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Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Lorenzo Porter, I’m sorry, but I can’t forgive you.
I don’t know when Lorenzo was discharged from the hospital, but he had many mutual friends send me messages and even asked my best friend to relay a message.
“Julia, your ex–husband has found his way to me. After knowing each other for so many years, this is the first time I’ve seen the high and mighty man begging so humbly.”
I stared at the restaurant’s business card in my hand, my thoughts drifting far away.
leaving the hospital that last time, I had blocked and deleted all of Lorenzo’s contact details.
Several months had passed, and Lorenzo, having walked away with nothing, used his years of connections to quickly secure some investment.
He was a capable person, and making money was no problem for him now that his memory had returned.
What I didn’t expect, though, was that Lorenzo had gone through a long roundabout just to ask me out to dinner.
After thinking it through, I decided to go and clear things up.
Lorenzo had reserved a table at a French restaurant. The sound of a piano filled the air, and various decorations created a romantic ambiance.
I broke the silence first:
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
Lorenzo wasn’t in a hurry to respond. He gave me a faint smile, carefully cutting his steak before handing it to me.
“Do you remember, back in university, we used to walk past this French restaurant and you always said that we’d come here together on Valentine’s Day? At the time, we were too poor to afford it. When we had money later, we were too busy. It got postponed, and now here we are.”
“Julia, what happened before was fate playing tricks on us, and none of us got a good deal. I know that in the past, I hurt you unintentionally, but now and in the future, I will double the compensation for you.”
“Give me one more chance, okay?”
It was hard to imagine that such sentimental words were coming from Lorenzo’s mouth.
Maybe I should feel moved? Or perhaps I should feel some bittersweet nostalgia and say something to reminisce about the past.
But inside, I felt nothing at all.
No waves of emotion.
I placed the piece of steak into my mouth and chewed it carefully.
“Lorenzo, my stomach is weak. I can’t eat steak cooked to medium.”
I paused for a moment and looked at his surprised expression.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I’ll have the kitchen make a well–done one immediately…”
I lightly set down my knife and fork, the sound of metal clinking against the
plate ringing in the air.
“No need. If it were before, I would have enjoyed any dist
you brought
that steak just now… it disgusted me, with its half–cooked meat.”
I raised my head and looked directly into Lorenzo’s eyes.
“Our relationship is like this steak. Tasteless when eaten, but hard to discard. Do
Lorenzo’s expression went from stiff and slow
to
you
understand?”
t quite describe–almost like sorrow.
Photos Lies and Fire
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Chapter 7
That expression… I had seen it in the mirror countless times before.
“After all these years, you just decide to give up on us?”
I suddenly felt it was all pointless. Bored, I began fiddling with my knife and fork.
“On the day I had the abortion, Nina Alora bought the placenta of our baby from the hospital and sent it to me in an insulated container.”
“Lorenzo, I’ve tried to forget it all. But whenever I close my eyes, I see that bloody placenta. It was meant to grow into a healthy baby…”
The moment I mentioned our child, the one we had so much hope for, Lorenzo’s face turned ashen.
“Julia. I had lost my memory. I didn’t understand anything, and it was Nina Alora who deceived me. That wasn’t me.”
ing this, Lorenzo covered his face with his hands in agony.
In the countless late nights when I thought about this, I, too, had wondered if the Lorenzo who had regained his memory and the eighteen–year–old Lorenzo were two completely different people.
But I couldn’t be rational, I couldn’t be objective.
As the victim of this entire ordeal, I couldn’t act as a fair judge for Lorenzo’s mistakes.
Would saying “I forgive you” bring our child back?
What would I have done if Lorenzo hadn’t regained his memory?
