"Everything seems to be better… I couldn't be happier. Tomorrow my daughter will turn six years old and I have been planning a surprise that I am sure she will love."
Ren said those words with a calm smile while he stood up, preparing to leave.
"I think it's time for me to go, Miya."
The girl, sitting in her wheelchair, remained silent while her sad face lifted toward him.
Ren noticed it and tried to ease the atmosphere.
"Don't worry. I will come back next month for your birthday. It's a promise."
Miya barely moved the wheels with her trembling hands and advanced a little toward him. Her breathing was irregular, as if she were holding back something she had kept inside for too long.
"Why, Ren?" her voice came out broken. "Tell me, why did you decide to be with her and not with me? Why did it have to be her… and not me? Is it because now she is prettier than me? Or is it because now… I am a monster?"
Her last word came out like a scream of desperation.
"Why?"
Ren remained silent.
He did not know what to answer. Seeing Miya fighting every day against that reality that would now accompany her for the rest of her life caused him a pain difficult to describe.
Deep down he knew that part of all that was also his fault.
There had been a time when he had felt a deep hatred toward her for everything that had happened, but over the years something inside him changed. He had not forgiven her, however, the resentment that once consumed him was no longer there.
What remained now was a heavy sadness.
And enormous pity.
Miya lowered her voice after a few seconds while tilting her face downward.
"Is it… because I will never be able to leave this prison that prevents me from walking?"
Ren immediately shook his head.
"No… it's not because of that."
Miya raised her gaze toward him while tears continued to fall down her cheeks.
"Then… why?"
"It's because I no longer love you."
At that moment, all the things Miya had done to be close to him seemed to lose meaning. She had changed her appearance and had even dyed her hair. She read countless books until exhaustion barely allowed her to keep her eyes open each night. She tried to improve every day, to know the people close to him and learn everything possible with the hope of getting closer to Ren.
But none of that had worked.
A deep cry escaped from her chest. She tried to hide it between her hands while she lowered her head against her knees.
There, looking at the floor as above, she let everything out.
Screams, tears, and years of pain.
Ren, seeing her like that, could not remain still. He moved forward quickly and hugged her tightly.
He knew that hug could not fix anything, but even so he felt that he could not leave her alone at that moment.
Noticing that she began to calm down, he whispered in her ear.
"Miya… I will not leave you alone in this. I will always come to talk with you."
The girl with the sad face slowly raised her gaze toward Ren, who was now kneeling in front of her.
"I will accompany you, even if you tell me that I am an idiot for doing something like this. To be honest… I always was, from the very moment I decided to leave my room. But I do not regret it, because the happiness I lived with you… and the one I found along the way made me become the person I am now."
***
Inside a car that Ren had recently bought, his daughter and his wife were ready for the trip that he had organized with so much care.
"Well, is everyone ready?" he asked while looking at the rearview mirror.
The girl, who that day was celebrating her birthday, answered with great enthusiasm.
"Yes, Dad!"
Ren turned his face a little toward the passenger seat to look at his wife. The visible scars on her face might be the first thing someone noticed when seeing her, although they were completely overshadowed by the warmth of her expression and the calm smile she always carried.
"Yes, darling. I'm ready."
With that, Ren started the car and began the trip he had planned with so much effort.
"Dad… where are we going?"
"That's a secret, my treasure."
"Mmm… are we going to visit the grandparents?"
"I can't say. If I do, it wouldn't be a secret anymore, right?"
Ren's wife let out a small laugh.
"Come on, love… tell us."
Ren let out a sigh.
"All right… we are going to…"
The End.
_________
It has been 69 days since I started this novel. When I began writing it, I never imagined that I would end up having readers who would truly like the story, nor that we would reach 139 collections.
What a good number, right?
When I started, my idea was to write a short story. I thought it would not have more than 20 chapters; in fact, at first I believed it would end with about 15. However, as I moved forward in the story, conflicts and new ideas began to appear that made the plot grow and develop more than I had imagined.
I also did not plan how the work would end until I reached chapter 21.
I like that number, hahaha.
From that moment on, I began to see more clearly the direction it should take. I truly enjoyed writing this novel, and knowing that there were people reading it made me even happier.
I felt many emotions that I did not expect, because at the beginning all of this started only as entertainment and a question.
What would happen if a shy person met someone mentally unstable?
On this journey not everything was rosy, since there were difficulties during the process. Some problems caused certain chapters to be delayed, and on other occasions it was simply complicated to maintain the writing rhythm.
As you may have noticed, my original language is not English, and that sometimes makes it difficult for me to deliver the text with the quality I would like. In addition, the translation process also takes quite a bit of time.
So if you find any error or any part that is not well understood, do not hesitate to tell me. That way I will be able to correct it as soon as possible so that you can enjoy it better.
About the delay, I'm very sorry. I had promised to finish the story much earlier, but I couldn't do it. Almost 30 days passed, and perhaps some of you thought the novel would not have an ending.
That idea made me a little sad, because I truly wanted to close this story the right way. But in the end, as you can see, the story has reached its end.
I no longer know what else to say, except to thank you.
Thank you all for accompanying me until this ending.
Truly, thank you very much.
We will see each other in the next novel, and I hope you will also be able to enjoy it as much as this one.
:)