He Misunderstood Her Sacrifice, And Lost Her to Another

The next day,Astrid Lawrence wore a floral dress and held onto Santino’s arm as they went together to visit his mother.

Seeing his mother’s pale and tired face,Santino clenched his hands.Gratitude for Aurelia’s past kindness and the anger he felt toward her tangled together,leaving him restless.

At the hospital,Aurelia held the examination sheet tightly.“The brain tumor is spreading quickly.Without treatment,you have at most half a year.”

The doctor’s words still echoed in her ears when she turned a corner and suddenly came face-to-face with Santino and Astrid.

Startled,she quickly hid the sheet behind her back and forced a smile.“What a coincidence.”

But Santino only gave her a cold glance,his eyes filled with dislike.

“You’re following me again.”

“I wasn’t…”

Before she could finish,Santino pulled Astrid into his arms and walked away.

Aurelia stood there with a bitter smile.When she returned home,her nose began bleeding again.She wiped it carelessly,then opened the beautifully packaged cake on the table,but when she took a bite,it tasted like wax.

A new message appeared on her phone,and Aurelia glanced at it instinctively.It was from 10086:“Happy Birthday.”

She let out a bitter laugh,put the cake away,and wandered aimlessly down the street until she found herself at the restaurant she used to visit with Santino.

Before everything fell apart,this had been his favorite place.The first time he did well on his exams and earned a reward,Aurelia had brought him here,and from then on,Santino carried a quiet fondness for it.

On every important occasion,he would bring her along,and over time,the restaurant became their little secret.But now,that secret had been broken by someone else.

Almost without thinking,she pushed the door open and immediately saw Santino and Astrid sitting close together at a table.

Her sudden appearance felt like an intrusion,as if she had stepped into the intimacy of a young couple,out of place like an unwanted third wheel.

She instinctively wanted to hide her tired appearance and slip away,but Astrid looked up and called out to her with bright almond-shaped eyes.“Aurelia,what a coincidence,come eat with us.”

Aurelia waved her hand to refuse,but out of the corner of her eye,she noticed Santino’s face growing darker.

His voice was cold,yet there was no room for refusal.“Since you’re here,why not sit with us?”

Aurelia was stunned into silence.The boy who had once been thin and quiet had unknowingly grown into a man whose presence weighed heavily in every movement.She gathered herself,pulled a chair over,and sat down.

Astrid handed her the menu,and as Aurelia looked at it,every dish on the page felt familiar,each one tied to memories she had once shared with Santino.

She passed it back with a faint smile.“You two order,I don’t really know this place.”

Her words made Santino’s brows knit tighter,his cold expression sinking even more,but Astrid,unaware,spoke lightly.“Then let Santino order.He’s eaten here for ten years,he knows which dishes are good!”

Santino took the menu,though his eyes never left Aurelia,and he listed a few dishes,each one heavy with oil and spice.

Aurelia couldn’t handle spicy food;just a little would leave her stomach aching for half a day.For the past ten years,Santino had always given in and chosen mild dishes for her sake.

Now his eyes stayed on her,as if waiting to catch the smallest crack in her calm.Whether it was anger or sadness,anything would do,anything except this polite indifference.

But Aurelia didn’t waver.She only smiled faintly and said,“As expected of a regular,these dishes already sound delicious.”

The food came quickly,and Aurelia was the first to pick up her utensil.As she chewed,she noticed she didn’t seem as sensitive to the spice anymore;there was only the lightest trace of heat on her tongue.

A fragile hope rose in her chest.Could it be that Santino still remembered and had ordered the mildest level on purpose?

Just as she lifted her head to speak,she felt a warm trickle slide from her nose,and without hesitation,she rushed to the bathroom to wash it off with cold water.

When Aurelia lifted her head,she caught her reflection in the mirror,her hair messy,her face drawn,her lips red and swollen from the spice.

Just as she was about to leave,Astrid appeared at the doorway,her voice soft with concern.

“Aurelia,are you alright?”

That innocent and gentle tone cut through her like a knife.A girl as pure as Astrid was the one who truly deserved Santino,while she was nothing more than the villain,clinging to him,hurting his mother.

The kinder Astrid seemed,the heavier the shame pressed down on her,and the stronger her urge grew to run.

She forced a small smile.“I’m fine.”

With that,Aurelia hurriedly said goodbye.Santino didn’t stop her.

When she returned home,a sharp pain twisted through her stomach,dropping her to the floor as cold sweat drenched her skin until she finally fainted.

When she woke again,her eyes fluttered open to see Santino sitting quietly at her bedside,watching her in silence.