Chapter 149: Chapter 149: Actually Here to See an Ex-Boyfriend

Yvonne Sutton drove down the winding mountain road. A stone cliff was on one side and a sheer drop on the other, with many sections lacking guardrails. She didn’t let out a sigh of relief until she reached the very bottom of the valley.

This place was truly remote. She had no idea why Daisy Shaw would come here to find some peace and quiet.

Following the location Daisy had sent, she drove over a stone bridge and into a small mountain village. The village seemed to have only one road, which wound up and down hills. Rounding one mountain revealed a completely different view.

The village had developed a tourism industry, with many local specialty shops lining the road, but there were obviously few tourists.

She drove up to a large pagoda tree. Although her GPS showed a road, she looked left and right but couldn’t see it. Spotting a local specialty shop nearby, she got out of the car, planning to ask for directions.

Just as she reached the shop’s entrance, a black dog suddenly rushed out, heading straight for her. Startled, she quickly backed away.

"It’s okay, he doesn’t bite."

Just then, a man with graying hair emerged from the shop. He was carrying a basket of hawthorns and walked toward a stone platform under the pagoda tree. He had a problem with his left leg and walked with a limp.

Meanwhile, the big black dog kept circling her, wagging its tail excitedly.

"Sir, excuse me, do you know how to get to the Stone-Built Courtyard?" Yvonne Sutton asked.

The man pointed to the stone cliff next to his shop. "Go around that cliff, and you’ll see a flight of stone steps. Go up the steps and look west, and you’ll see the courtyard’s gate."

Yvonne Sutton turned to look. If that was the case, she wouldn’t be able to drive her car up there.

"Can I park my car here?"

"This isn’t a parking lot. It’s not like I can charge you, right?"

Yvonne Sutton had to think about his words for a moment before she understood.

"I can pay for parking."

"Then it’s one hundred a day."

Yvonne Sutton’s mouth twitched. ’He’s really got some nerve.’

"Fine."

She was in a hurry to find Daisy Shaw, so she didn’t argue. But as soon as she agreed, the man pulled out a payment QR code and told her to pay for the first day.

"One minute counts as a full day. After midnight, it counts as the next day."

’What a schemer.’

Yvonne Sutton paid the fee and turned to leave, but the big black dog grabbed her coat in its teeth, braced itself, and refused to let her go.

"Blackie, let her go!"

"You silly mutt, that’s no way to do business!"

"If people see our hawthorns are good, they’ll buy them on their own. You can’t force a sale!"

Yvonne Sutton was speechless. ’This dog is certainly clever, but it can’t understand a whole speech.’

"Miss, why don’t you try one of my hawthorns? Just picked from the mountain, completely wild. Don’t you city folks all love wild vegetables, wild game, and all that? These are wild hawthorns."

The man brought two over for Yvonne Sutton to try.

Yvonne Sutton looked at the bright red hawthorns in the man’s hand. ’He calls *these* wild hawthorns?’

On her way here, she’d seen lots of hawthorn trees on the mountainside, and they were clearly cultivated.

’A total scam artist, ripping off tourists. And he said he wouldn’t force a sale? Then what do you call his dog holding onto my coat and not letting go?’

"I’ll take a pound."

"Ten for a pound."

Yvonne Sutton scanned and paid another ten, and only then did the dog let her go. Then, she headed up, carrying a bag of hawthorns.

Sure enough, there was a flight of stone steps behind the cliff. The steps were quite long, leading all the way up. At the top, she looked west and immediately saw the sign for the Stone-Built Courtyard.

She walked over and saw that it was, indeed, a row of houses built from stone—seven or eight rooms in total, converted into a guesthouse. The courtyard wasn’t large, but it was quite peaceful.

Yvonne Sutton entered the courtyard and immediately spotted Daisy Shaw sitting in front of a low wall. She was wearing jeans and a sweater dress with a cape draped over her shoulders, resting her chin in her hands as she gazed outside.

The wall was low, only about half a meter high, so from the courtyard, you could see down below.

Yvonne Sutton walked over, assuming she was admiring some beautiful scenery to be so engrossed. But when she looked from Daisy’s vantage point, all she saw was a small courtyard where a man was air-drying mountain goods.

’Isn’t that the same shop owner who just ripped her off?’

"You said you needed to find a place to clear your head, and this is what you came up with?" she asked.

Daisy Shaw jumped in surprise. When she turned and saw it was Yvonne Sutton, her expression quickly turned to one of delight.

"Yvonne, you’re here!"

Yvonne Sutton sat down across from her. "This place is so remote. How did you even find it?"

Daisy Shaw poured her a cup of hot tea. "This little mountain village is called Brimstone Valley Village."

As she spoke, she pointed to the rock face on the mountain behind them. "The rocks here are all a pale yellow, like brimstone. That’s how it got its name."

"You know a lot about this place?" Yvonne Sutton asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I’ve heard about it from him countless times. I know it’s in a canyon, that there’s a big river and a stone bridge. I know there’s a local deity shrine on the mountain, and next to the shrine is a persimmon tree, and the persimmons from that tree are especially sweet."

As she said this, Daisy Shaw seemed to be lost in her memories.

"Him?" Yvonne Sutton glanced toward the man from the specialty shop. "Who is he?"

"He’s the man I once loved deeply."

Yvonne Sutton was a little stunned. ’Daisy Shaw snuck out of the hospital just to see her ex-boyfriend?’

’This...’

"He and I were classmates at film school. We started dating back then. After graduation, we started running around to different film sets for auditions, hoping to land good roles, build up our fame, and become household names." At this, Daisy Shaw shook her head and gave a small smile.

"We were too young back then, too idealistic. No connections, no backing, no opportunities—you can’t get a foothold in that circle without them. Even after being knocked down so many times, we gritted our teeth and held on, never thinking of giving up. But right then, my mother was diagnosed with stomach cancer, and I didn’t even have the money to pay for her treatment."

"And then?"

"I met Harry Rhodes at a banquet. He was very interested in me, but I told him honestly that I had a boyfriend. Later, to pay for my mom’s treatment, I went to him in desperation to borrow money. He lent me the money, and he even had my mother transferred to Seacliff Hospital and found the best doctor at the time to perform her surgery. When Mike Lawrence found out, he was convinced I had betrayed him. He broke up with me in a fit of anger, quit the entertainment industry, and went back to his hometown."

"The year after that was the hardest of my life. I was with my mother through her surgery, then chemotherapy after the surgery, then the cancer metastasized, another surgery, more chemo... I watched with my own eyes as she wasted away from a healthy woman to skin and bones. In the end, she was begging me to let her go."

At this point, Daisy Shaw’s brow furrowed, as if she could still feel the agony of that time.

"Harry Rhodes was by my side through all of it. With him, it started with gratitude, which then grew into trust and dependence. After my mother passed away, I tried calling Mike Lawrence. He told me not to contact him again, that he was already married."

"When I heard he was married, I was actually relieved. After that, I was able to accept Harry Rhodes’s love without reservation. I stopped suppressing my own feelings and fell in love with him."

"In all my years married to Harry Rhodes, I’ve been very happy. I’d occasionally think of Mike Lawrence, but aside from a bit of nostalgia, I mostly felt relief that I hadn’t married him. Otherwise, Harry and I would have missed our chance. But just a short while ago, I heard from an old classmate that while my mother was in the hospital, he had an accident on set. He broke his leg, and that’s when he quit the entertainment industry and went home. I made some more inquiries and found out he’s been single this whole time. He never got married at all."

Yvonne Sutton was utterly astonished. She turned her head to look at the man.

By now, he had finished his work and was sitting at the stone table in his courtyard, sipping tea while massaging his injured leg. He stared at the distant mountains for a long time, perhaps lost in his own memories.