Unpredictable Connection

37. Interrupted Promises

Freen's POV:

I had imagined a thousand possibilities — but never this. Not Becky.

My mind couldn't wrap itself around it, and my heart... my heart was a storm. Anger. Confusion. Betrayal. And something else I couldn't quite name — something that ached. I gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying to compose myself, trying not to let the chaos inside bleed out.

"You came from London... didn't you?" I asked. My voice was low, cold — unfamiliar, even to me.

She shifted beside me in the passenger seat. That slight movement made something inside me flinch. Her answer came in a whisper, soft and trembling. "Yes... but back then, I didn't know how I felt. When I finally realized... I came back."

My throat tightened. Silence filled the car like fog.

"Do P'Fa and Nam know... that you're that girl?" I asked again, quieter this time but firmer.

Becky shook her head. I didn't look at her, just stared ahead at the road outside her house, headlights barely cutting through the stillness. Still, I caught the flicker of her movement from the corner of my eye.

"I had lung issues back then," she whispered, almost afraid to speak. "I always wore a mask. They never saw my full face."

I nodded slowly, mind racing. Then something clicked. "Who are you really, Becky?"

She took a deep breath before answering, voice steady but laced with hesitation. "Our fathers... they're business partners. You might know my brother. Richard — or Richie."

My jaw clenched. Richard. Yes, I knew him. He'd never mentioned a sister. Not once. And my mother — she saw Becky before and still said nothing.

Before I could react, Becky turned to me — slowly, hesitantly — and reached for my hand. Her fingers were trembling. "P'Freen... no one dared to say my name around you," she whispered. "Maybe because they didn't want you to remember... the girl who hurt you the most."

I swallowed hard.

"I was arrogant. Rude. I know that. I know I was wrong." She paused, her voice cracking. "But I've tried to change. I really did..."

I stayed silent, even as her grip tightened around my hand, desperate and trembling. She couldn't stop now.

"If you want... if it hurts too much — I won't show you my face again. I promise."

My chest twisted.

Her voice broke completely then, a soft sob escaping. "Please, say something, P'Freen..."

I wanted to. But the images flashing in my head — the insults, the slap, the curses — they felt like fire under my skin.

Yet... the Becky I'd come to know these past few months — she was gentle, kind, warm in ways I'd forgotten people could be. She felt like healing.

But the past wasn't letting me go. Not yet.

My head pounded, the rush of memories flooding in too fast, too hard. Her quiet sobs reached me, but my vision was blurring.

I reached out — or at least I thought I did — to wipe her tears.

But darkness crept in. Heavy, suffocating.

And then — silence. Like being dragged backward in time. Right to where it all began.

Becky's POV:

My breath caught as I saw Freen's head slump forward — about to hit the steering wheel. I reached out just in time, holding her, heart thundering in my chest. Fumbling with my seatbelt, I unbuckled it in a rush and leaned closer.