CIATB Chapter 640: REALIZATION AND ACCEPTANCE
Chapter 640: REALIZATION AND ACCEPTANCE
But as she listened to her father's voice crack with regret and Tommy's guilt-laden apology, she realized she wasn't as healed as she believed. There was still hurt, still wounds that hadn't fully closed. She had told herself that what had happened didn't matter anymore. She had a new life, a life she had fought to build, a life full of love and happiness.
And yet, hearing the words she had longed for back then, she felt a deep, old ache resurface. The pain she thought had faded was still there, buried beneath layers of time.
She glanced at her father. His face was heavy with guilt, etched with lines that told the story of a man who had lived with regret for far too long. She looked at Tommy, her brother, who had stood by and let it all happen. For so many years, she had waited for them to acknowledge what they had done, but when she walked away from that life, she thought she no longer needed it.
Yet here it was, the closure she hadn't known she was missing.
It wasn't anger that filled her now; that had long since burned out. But there was still sorrow—a deep sense of loss for what could have been. For the years she spent apart from them, for the family that had shattered and never fully pieced itself back together. Their apologies didn't undo the past. They didn't erase the betrayal or the danger she had been placed in.
They couldn't give back the time she lost. But in this moment, they gave her something she hadn't expected—a way to finally let go.
As her father spoke, she realized that this conversation wasn't about forgiveness for them—it was about peace for herself. She had been carrying the weight of that betrayal for so long, even when she thought she had let it go. Hearing them own their mistakes, hearing their regret, didn't erase the past, but it allowed her to face it.
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As the Grimaldi family made their peace, one particular pair remained anything but at peace.
After Wulfric was pulled aside by Aster's father, he expected to be taken to a private room where the man would express his disapproval of his courtship with his son. Instead, he found himself led to a vast, open field.
He looked around the open field, noticing the tall grass swaying lightly in the breeze. Wildflowers dotted the landscape, and a few distant trees stood alone under the clear blue sky. They were now quite a distance away from the Townsend's house.
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"Um, Uncle, can I ask why we're here?" he finally couldn't resist asking.
The other looked at Wulfric and smiled. A smile that definitely didn't reach his one good eye. Wulfric suddenly had a bad feeling after seeing that.