Chapter 1079
"Those four years, I only knew that I was in unbearable pain, but I never thought about how you were coping with two children and worrying about Essic’s illness. You must have been going through a very difficult time as well…"
I bit my lip tightly, recalling the despair when I left Freybourne; tears kept streaming down.
He whispered, “Actually, looking back, although you lied to me many times, it was also due to my persistence and insistence. When we were young, I was jealous of your affection for Anton. In college, you liked Winston, and I was equally jealous to the point of madness. That night at the class reunion, you got drunk. I made great efforts to take you away before Winston did. I could have taken you home, and we could have had no relationship at all."
But that crazy, possessive heart made me have a hint of evil thoughts. I was afraid that you would go abroad with Winston and that I would never see you again. And so there was that illusion of happiness, forcibly binding you to me, making you my wife. Everything in the past is vividly remembered."
The mixture of sourness, sweetness, bitterness, and astringency in my heart made it ache intermittently. I covered my mouth, unable to speak.
Reynaldo calmly recounted our past, his tone steady without any fluctuations, but there was a hint of sadness lingering in his words.
"After tying you to me in the name of husband and wife, I was still not satisfied, deluding myself into thinking that I could make you fall in love with me. So there were countless attempts and demands afterwards. Perhaps I really couldn’t love someone, only knowing how to possess arrogantly, coerce, and force. Looking back now, it was my fault from the beginning. It was my greed, my stubbornness. What fault do you have?”
“It’s not like that…” I looked at him and choked out, “Although at first, I didn’t like you, but after we got married, I really started to like you slowly."
“But if it weren’t for my initial insistence, I wouldn’t have selfishly bound you to me. You will definitely find someone you like, marry him, and live happily ever after. You will have lovely children and a warm and happy family, instead of suffering like now, enduring hardships, and ending up with a child falling ill and oneself becoming infertile for life.”
“It’s not, it’s not…” I cried to him in a breakdown, “Besides you, I won’t fall in love with anyone else. I have a lovely child with you, a warm and happy family. I…”
“Esmeralda…” Reynaldo suddenly looked at me, his eye sockets red and his pupils very deep. He raised his hand and gently wiped away the tears on my face, whispering, “Don’t cry, it’s my fault. I was wrong from the beginning. No wonder they say, ‘a melon forced off the vine is not sweet’; it’s my fault that you suffered like this. I didn’t used to think so much before, but now I suddenly realize, maybe we really aren’t meant to be together…”
“No!” I grabbed his hand and held it tightly. “You said that you have never regretted meeting me. You said that no matter how difficult it is, you will not give up on this relationship, Reynaldo, you said so.” I yelled at him, tears kept streaming down.
Reynaldo rubbed my hair and whispered, “I used to not think so much, just stubbornly believing that keeping you by my side was enough.”