[131]
It has been a month since Leonel woke up.
There are a few activities Leonel can do now. All his activities revolve around the hospital bed. He is still under intensive monitoring by a capable medical team. Two days after waking up, Robby moved Leonel to Singapore.
The treatments Leonel underwent brought significant changes. The surgeries on his legs and abdomen went smoothly. His health recovered quickly, although he still couldn’t move as usual. There are still many therapies that Leonel needs to undergo to regain normal mobility.
The atmosphere in his room has mostly stayed the same since he first occupied it.
“Sir,” one of his employees called out. Regarding office matters, Leonel wanted to take a bit of time. His mind was still functioning, and he insisted on handling Mountain again. At first, Robby disagreed, but Leonel pleaded earnestly.
He said, “If I’m not busy working, Pa, I’ll go crazy. Every passing second, Chloe is the only thing on my mind, Pa. How can you bear that?”
Robby couldn’t argue much against his son’s wishes. So, one of the employees was assigned as the liaison for all Mountain-related matters that Leonel could handle. The workload was limited as long as Leonel had something to occupy himself with.
“Yes?” Leonel responded softly.
“I have some documents for you to review. Mr. Robby is expecting your input in about three hours. He’s currently in a meeting with Jena.”
Leonel nodded softly, took the documents, and started studying them.
“Oh, by the way, sir,”
Leonel’s attention returned to the employee. “What is it?”
“You said that if there’s any news about your ex-wife, I should inform you.”
Leonel suddenly became enthusiastic. “What news is it?”
Without much delay, the employee handed his phone to Leonel. Photos of Chloe and Darren’s wedding filled the screen. Chloe’s smile, full of happiness, caught Leonel’s attention. He had seen that smile before. But he couldn’t shake the frozen feeling in his heart that was focused on another woman. Yet now, that smile was what he longed for. He wanted to have it but couldn’t do anything about it.
Nothing Leonel possessed could make that woman come back to him.
He couldn’t forget his last encounter with Chloe, especially when he regained consciousness. If he remembered how terrifying that day was, he also remembered what Chloe had experienced.
“Are you… alright?” Chloe asked softly. It was a question that Leonel found quite silly but surprisingly comforted him.
“You saw me powerless. Tubes everywhere, and well, I couldn’t give you flowers.”
“I don’t need flowers, Leonel.”
Leonel nodded softly. “Thank you for coming to visit me, Chloe.”
Chloe fell silent.
“I’m thrilled if you visit me every day-”
“No. It is my last visit.”
The joyful excitement Leonel felt began to fade. “But why, Chloe?”
“I want to make it clear, Leonel. Not just for you, but for myself too.”
Leonel chose to remain silent. Chloe would say a lot.
“Hearing that you had an accident like this, I also felt pain, Leonel. After waking up, I kept thinking about your condition because I’ve experienced something similar, right?”
Leonel peered into Chloe’s eyes, which were now watery.
“Although the accident I went through resulted from sabotage, I admit that I lost control. I felt resentful seeing you intimately involved with Ester and sharing intimate moments, even in the office. My goodness! Throughout the way, I asked myself, what did I lack?”
Leonel desperately wanted to wipe away the tears streaming down Chloe’s cheeks, but he couldn’t. His hands hurt too much if he moved them.
“And now, you had an accident, most likely because of me, right?”
Leonel couldn’t deny that. “You’re right.”
“I feel guilty, Leonel. But it only goes so far. My concern for you is limited to you being my ex-husband. Nothing more. Please understand my actions around you. I yearned so much for your attention, sweet gestures, tenderness, romantic words, and even… the love I often longed for from you. I waited for all of that.”
Leonel swallowed hard.
“But it’s all too late for you to give, Leonel. I know our circumstances forced you never to give up and prove that you’ve changed.” Chloe wiped her wet cheeks. “Have you ever thought that maybe this is God’s direction, the acceptance we must embrace? You and I can no longer be together. We had enough time that God gave us to be together, right? Without closing our eyes to the fact that it was you who initiated it all. If you had given me just a fraction of your love, I would have given you my world, Leonel.”
This time, Leonel began to feel a tightness in his chest.
“Let me pursue my happiness. It’s not that I don’t want to get to know you again. No, you’re a good man. It’s just that the wounds you inflicted on me can’t be healed quickly. There’s always the question, will my husband stray again? And that will slowly kill us, Leonel. The trust that’s been shattered won’t be whole again.”
Tears that Leonel had held back now streamed down his face.
“Do you want me to spend the rest of our time always suspicious of you? Always arguing over trivial matters? Aren’t you tired? You’ll get used to it for a year or two. But as our marriage continues, where I can’t place that trust again, will you endure it?”
Leonel’s chest heaved as he held back his sobs.
“Is there any guarantee that you won’t cheat on me again? Ignore me?”
“I promise, Chloe,” Leonel interjected quickly.Content © provided by NôvelDrama.Org.
“Yes, I know. Your promises have been spoken long ago. But honestly, Leonel, I don’t want you to prove anything. I want you to promise me, Leonel.” Chloe approached him, taking Leonel’s hand in hers. “Promise me… that someday when you meet someone who loves you sincerely, you’ll cherish them. Love them even more than what they have for you, Leonel.”
“I only want the one I love and who loves me back to be you, Chloe,” Leonel said with a hoarse voice.
“I can’t. My love belongs to someone else.”
His sobs shook Leonel. The pain he felt in his body couldn’t compare to the pain in his heart.
“Promise me, Leonel. Find your happiness. You still deserve to be happy.”
Unconsciously, tears once again fell from Leonel’s eyes.
“Be happy, Chloe. Be happy.”