"Richard," the gentle hand belonging to Mrs Shelby touched his right shoulder. "The doctor has to confirm the death, and I don't want you here for that."

He released his grasp on Annie's hand and stepped back. "She finally told me she loved me," Richard said as Mrs Shelby aided him into the wheelchair.

"That's lovely, Richard. I'm happy to hear that." Mrs Shelby moved the chair backwards and out into the corridor. "But a blind Freddie could clearly see she loved you from the beginning,"

Now Richard highly doubted that was the case. Annie made it very clear her intentions were never to love him. Even when he told her he would give her the world on a silver platter if he could, Annie still brushed him off. Richard never accepted rejection. It merely made him try harder. Perhaps that was where he went wrong; maybe, just maybe, he tried too hard.

You see, Richard was a people pleaser. He tried his best to make sure everyone was happy. But in return, his life was robbed of the happiness he deserved.

As the door to Annie's room closed, he saw the doctor listening to her chest, and then, just like that, his view of the woman he had spent all his life trying to marry was gone. It felt like a part of him had vanished, and there was a hole in his chest where his heart should be.

Many people called Richard an idiot for chasing a woman who didn't return his feelings. However, he felt Annie was worth it. She was his pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.