Chapter 467 I Actually Hated You
Only when you’ve deeply loved soone can you understand the feeling of heart-wrenching pain and utter despair.
Christopher Hart saw her consud by sorrow, her face a bit dazed, and couldn’t help but tightly grasp her hand.
"Alia... her passing is also a relief; otherwise, with that scoundrel Michael Garcia, she would only have suffered more. And that Mr. Smith, only now thinking to co and look for her, I don’t think he’s any good either. It’s not necessarily a regret that Aunt missed out with him."
Alia Garcia lowered her eyes, her emotions complex, now unsure how to evaluate Chairman Smith.
The two remained silent for a while. Alia suddenly thought of sothing else and turned her head, saying, "Oh right. Mr. Smith said he hired a professional team to prepare for the renovation of the courtyard and asked for my opinion. I said that since the courtyard belongs to him, it should be according to his preference. But he insisted that I go take a look."
Since learning about the harm her mother had suffered back then, Alia Garcia returned to addressing Thomas Smith as "Mr. Smith" out of politeness.
Christopher felt it too.
Knowing she still had an attachnt to that place, Christopher nodded and said, "If you have ti, go and take a look. Before the renovations start, take lots of photos; they’ll be mories for the future."
"Okay, I was thinking the sa thing."
Rarely, after hearing the whole story, he could consider things from her perspective, and his suggestions resonated with her feelings, quickly easing the pain in Alia’s heart. She let out a long sigh and leaned softly into his embrace.
"Christopher... actually, I once hated you."
As soon as she said this, she could clearly feel the man’s body tense, and the hand on her shoulder trembled.
If she had looked up just then, she would have seen the man’s handso, deep-set face, marked by obvious tension and fear.
"When I was pregnant with triplets, the doctor said there would be various complications, and I was constantly worried. At first, I thought of coming back to find you, but whenever I rembered your indifference during our three-year marriage, your distance, and your endurance or even repulsion while being with , I dismissed the idea."
"I told myself, no matter how difficult, even if I cried in the middle of the night, thinking I couldn’t make it until morning, I couldn’t co back to you, couldn’t throw my dignity on the ground for you to trample on again..."
Christopher hadn’t expected her to suddenly bring this up, and before she could finish, he couldn’t help but pull her out of his embrace, hastily clarifying, "Alia, it’s not like that. Back then, I thought you didn’t love anymore. I thought you agreed to marry just to treat your grandmother and to repay Grandpa’s care for you..."
"I thought my distrust and the harm my family did to you made you completely disappointed in . I dared not hope that you still had any feelings for ..."
Alia looked at him, her eyes flickering, remaining silent.
"Really, I could never let you go, but the wounds between us at the ti were too deep, and our relationship was too fragile to withstand anything, so neither of us dared to make any moves. When the three-year period was up, and you couldn’t wait to ask for a divorce, I beca even more convinced that you no longer loved , that you were just fulfilling a promise."
"Alia, whether you believe it or not, the only person I’ve loved all my life has always been you."
Since getting back together, they had never analyzed their ntal states during the divorce back then.
This was the first ti Alia heard him say these things, and besides feeling surprised and moved, she mostly felt regret.
A few words could have explained everything, so why did they end up like that back then?
Ultimately, they were too young.
Too young to think everything was insignificant; too young to know how to cherish; too young to let go of so-called dignity and pride.
Only after life has tempered you can you realize that many things we once cared about are not worth ntioning when compared to being together.
Facing his eyes filled with a deep confession of love, Alia moved her mouth, and after a long while, quietly uttered, "Then you might have lost out a bit; I truly forgot about you, because only then could I not feel so much pain, and have the courage to arm myself as a warrior woman, build a career, and raise our children."
"I understand, I understand it all." His heart ached to an unimaginable extent as he pulled her back into his embrace, his deep voice trembling slightly, "It’s my fault; you were right to forget . Even if you don’t love in the future, it’s okay, as long as you stay by my side with our children, that’s my greatest fortune."
Alia did not respond but quietly wrapped her arms around his waist, "Christopher... let’s not fight anymore, okay..."
Since rekindling love was so difficult, why waste ti on argunts and cold wars?
Christopher understood her aning, lowering his head to kiss her forehead repeatedly, solemnly promising, "Alright, no more fights. If I lose my temper again, you can hit , hit hard."
She laughed, mock-angry, "Hitting you would hurt my hand."
He chuckled, "Then use a shoe, or a whip? I rember when I was young, if I was wrong, Grandpa would use a whip."
"I’m not that violent..."
They embraced, resolving past grievances, their hearts being drawn together again by love.
Alia felt her chin being held, knowing what he wanted to do, she smiled slightly and tilted her head to et his lips.
After a while, they gently parted, she silently smiled, her hands wrapping tighter around his waist.
————
The next day, Alia instructed Fuller to take the children to the Hart Family’s old residence, and she drove to the Ancient Town.
While still on the road, she received a call from Christopher.
"Hey, what’s up?" She answered via Bluetooth headset, asking lazily.
Christopher’s voice sounded a bit serious, "Are you still on the road?"
"Yeah, almost there." After responding, she realized sothing was off with his tone, so she imdiately asked, "What’s wrong? Is there sothing?"
"Nothing, just worried you might get sleepy driving alone, calling to check in."
"Don’t worry, I’ll be careful! I’m quite the seasoned driver!"
They chatted briefly and then hung up. Alia slowed down, allowing the Lincoln to slowly enter the stone-paved streets of the Ancient Town.
Upon arriving at the courtyard, the renovation workers arrived as well.
The head person saw Alia and approached to greet her, "Are you Miss Norton? Mr. Smith ntioned that he’s rarely around, so if there are any issues, I should communicate with you. To make it easier, may I add you on WhatsApp?"
Alia initially intended to refuse, but the person already extended the WhatsApp QR code, so she had to take out her phone, scan it, and send a friend request.
However, she set her status to "chat only"—she always set it this way with unfamiliar people to protect her privacy.
"Alright, we’ll get started, Miss Norton, feel free to look around."
"Thank you for your hard work."
Alia entered the courtyard and stood in the yard, taking a serious look around, snapping quite a few photos.
Thinking that Christopher hadn’t seen it, she sent him the photos so he could take a look.
As expected, he quickly sent a voice ssage back, "Don’t worry, in ti, we’ll definitely be able to buy the courtyard back."
Alia sighed, "But even if we buy it back, nothing will be the sa."
Just after sending the voice ssage, the phone interface shifted, showing an incoming call.
Looking closely, it was Doctor Smith?
Why was he calling?
Reviews
All reviews (0)