Chapter 40 A Pile of Junk

On top of a pile of junk was what appeared to be a "decorative painting". Sebastian flipped the painting over and was stunned when he saw that it was his and Eleanor's wedding photo.
He vaguely remembered this photo,but he also recalled breaking it and having Eleanor throw it away. So how could it appear here in perfect condition? Did she secretly keep and frame it afterward? If so,why did she leave it with a pile of junk now after four years?
Sebastian couldn't describe the feeling in his heart. He had been denying Eleanor's change in feelings towards him during this time,but seeing this abandoned wedding certificate made him admit that Eleanor had truly given up on her feelings for him.
In the past,he always called Eleanor cheap and believed that she would be cheap forever. He never thought that one day she would stop loving him. This day came unexpectedly.
Sebastian tightly grasped the picture frame until his knuckles turned white as bone.
As soon as Eleanor came out,she saw Sebastian standing in front of the pile of junk holding their wedding photo. She approached him to get a better look at what he held in his hand.
"This is something I didn't want to throw away before," said Eleanor. "But now I'm moving house and have no place for things like these which are just names without substance. They only bring back bad memories."
"So you're going to throw them away?" Sebastian's already dark eyes grew even colder; obsidian pupils seemed to drip two drops of ink into an abyss without end.
"I can't just leave them lying around here bothering people,can I? You don't like them either."
It was true - Sebastian didn't like either her or their wedding photo anymore; they both brought back too many bad memories from before when they should have thrown everything away then instead of keeping it.
The two stood in silence,the atmosphere becoming tense. Fortunately,at that moment there was a knock on the door from outside.
Eleanor went to open it and found an old man who collected junk with a rope and trailer.
"Where's your unwanted junk?" asked the old man.
"It's inside," replied Eleanor as she stepped aside to make way for him to pull his cart into their home.
"I'll help you with the rope," said Eleanor kindly.
"No need," waved off the old man. "I can do it myself. Just don't mind if I'm dirty."
Those who lived here were all wealthy people; he didn't consider himself clean enough when collecting trash like this,so he always received disdainful looks from others whenever he came by. But not today - this young lady was beautiful and kind-hearted towards him.
After Eleanor gave him some water to drink,the old man began working on sorting through everything piece by piece while looking at each item with bright eyes since they could be worth quite a bit of money.
"Do you want any of these things?" The old man asked Sebastian as he pointed at their wedding photo among other items before packing them up again for disposal elsewhere.
Sebastian's expression grew colder but remained silent; however,Eleanor spoke up instead: "Nope,we won't need those anymore for now. We'll call you later after we move out."
"Okay then." The old man nodded before leaving with his cart full of discarded items one by one until nothing was left behind except for their wedding photo which lay untouched where it had been placed earlier.
Suddenly Sebastian spoke up: "Leave our wedding photo here."
Eleanor looked over at Sebastian who had been helping her sort through everything silently until now; she felt uneasy under his gaze but couldn't take back what he had just said either. She remembered clearly what Sebastian told her in the hospital before,so she decided to listen obediently.
The old man finished packing up everything and left. Eleanor began sweeping the floor while bending over with her loose-fitting T-shirt which revealed two protruding collarbones due to her body not having fully recovered yet from childbirth; after only a short time,sweat had already formed on her face.