Chapter 88: The Awaited Conversation
JULIA
“What… do you mean?” I asked after a while.
Evan bit his lip and gestured to the couch. “Let’s sit?”
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to collect my thoughts, before nodding.
We went to the couch, none of us speaking for a couple of seconds before Evan finally broke the silence.
“It’s the truth,” he said, leaning against the backrest. “I built this house with you in mind.”
“I still don’t understand,” I muttered, looking down at my lap.
“That night, when we were 17, I genuinely thought of building a home with you. There was no question. I wanted to do it,” he started off.
I listened intently, not wanting to miss out on a single word
“So, the moment I started working for my dad, I saved up. At 18, I was able to buy this piece of land with the investments I’ve made,” he continued.
“However, of course, I wanted to do it on my own without anybody’s help, so I didn’t want to tell you. I wanted to surprise you when it was finished. By 19, the foundation has been laid down,” he muttered, sighing as he stared up at the ceiling.
“But that was when the foundation of our relationship started crumbling. And then, one day, we broke up.”
“You broke up with me,” I added.
“I did,” he sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. “I thought to myself that I would continue building the house. However, with each step, I always found myself going back to you. Every corner of the house, I would ask myself ‘Would Julia love this? Would Julia feel comfortable?“”
–
I pursed my lips, feeling a lump forming in my throat.
“It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?” he chuckled. “I was the one who broke up with you, but I couldn’t give up. Two years later, this house was built, and I still found myself coming back to it when I felt tired.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and asked a question I feared.
“And you brought Heather here?”
He slowly shook his head, making me even more confused
“Heather and I only got together after this house was built. For some reason, I didn’t want to show it to her first,” he muttered, causing my breath to hitch.
“Aside from Susan and Rui, you were the first one I brough here.”
Everything felt so confusing. So, when he was still together with Heather, he never even bothered taking her here? However, when I was drugged that night, he didn’t hesitate to do so.
“The art room,” I quietly said, remembering the art room in Heather’s apartment.
Evan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “It was supposed to be a part of the house,” he explained.
“There’s a vacant room in here one I hadn’t bothered renovating. I thought of making the art room of your
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Chapter 88: The Awaited Conversation
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dreams. However, that was also the last part of my soul that said I didn’t have the right to build it when we weren’t even together.”
“Heck, I didn’t even know if we would see each other again” he sighed. “So, I held off on it. However, Heather saw the plan in my office one day and decided she wanted something like that, too.”
He then turned to me, his eyes filled with unshed tears. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “Back then, I kept denying it. I told myself it was okay because you weren’t there anymore!
“The love we had was already lost, and I had convinced myself I had completely moved on from you.”
“Wasn’t that the case?” I asked, still in disbelief. me?”
He sighed and shook his head.
when you got together with Heather, didn’t you forget about
“When I was at the lowest point of my life, Heather was the one who brought me back to reality. Now that I think about it, I feel indebted to her because of everything she has sacrificed to be with me.”
“However, there had always been a part of my heart that longed for you. And I know it sounds ridiculous saying it after all these years, but it is true, Julia. It truly is.‘
“You are my greatest love.“.
A small gasp left my lips as I turned to him. There wasn’t an ounce of a lie in his eyes.
“If that was the case,” I muttered, looking away. “Then, what went wrong? Why did you break up with me that day when I was supposed to tell you we had a child?”
Evan reached out his hand but stopped, wanting to respect my space.
“The freshmen party,” he said. “With Dean.”
I clicked my tongue in frustration. “Everybody kept acting weird since that day, but what really happened, Evan? I woke up, and then, I was all alone with Dean.”
“However, nothing happened. I know that. After that, I even told him to leave me alone. Sarah has no clue either. Yet, you also stopped communicating with me.”
A small frown graced his forehead. “Is that really the case?
“Yes!” I exclaimed. “Why would I lie about this? Why would I lie to you?”
The two of us stared at each other for a while, our gazes carrying the weight of the past. And then, in a second, it
all clicked.
“You cheated on me that night.”
I bit my lip and looked away. “I can’t. I didn’t,” I said, almast on the brink of tears. “I came to that party because Heather said you were there. We barely had any time for each other because of your work, so I wanted to spend the evening with you.”
“However, I quickly realized you weren’t there. I was about to leave, but then, I felt myself losing consciousness, Isaid.
I couldn’t hold in my tears now. They flowed freely down my cheeks.
“I was so scared,” I muttered, a bit breathless.
“And I tried talking to you, but since then, you never listened. You left me in the dark. My greatest light in the
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Chapter 88: The Awaited Conversation
world had left me all alone.”
Evan had a sharp intake of breath.
“Oh, Julia,” he muttered, coming closer and encasing me in a hug. I felt myself melt into his touch.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he repeated over and over against my skin.
And then, I felt something wet cascade down my shoulder.
Evan was crying, too.
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