, I had to get back to Los Angeles, and the sooner the better. I had less than three weeks to stop my ex-husband--my soon-to-be ex-husband from taking all the money I made writing the book and leaving it to me Eternal debt, not to mention taking away my self-esteem and self-confidence." "How can you be sure he would do that?" "I know him," she said. "I can almost believe that's the real reason, you are very observant of people. You won't accept the stereotype of Ade and Yihua. I can tell anyone that she married for money and they will believe me .You don't." She narrowed her eyes and stared at him. "You told that to a lot of people?" "Only to women," he replied earnestly. "I want you to stay and help me find out—" Jesse grinned. "Well, you can always help out. You think you can invite her to lunch and hear what she has to say, and buy me a little time to go through some data? Maybe there will be some clues in the house." "No, he's not leaving any evidence," she said, then realized she wasn't referring to Louie's wife, Shannen.Ellie covered her face with her hands for a moment, then she glanced back at Jesse, trying to calm herself down. "Look, I'd love to help, but there's nothing I can do. I don't have time, and I have to change my own... destiny, I guess you could say that. I thought I could just slip away for a weekend and relax, but I can tell You're not having fun this weekend." "Not at all?" Jesse asked softly. The kind of sex in his eyes, the kind of male sex that Ellie hasn't seen for a long time.When he first met Martin, he had the same look in Jessie's eyes.It's that look that makes her estrogen kick in and... giggle, she thought.Like a silly girl.Just like... well, anyway, not like a woman who is about to turn forty.Certainly not like a self-employed successful female writer. Summoning all her willpower, Ellie turned away from him.She is willing to walk all the way back to the ranch if necessary. Jessie came quickly to her. "Don't go," he said, grabbing her arm. Ellie looked at his large, sun-tanned hands, and she could feel his heat coming through the shirt.Don't look at him, she told herself.Focus on his hands.Don't look at him. But she looked up anyway.He still had that look in his eyes, and the next moment she was already in his arms. Part of her wanted him to make love to her right now by the lake.She wants him to take off her clothes and touch her— she cried!She didn't know how it started, all she knew was that suddenly she had already clinging to him as if he was the tie of her life, sobbing silently and deeply.Maybe it was seeing his masculine eyes; maybe it was being alone for so many years, and now being with a man again, the emptiness of many years flooded like a river bursting its banks.She didn't want another divorce case, another accusation of treachery, or having to prove her sanity. Jessie didn't seem intimidated by her tears, and he certainly wasn't overwhelmed.He bent down and picked her up, walked back to the lake, sat down with his back against a tree, and quietly waited for her to cry enough. She didn't know how long she had been crying.All he knew was that the clothes on his shoulders were wet a lot. He handed her a handkerchief. "Are you feeling better?" He asked softly. She blew her nose, nodded, and Jessie gently brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Did he try to kill you?" Jesse asked. "That's why you know about Louie?" Ellie nodded, but didn't look up.It was a question that took her a long time to dare to face.Martin's jealousy and hatred for her is beyond Ellie's full comprehension. "I can't say for sure, but I think he does. My therapist told me he was trying to force me to kill myself. He made me feel like a loser, as if all my achievements were worthless. No matter what I did , not good enough in his opinion. And he said I robbed him of the chance to succeed, he told everyone I was selfish and only wanted money. The only thing he would do was talk bad about me.” She blew her nose again and took a breath of air. "If I die, he'll have both money and freedom." Jessie pulled her back into his arms and she began to regain her composure. "Sorry I lost control, but—" "Does anyone believe your story?" he asked. "When you told them that he was trying to force you to commit suicide, did anyone believe you?" "I never told anyone, you were the first," Ellie said, wiping her nose with a handkerchief. "Three-thirds of each other, most people think that the person they know can't be that bad. My ex-husband told everyone how much he loved me, and they thought he really loved me. Most people are not as good as he is." A lie; most people have never seen anyone like him." "So poor Louie was held back from taking the last step, and instead of killing himself he was murdered." Seeing that he didn't go on talking, Ellie looked at him with her head resting on his shoulder.No matter how you look at it, their relationship is very strange.Physically, they are as familiar with each other's bodies as old lovers; but psychologically, they know nothing about each other. "You haven't given up yet, have you?" she asked.She sat on his lap only inches from his face. "How could you give up," he replied seriously. "But I need your help. I think you know more than you think." She moved one foot to stand up, but Jessie was still leaning against the tree trunk. "I don't know anything," she said. "You too. Maybe she made him kill himself, maybe she did kill him, but it's also possible that she was a very nice woman and the truth was exactly what she said." "Boy went to her house to look for her last night, and Louis threatened him with a gun to kill him?" Jessie asked, resting her head on her hands. "Maybe that's what prompted her to do it now," Ellie blurted out without thinking, and she put her hands over her mouth nervously. But Jessie smiled at her and closed her eyes. "I suppose you must have done your research for those books, and thus know a fair amount about criminal minds." "I only know that murderers are dangerous people!" she said, but he didn't even open his eyes.In fact, his smile grew wider. At that moment Ellie suddenly had an epiphany.Maybe it was because she had cried once in the arms of a strong man, or maybe it was because she felt again that she was not just a money machine that Martin had degraded, but a lovable woman. Whatever the reason, in that split second, Ellie abandoned her plan for revenge.For three years her life was paralyzed by her stubborn resentment of Martin's fickleness and the injustice of justice.But now, just as she was about to fulfill her wish—to fight a new divorce lawsuit—she realized that she no longer wanted to carry out the revenge plan that she had been suspending for three years.She doesn't want to go back home to Los Angeles and spend every minute taking revenge on Martin.No, she's not letting herself down to Martin's level. Simply put, she had a terrible time, but she survived.Everyone who knew her agreed that the divorce judgment handed down by the court was the nastiest, and that the judge had treated her as harshly as she had ever seen in her life.But all kinds of unfair treatment, Ellie still survived. Now she understands that it wasn't the events themselves that really got her down but her reactions to them.What hurts Ellie's heart is not the loss of money from her lazy and unsympathetic husband, but her wounded self-esteem.Martin accuses her of being selfish and inconsiderate - and the judge agrees with him. As she thought about it, Jesse remained silent.Turning to face him, she saw that he had been watching her from the sidelines. "You've got a lot on your mind, don't you?" he said softly. "That's right," she replied. "But, you know what? Now I don't care." After finishing speaking, she smiled slightly.A genuine smile from the heart.望着周围美丽的风景，她深吸一口大气。或许加州的离婚法庭太过严苛，这儿的空气可是清纯甜美。 “我不想回家，”她说。“那里已经没有任何值得我依恋的东西。你需要我什么时候邀路易的妻子午餐？” 见杰西没回答，她低头看向他。他又用那种男性的眼神瞧着她了，但这一次爱莉没有避开。当然也没有开始哭泣。相反的，她弯下腰吻了他，下一瞬间他的衬衫扣子已然解了开。