Chapter 8
As the door opened, a flood of memories washed over Aria.
The room remained exactly as they had left it years ago, unchanged by time.
Perhaps moved by returning to a place where they’d spent so long together, Alessandro turned to Aria. “Do you
remember when we…”
“No, I don’t.” she replied, her voice barely audible.
Alessandro paused, then pointed to a LEGO model in the corner. “Didn’t we keep that in the study? Why is it here
now?”
Aria didn’t follow his gaze, answering flatly: “When you couldn’t see, many of your memories became distorted,
like illusions.”
Just like her belief that Alessandro had loved her.
In reality, she had merely been his lifeline in the darkness – important only because he’d needed guidance. Once his sight returned and his independence with it, she became dispensable.
She had foolishly believed their shared struggles would bind them together through life’s storms.
In the end, it had all been a mirage, a beautiful dream from which she’d finally awakened.
Noticing the fleeting desolation in Aria’s expression, Alessandro felt a tightness in his chest. He wanted to ask what
was troubling her, but she had already turned away toward the balcony.
“The piano is in the last room down the hallway. You can find it yourselves.”
As their footsteps faded, Aria sat in the rocking chair and closed her eyes.
Soon, the bright sky darkened, and rain began to fall.
She returned to the living room just as piano notes drifted through the villa – Liszt’s “Liebestraum,” the first piano piece she’d ever heard in her life.
The music transported her back to that summer when she was ten. Unconsciously, she followed the sound.
Through the window, she saw Alessandro and Sofia at the piano, playing four–handed. Despite the years apart, their chemistry remained undiminished. The look in his eyes as he gazed at Sofia was full of the same devotion as before.
So Alessandro truly loved Sofia – loved her so deeply that even after she’d abandoned him for seven years, his feelings never wavered.
Of course – they were both children of privilege, destined for each other. She, a housekeeper’s daughter, had been foolish to intrude into a world that wasn’t hers, to yearn for a man who could never be hers.
08:35
I Love You So Much. But I Just Don’t Like You Atymo
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Chapter 8
If she could turn back time, she wouldn’t have fallen for Alessandro at first sight. She wouldn’t have secretly cherished feelings for him. She certainly wouldn’t have devoted seven years of her life to caring for him in his
blindness
The piano music gradually faded to silence.
Sofa’s hand had somehow found its way to Alessandro’s, slowly trailing upward. Through the window, Aria watched as Sofia leaned into him, lips seeking his
“Alessandro, I know you still love me…”
Aria couldn’t bear another moment. She turned and fled.
The rain grew heavier, soaking her completely. Her mind was a fog of contradictions one moment feeling like withered grass at the edge of a cliff, the next like a capsized boat adrift at sea.
Rootless. Floating aimlessly.
Even her tears were lost in the rain, leaving no trace of their existence.
09.25
