Redmption 320


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    For the next few days, I slept with Ellie.


    I knew Brandon could handle it. He was the kind of person who could keep hisposure even while holding me.


    However, I wondered how he would manage once we got back.


    After all, Ellie wanted us to live together after she left.


    We stayed at her ce for four days, which surprised me. I thought Brandon would rush to get her into surgery to treat her illness as soon as possible


    However, he didn''t. Instead, he spent the days taking us fishing and the nights cooking gourmet meals.


    Ellie and I enjoyed our time like princesses, indulging in a peaceful, almost idyllic life. If we stayed any longer, I might not want to leave.


    "Brandon, let''s retire here when we''re old. I feel like I could live to be 150 in this ce." I sighed.


    Brandon smiled. "Alright."


    "I want to live to 150 years old too," Ellie said, now full of hope for her new life.


    We made arrangements with Lisa so we could admit Ellie to the hospital as soon as wended, but she wanted to see our house first.


    Brandon wanted to tell her it was a rented ce, but I stopped him because I didn''t want her to feel guilty, thinking she was a burden on him who could


    "This house was left to me by my parents. It might be a bit old, but it''s veryfortable," I said, trying to paint it in the best light.


    Ellie turned to Brandon. “Bran, have you been living with her all this time? So, you two have been cohabiting for a while?"


    She was quite mischievous. She even teased him.


    Seeing him remain silent and gaze at me, I couldn''t help but smile to myself.


    "Maddie, your house is wonderful. I really like it. After I''m discharged from the hospital, can I stay here for


    a while?" Ellie asked. She treated me like one of her own.


    "You can stay as long as you like," I said, but then I remembered the ce was due for demolition.


    "But I won''t stay here tonight," her words caught Brandon and me off guard.


    "Where do you want to go?" he asked.N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content.


    A shy blush appeared on her cheeks. "Bran, I''ve never been to a big city."


    Both Brandon and I understood what she meant. Then, Ellie clung to my arm. "Maddie, it''s not that I don''t


    like your ce, but I want to see what the big city I''ve only seen on television is like." Content belongs to


    Upon hearing this, I realized that the idyllic life I had envied Ellie for was actually her prison. Brandon, in trying to protect her, had also confined her. Ellie''s longing for the bustling city reminded me of a line from a novel. It read, "Those inside the fortress want out, and those outside want in."


    Brandon and I exchanged a nce. He gently tapped on her head, "How could you me me for not bringing you out?"


    "You never did! You refused to take me every time I asked," she used.


    Iughed. “It''s because he met me toote. If he had met me sooner, you would have been here much earlier."


    "Exactly, so you''re my lucky star,"


    she said while resting her head on


    my shoulder and yfully


    scrunching her nose at Brandon. "Bran, you fiave to be good to


    Maddie, or I won''t forgive you."


    Most women worried aboutpeting with their sisters-inw for attention, but I was different. I was being pampered and protected by mine.


    Brandon and I took Ellie into the city |


    and showed her many ces. We were concerned her body wouldn''t keep up, but the city''s vibrancy captivated her, and she didn''t feel any fatigue.


    As she enjoyed her ice cream amidst the vibrant neon lights of the night, I saw that her radiant smile had hidden the tears in her eyes. "Maddie, I''d be content if I could live even one day like this in my lifetime."


    Her words made my throat tighten with emotion.


    At that moment, I understood that what she longed


    for wasn''t a morous life but to experience life in its fullness. She wasn''t hopeful about her future either.