Chapter 7
After traveling for days, I finally returned to the hometown I had left for so long. Nothing had changed.
Here, time seemed frozen, as if the years never moved forward at all. Even after so many years away, everything looked exactly as I remembered.
Mrs. Anderson, the neighbor, nearly jumped with surprise when she saw me.
Overjoyed, she hurried over to help tidy up my grandmother’s old house.
“When you got into an Ivy League school back then, we were all so proud of you. Looking at you now, you must be doing wonderfully in the big city, right?”
“You didn’t waste your grandmother’s efforts after all.”
Her warm, motherly smile made my chest tighten. But instead of pride, I lowered my head in shame. I was the pride of this godforsaken town.
Everyone, included myself, believed I was destined for a brilliant future. I would buy my grandmother a comfortable life. I would marry well. I would build a happy home.
But fate was unpredictable. At a crossroads in my life, I chose Leonardo. And with that choice, I lost seven years of youth and two lives.
Mrs. Anderson and I chatted for a while, and I briefly told her what had happened. When she heard that my grandmother had passed away, grief clouded her face.
And I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore.
“I keep feeling like I killed her. If I had noticed her declining health sooner, if I had hidden the news about the
baby… if I hadn’t married Leonardo, none of this would have happened.”
Mrs. Anderson gently patted my shoulder and pulled me into her arms.
“Your grandmother called me once, years ago.”
“She knew you weren’t happy after getting married. She cried and told me she felt sorry for you, that she was
the burden weighing you down…”
“Sofia, you’re an adult now, so I won’t pretend to comfort you with empty words. But no elder truly stops
loving their child.”
“Your grandmother wouldn’t blame you. All she ever wanted was for you to be happy.”
I broke down in her arms, cried until the salt stung my eyes and my lungs felt like ash, wishing I could pour out every ounce of grief and humiliation I had endured over the past seven years.
When the storm finally passed, my heart felt lighter. The past couldn’t be undone. But at least, even stripped to the bone, I had escaped that golden cage.
Chapter 7
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I hadn’t allowed myself to drown forever. I held a simple funeral for my grandmother in our hometown. I buried her beside my parents, who had passed long ago.
The neighbors were genuinely kind, helping with every detail, big or small. Their warmth made the empty spaces inside me hurt a little less. And I made up my mind to stay.
With my degree, I easily secured a teaching job at the local school. Most of my coworkers were young and newly graduated.
They were around Isabella’s age, yet unlike her, they were bright, cheerful, and full of hope. During our free time, we chatted, walked around town, and shopped together.
My days were simple. A quiet existence, stitched back together with routine. I had almost begun to believe
my life could truly start over.
Until one day, Leonardo appeared in front of me.
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
The reek of alcohol hit me so hard my head throbbed. I stepped aside instinctively, but Leonardo blocked my
path. He stared at me, eyes filled with a depth of emotion I no longer recognized.
“Sofia. I missed you so much.”
“Leonardo, we’re already divorced.” My tone was flat, my expression calm, as if I were speaking to a stranger.
But Leonardo shook his head again and again, holding the wedding ring out toward me like a dying man
clinging to air.
“I don’t grant you a divorce. Sofia, I can’t live without you. While you were gone, I nearly lost my mind missing
you. I never dared tell you, but I truly loved you. From the beginning.”
“The time we first spent together… those were the happiest days of my life. I thought someone finally loved
- I thought I finally had a real home.”
“But then you and my grandfather signed that contract. It shattered every dream I had. I couldn’t accept that
the woman I loved married me for a transaction.”
“To get back at you, I did so many stupid things…”
Leonardo spoke while crying, as if he were the one who had been wronged by the world. I lifted my head and
looked at him.
“Do you remember our wedding anniversary?”
He froze. His mouth opened and closed, but not a single correct date came out. A cold smile tugged at my
lips.
“I remember it clearly. I’ll never forget it. Because your mistress told me that the first time she slept with you was on the day we got married.””
That girl was the bridesmaid he insisted on choosing. The so-called distant cousin. She confessed
everything to me shortly after the wedding.
Of course, Leonardo lost interest in her quickly. Once a new favorite appeared, she was discarded even
earlier than I was.
Leonardo had no defense. But years of my silence and endurance had taught him the wrong lesson that
lowering his head for a moment would always be enough to win me back.
After that day, Leonardo tried to pursue me again as if we were still in the honeymoon phase, sending flowers, gifts, little gestures of affection.
But I was no longer the naive girl who believed in fairytales. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Just when I had resolved to never see him again, I received a call from my attorney. Old Mr. Mancuso was
dying. He wanted to see me one last time.
