Chapter 20
Aria stood at the bookstore entrance, watching the curtain of rain, hesitating for several seconds before covering her head with her bag and running out.
Cold rain immediately soaked through her clothes, streaming down her hair into her collar, the chill making her skin prickle.
She jogged across the street, water splashing around her feet. In her confusion, she thought she heard someone calling her name.
“Aria!”
She spun around sharply.
The empty street showed only rain like a woven curtain, streetlights casting wavering reflections in the puddles.
Another hallucination.
Aria shook her head and hurried home to her apartment.
Deep in the night, she woke in confusion.
ad burned with fever, her throat dry as if scorched by fire. Thunder crashed outside while lightning
inated her room, showing her reflection in the mirror.
white, lips cracked, eyes bloodshot.
gh, cough…” She tried to sit up for water but immediately became dizzy and crashed to the floor.
Sharp pain shot from her knees to her temples as memories flooded back like a broken dam.
In the snow, Adrian shielded her with his body, blood staining the white ground.
‘Aria, live…”
Lucas watching coldly as she fell into the icy lake: “Watch her. Don’t let her come up
On the auction platform, his indifferent command: “Aria, get on stage.”
Finally, the suffocating sensation of river water filling her lungs
“Ahh–r
Aria curled up on the floor, nails digging deep into her palms until tears mixed with cold sweat.
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Chapter 20
She remembered everything.
Adrian’s death, Lucas’s cruelty, and her own five years of desperation and numbness.
She bit down hard on her lip until she tasted blood, barely suppressing her agonized screams.
When dawn broke, her fever had broken.
Aria sat by the window, watching morning light gradually chase away the night.
Her coffee table held traces of these past months in Millbrook–her bookstore work badge, seashells collected from the beach, thriving plants on her balcony.
This small apartment was a new world she’d built with her own hands.
No Sinclair family, no hatred, no… that man who had caused her such unbearable pain.
She gently traced her ring finger where no ring mark remained–Adrian had placed an engagement ring there, but
she’d lost it after the crash.
‘Adrian,” she whispered to the empty air, “you were right. Living… is really hard.”
Morning breeze stirred the curtains, carrying the salt scent of sea air.
At dawn, Aria had already composed herself.
she changed into a simple white blouse and jeans, loosely pinning up her long hair.
The woman in the mirror was both familiar and strange–her eyes no longer held that former humility and ›bsession, replaced by a calm born of surviving storms.
The bookstore door chimes rang clearly as Aria pushed through the glass entrance, immediately seeing Lucas tanding at the counter holding a bouquet of blue irises.
fearing the sound, he spun around, hope flickering in his eyes,
You came.” His voice was slightly hoarse.
Aria calmly accepted the flowers, expertly trimming the stems: “You still like irises, Mr. Sinclair.”
Lucas’s pupils dilated: “You… you remember? How much do you remember?”
“Everything” She arranged the flowers in fresh water, tone flat.
Lucas’s face went deathly pale.
He opened his mouth but no sound came, just clenched fists with white knuckles.
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asy steps
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Chapter 20
“Don’t be nervous.” Aria even smiled. “I’m not here to collect debts. Those things… are all in the past.”
“Aria…” Lucas’s voice cracked. “I found out the truth about back then. Madison, she…”
“I know.” She cut him off. “The news covered it thoroughly.”
Lucas stood frozen like he’d been struck by lightning: “You… then don’t you have anything you want to ask?”
“Hmm…” She paused thoughtfully, tone politely complimentary. “Mr. Sinclair’s methods are as decisively ruthless as always.”
The formal address stung Lucas.
He suddenly grabbed her hand: “Don’t call me that… please. I know I was completely wrong, I…”
Let go.” Aria’s voice wasn’t loud, but carried absolute authority.
Lucas released her like he’d been burned, and she continued: “I told you, that’s all in the past. I don’t hate you, but I von’t have any connection with you either.”
Lucas pulled a velvet box from his jacket with trembling hands.
nside was a somewhat tarnished silver ring.
Adrian’s…” Aria’s breath caught, but she quickly regained composure, surprising even herself. “I thought it was
ost.”
Found at the crash site.” Lucas placed the box on the counter. “Wedged between rocks by the river, somehow it
urvived…”
Aria gently closed the box: “Thank you. But these things don’t matter anymore.”
Then what does matter?” Lucas suddenly raised his voice. “Aria, give me a chance to make amends… please.”
Sunlight grew stronger outside, falling between them and creating a clear line of demarcation on the floor.
Aria looked at this man who had once ground her into dust but now begged like a beggar for her forgiveness, feeling inexpected pity,
Lucas Sinclair.” She said his full name for the first time. “Do you know what I regretted most before jumping into that river?”
Lucas shook his head, eyes bloodshot.
“Not falling in love with Adrian, not sacrificing so much for you.” She said calmly. “But never living a single day for myself.”
“I’m very satisfied with my life now.”
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My Husband’s Guide to Losing a Perfectly Good Wife in Five Lasy Steps
Chapter 20
Lucas’s gaze swept the room before returning to her face.
He suddenly realized that while this Aria remembered everything, her eyes held the same clarity as when she’d lost
her memory.
No hate, no resentment, not even the attachment he’d hoped for.
Only peace.
“I understand.” He struggled to speak, voice barely recognizable. “But at least… let me do something for you.”
Aria shook her head, retrieving a cardboard box from under the counter: “These are things you’ve sent recently… please take them back.”
Lucas didn’t accept the box.
He took one last look at this woman who had once braved fire and flood for him, then turned toward the door.
Sunlight streamed in behind him, casting a long shadow on the floor.
The door chimes rang once as his silhouette disappeared into the bright sunshine.
Aria stood there as tears suddenly poured down her face.
Not for Adrian, not for Lucas.
But for herself–for the Aria who had finally learned to cry for her own sake.
