The day of Laura spent well with the kids, thankfully Augustus didn't come home at lunchtime and Laura was trying her best to leave the villa before she will encounter him.
But who knows that Fate wasn't ready for her to leave yet as she was lost in playing with kids she heard a familiar male voice. A voice that had been ringing into her ears for a whole year.The voice she always kept in her head, his all words that he told her before the night she left Rome."Hello everyone.” Augustus greeted happily as he took a look at Laura and soon turned his face to Lisa, as he hugged and kissed her.Laura's eyes were on the floor, she was just staring at his shiny leather shoes that had turned into slippers now as Lisa helped him to change.She didn't dare to look up into his beautiful deep blue eyes, she nervously held her clothes thinking Augustus would come over and talk to her.But to her surprise, Augustus completely ignored her existence and went toOne Year Later“It’s a great honor to interview you Mr. Aldrich or I would say the prince?” A woman in her mid-thirties sat straight with a sharp face and a gentle smile as she began her interview.“Steven would be fine.”“So, Mr. Steven first of all congratulations on the success of your new foundation for cancer patients. This would be the third center you had built in one year. Is there any reason why you’re so passionate about it, saving lives?”“I had lost my wife because of cancer and didn’t want anyone else to lose their loved one because of it. The treatment at the right time saves many lives.”“Oh, deeply sorry to hear about your loss.”“Huh, it was never a loss for me.”“Pardon?”“Please continue.”“So Mr. Steven, what do you want to say about Miss Steva’s praises for you and your wife? It’s been 8
Steven’s bitter laugh echoed in the room and the man standing in front of him winced in discomfort.“I never wish pain for you, Steven. I was angry with you, but that didn’t mean that I would want to destroy your happiness… No… Never…”“So, then why was my happiness taken away from me, Dad, why…” Steven asked, disheartened, and then unexpectedly started crying out while hugging the painting in his arms.“Steven…” The Old Master rushed to him to console him but he looked inconsolable.“I am still hoping that it is a dream, tell me, dad, it’s a dream… I want to wake up, wake me up… Wake me up…” Steven said in a choked voice and then started hitting his face like a mad man, the painting dropped to the floor and it showed a bald, petite woman in the embrace of a man that looked like Steven.Old Master's eyes widened realizing that it was Stev
“Are you sure?” The doctor asked Laura as he handed her a paper.“I am,” Laura replied to him firmly but still he looked hesitant. “It’s going to be fine,” Laura said calmly and then scribbled on the papers.The doctor sighed helplessly and then nodded to the nurse indicating her for the surgery to get started.***“DO YOU LOVE ME?”“ALL OF ME?”“I LOVE YOU.”“LET ME GO.”It has been eight hours since Laura was taken inside the OT and Steven stayed glued to his place waiting for her to come back, her voice echoed in his ears and he kept shaking them away, tiredly.“Drink something, it will make them go…” Augustus said as he handed him a cup of warm coffee. Steven looked at him blankly and then nodding his head, he gulped it down.“She will be fine…” Augustus comforted him while sitting beside him.&ldqu
The dinner went well, Steven didn’t ask Laura anything related to Steva and neither did Laura say anything to him related to her or his past.The next day, Steven left with Laura early in the morning afraid that Tyler would try to stop him, he can’t ignore Tyler’s plea. In his eyes, he is still a child. He had already informed Arthur about his leaving so he would be able to convey his message to Tyler.After what happened last time at the beach he didn’t want to repeat it as he took Laura away from this place as soon as he can.“Here we are,” At the request of Laura, Steven had brought her to meet her mother. “Can you come after some time?” Laura requested Steven as she didn’t want him to go inside with her, she needed some alone time with her mother.“Laura…” Steven was going to refuse her request but Laura pleaded softly, “Please… Steve…”“Fine…
“STEVA."Laura looked from the woman’s shoulder and saw Steven standing behind her with a bottle of water in his hand. His face looked angry as he clenched his jaw and then started pulling Laura with him in a rough way.“Steve…” Laura was completely taken aback by the sudden anger in him but he turned a deaf ear as he kept dragging her with him to the castle not caring about her health.By the time, Laura entered the castle, she was panting heavily and in desperate need of oxygen, at this moment she wasn’t even able to form a word but gasping for air with difficulty.Looking at her state and his brother’s stern face, Tyler rushed to them with a worried face.“Brother, what happened to sister-in-law?” He asked anxiously and it was only then that Steven realized what he had done as he turned and exclaimed, “Laura…”Laura's body fell to the ground as soon as he let go of her hand and
PRESENT“Steve…?” Laura looked up at Steven who was lost in his past with his hand pressing on his chest as though he was feeling the pain from it.“Huh…” Steven’s trance from the past broke and he looked down at the small face of Laura.“It’s alright… It’s gone…” Laura said while taking his hand away from his chest.“Hmmm… but it still haunts me…” Steven confessed in a hoarse voice.“Steve, people can’t change their past you need to move on with it,” Laura told him and he sighed agreeing to her words.“You were just like me, remember the first time, when I saw you crying for Augustus in my room, I knew exactly at that moment that if I won’t help you, you would end up the same way I did. Maybe that is the reason I never wanted to leave your side and stay with you every time so you won’t end up regretting just li