บททั้งหมดของ He Claimed Her Baby. I Ended Our Marriage.: บทที่ 41 - บทที่ 45

Matteo sat beside the bed for a long time before speaking.I waited.Finally, he asked, “What if it was Luca?”I didn’t feel the shock I had imagined.Mostly, I felt tired that we had needed to get here so carefully.“It was him?”He nodded.I looked down and drew my hand out from under the blanket.A scrape crossed my knuckles. The dressing caught slightly against my sleeve.“Where is he hurt?”“A fracture in his leg. Some other injuries. He’ll need time, but he should recover.”I took that in.Matteo watched me as though he were waiting for the decision he feared most.“You think knowing will make me go back.”He said nothing.“I can thank him without marrying him again.”His shoulders eased a little.“I know. It’s just—”“I know what you’re afraid of.”I paused.“But you can’t change the facts because you’re afraid I’ll be hurt. We said we weren’t doing that anymore.”He lowered his head.After a while, he apologized.I touched his hand.“I’m not angry.”I knew what being managed in

The day before my discharge, Matteo told me Luca wanted an answer in my own voice.I looked at him.“The birthday recording?”“I gave it to Nico. Luca never listened.”For a moment, I said nothing.Then a tired laugh escaped me.So the answer had existed.He had simply left it unopened.Sometimes, clarity wasn’t the missing thing.Sometimes, a person kept hope alive by refusing to hear what would end it.“He wants to listen now?”Matteo nodded.“He asked whether saving you could mean another chance. I told him no. He wanted to know whether that came from you.”I looked toward the window.A strip of afternoon light crossed the floor.I remembered recording those words in the study.I hadn’t spoken in anger.I hadn’t been trying to frighten him into changing.Nothing about the accident had made them less true.“Take the letter and the recording,” I said.“Anything you want me to tell him?”“No. Don’t add to it.”Matteo stood.Then I stopped him.“Every sentence still stands. Don’t soften

I rested for another two weeks.Mara and her team kept the exhibition running. I answered only the emails that genuinely needed me.When I felt stronger, I went downstairs or sat in the garden while Mom moved new plants from one spot to another.She always declared the first arrangement wrong.Then, after half an hour, she usually put them back.Dad pretended to read nearby and occasionally offered advice no one followed.I laughed more than I expected.The accident didn’t stop frightening me simply because I was home.Sudden brakes still made my body stiffen.Sometimes, I woke with my chest tight and had to sit in the dark until the room became familiar again.But I stopped calling all of it nothing.I told the doctor.I told my family.I accepted that recovery wasn’t one magnificent moment of courage.Sometimes, it meant admitting I needed to rest.Sometimes, it meant asking someone to stay until I fell asleep.The day I returned to the gallery was an ordinary Wednesday.No opening r