He Chose Another Heir Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 59
Three days after the guardianship was confirmed, Luca came to the hotel to see me.
He came alone, with no Rossi motorcade.
The lobby was bustling. The man for whom everyone once stepped aside sat by the window, a cup of coffee long since gone cold in front of him.
I sat down across from him.
“You wanted to see me?”
He took out the old velvet box and placed it on the table.
Inside lay the engagement ring I had returned six years ago. Its black-and-gold edges were unworn, as if untouched by time.
“I was going to keep it,” he said. “I thought that as long as it was here, we hadn’t really ended.”
I didn’t touch it.
“And now?”
“Now I know the end was never about whether the dissolution was witnessed. It was that you no longer choose me.”
His voice was steady, but his eyes were bloodshot.
“Ophelia didn’t dispute the charges. She’ll go through the formal proceedings. Milo is with me for now.”
That surprised me.
“You’re still taking care of him?”
“For six years, he called me Father.” Luca looked down at his hands. “A report can overturn blood. It can’t erase six years of memory. When he’s of age, whether he stays or leaves will be his choice.”
It was the first time he had spoken of a child without mentioning bloodlines, inheritance, or family.
“He’s innocent,” I said.
“I understood that too late.”
Luca closed the velvet box.
“Elena, I won’t ask if you can come back. I’ll return the ring to the Rossi vault. I won’t keep it for anyone anymore.”
He stood and took two steps, then paused.
“Those messages at the airport… it wasn’t because the engagement was still valid,” he said. “It was because I was terrified of losing you. I just didn’t dare admit it until after I already had.”
I held my warm teacup.
“Luca, every word you just said is true.”
His shoulders tensed.
“But every word came too late.”
He closed his eyes briefly.
“I understand.”
This time, he didn’t wait for me to turn away. He walked out of the hotel alone.
Dante came over from the other side of the lobby and set a bag of fresh bread on the table.
“Finished?”
“We’re finished.”
“Ready to go?”
I looked in the direction Luca had disappeared, then back at Dante.
“Let’s go.”
He didn’t ask why I wasn’t staying.
He just picked up my coat and fell into step beside me.