Love’s New Bloom By Simone Hastings - Season 1 Episode 63

After Chandler was done with his phone call, he and Erin rushed back to the hotel as quickly as they could. Kyle had already sent someone to pack their luggage in advance.

Once everything was set. Chandler and Erin boarded a private plane home. During the entire flight back, Chandler’s face was tense and cold. He barely spoke a word to Erin. She only learned about Claire’s plight through Kyle.

Upon their arrival, Chandler rushed to Liberty General Hospital as soon as possible.

Naturally, Erin did not go with him and returned to the villa instead. For some reason, her heart felt empty. She even contemplated going along with Chandler to visit Claire, but he didn’t make such a request, and she couldn’t make herself bring it up. Moreover, her current identity and relationship with Chandler made it even more awkward for her to tag along.

After taking a shower, Erin sat in a daze. She thought about calling her family. Previously, she had activated the function on her phone that enabled her to receive international calls, but her family never called, which meant everything at home was fine.

She dialed her home’s landline. The phone rang three times before Cherry answered. “Oh, Erin, I was just thinking of you when

you called.”

“Mom, is everything okay at home?”

“Everything’s fine, Erin. About what happened last time…I didn’t mean to deceive you. It’s all my fault!” Cherry said through the

phone, her tears streaming.

Erin sighed. “It’s over now anyway. Let the past stay in the past as long as you don’t lie to me about anything else in the future. Oh, and if Mr. Lawrence goes gambling and ends up in an enormous debt again, I won’t help him anymore!”

Cherry hurriedly nodded as she spoke. “I know, I know! You don’t have to worry. Your stepfather has been critically ill for a long time after he returned and has just begun to recover a few days ago. He feels very guilty about what happened and hopes you can forgive him. He really was a fool at that time…”

Erin and Cherry chatted about their lives for a while. Erin told her mother that she would return to her hometown in the next few days and asked her family to take care of themselves.

After hanging up, she sat idly again, thinking that it was probably best for her to break the news about her divorce to her mother

when she returned home.

Seeing that the hour was still early, she was just about to call Holly when her cousin unexpectedly called. Her cousin, May, begged relentlessly on the phone for Erin to buy her a ticket to the rock star Matthew Burgess‘ upcoming concert.

Erin was puzzled. It wasn’t as though May had no money to buy the ticket herself. She usually let her cousin help her manage her online store, and she knew May could earn up to seven or eight thousand dollars a month just from that alone. It was a lot for a student who had yet to graduate–a small fortune, even–so why did May still come to her for something as small as

purchasing concert tickets?

“Can’t you just buy the tickets online, May?” she couldn’t help but ask.

May exclaimed, “Erin, you don’t know how hard it is to actually get the tickets for Matthew Burgess‘ concert! The closest ticket to the stage costs more than ten thousand dollars!”

“More than ten thousand dollars?” Erin was surprised. She didn’t understand the mindsets of fanatics like May, but she would not go as far as to oppose them either. She said, “May, it’s your own money. I wouldn’t object if you used them to buy the tickets for yourself, but if you can’t buy them, how could I possibly get them for you?”

“Erin, as long as you promise to try! Please! I’ll go without my salary from the online store for half a year!”

Erin was rendered speechless. May was so excited that she couldn’t bring herself to back down. She hesitated before asking.”

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So, how exactly can I help you with buying that ticket?”

“Are you free now? Come with me to Strata Arena!”

Erin glanced at the time. It was 9.30 pm. Seeing as it was not too late, she readily agreed. The two of them then arranged to

meet at Strata Arena.

Usually, when no sports matches were held, the arena would be rented out to celebrities for their concerts. Erin supposed Matthew’s concert would be held in the arena as well.

An hour later, Erin arrived at Strata Arena first. May called her not long after, instructing her to wait for her directly inside the

arena. Erin walked to the back entrance of the arena.

There were many security guards and private bodyguards guarding the entrance. Her presence alerted the bodyguard in

charge, who immediately pulled out his phone. Having verified her identity, he swiftly allowed her to enter.

Erin was somewhat surprised, but she walked into the arena anyway. Shortly after, she found herself in a rehearsal hall. At that moment, the lights were dimmed. Only a few faint spotlights illuminated the stage. She was just about to call May again to ask her where she was when suddenly, a particularly glaring spotlight shone on her.

From a distance, a man walked toward her slowly. Erin couldn’t make out his features in the darkness. In fact, all she could discern was but a rough outline.

The man seemed to be young and tall. He was at least 5’9, with an electric guitar strapped to his back. It wasn’t until he arrived directly in front of Erin did she get a good look at his face.

The man was truly very young. He couldn’t be more than 22 years old. His exquisite features exuded an ominous air, amber eyes swirling with deep, soulful poignance. The thin black eyeliner on his eyelids accentuated his appearance, amplifying the haunting mysteriousness he radiated. His crimson lips quivered as if something–or someone–had stirred the depths of his

emotions.

Erin thought he looked rather familiar. Perhaps she had seen him somewhere before, but try as she might, she could not recall the instance in which they had most probably met in the past.

“Erin, do you remember me?” His voice was melodic and hypnotizing, smoky, and somewhat scratchy.

“How do you know my name? Who are you?” She furrowed her eyebrows in thought, but the answer evaded her all the same.

The man tried to remind her. “Do you still remember-”

“Oh, I remember now!”

He was equally as excited. “Really?”

Erin smiled. “I saw your face in a local music magazine last year! You’re Matthew Burgess! That rock star!” The tickets May

wanted to get were the ones for his concert.

Disappointment filled Matthew’s eyes upon hearing her words. His entire composure had shifted so profoundly that Erin thought even the skull earrings adorning his earlobes radiated the acute disappointment that seemed to have dominated his

soul.

Seeing his hurt expression, Erin immediately understood that he had not been referring to his identity as a rock star earlier. She added hurriedly, “Let me think. My memory really isn’t that great.”

Matthew’s lips curved into a slight smile, as if he had already forgiven her. He lowered his gaze, letting it fall on the electric guitar in his arms.

The amplifier wasn’t on when his slender fingers strummed the guitar strings lightly. Just like that, he started singing. “That laughter of hers reminds me of those flowers, silently blooming in every corner of my life. I once thought I would stay by her side forever, and yet, today, we have long parted ways, separated by the vast, impenetrable crowd…”

Erin felt goosebumps on every inch of her skin. Matthew had sung the old classic with such casual richness, driving tears to

her eyes. She finally remembered who he was!

Ten years ago, her father, Steven Lane, had brought her to this city on a trip. It had just been the two of them; coincidentally. that day had been her fifteenth birthday. Steven had given her a thousand dollars, promising he would buy her the folk guitar. she had always dreamed of.

There was a famous local instrument store nearby filled with imported musical instruments. It was in that store that she met the ten–year–old Matthew, who happened to be bargaining with the store manager. He had wanted to buy the imported guitar model, “Blue Flame,” but was still one thousand and two hundred dollars short in cash despite having gathered every loose

change he could get.

When she saw the persistence of the delicately handsome little boy in acquiring the guitar of his dreams, Erin impulsively walked toward him and handed him her own one thousand dollars. Then, together with Matthew, they begged and negotiated with the manager until he finally relented and gave them a two–hundred–dollar discount.

As soon as Matthew bought the electric guitar of his dreams, he played and sang “Those Flowers” and dedicated the song to Erin as a token of gratitude. Hearing his song, even though she lacked an in–depth understanding of music, Erin could immediately tell that Matthew was incredibly talented.

If it hadn’t been for her father, who had hurriedly pulled her away after receiving a call from his company about an emergency. perhaps she wouldn’t have lost contact with Matthew. Her reminiscence ended in time with Matthew’s song.

Erin laughed, tears blurring her vision. “I knew you had a talent for music! That one thousand dollars all those years ago was

so, so worth it!”