Erik had nothing left to say; all he could do was repeat over and over that he loved me.
I simply watched him coldly, just as he once looked at me. Until he tore open his shirt, revealing my name carved into the skin that rose and fell on his chest.
It was the spot closest to his heart, but that heart belonged to his mother.
“Kara, even now, do you still not believe that I love you?”
Staring at that beating heart, I couldn’t help but reach out, wanting to touch it, but stopped just as my hand was about to touch his chest.
At that moment, I wished I could dig out that heart, but I couldn’t.
“Erik, you’re so childish, and your love is even more immature than you are.”
“True love is never just on the surface.”
I raised my right hand; it was a whole, unbroken hand.
Erik stared in shock, his eyes wide as he looked at my ring finger in disbelief.
It was a lifelike prosthetic finger custom-made for me by Giorgio; except for theck of sensation, it was no different from a real finger.
“You gave me pain and brokenness, but someone else brought me warmth and a new life.”
“Erik, everything ended long ago. I don’t love you anymore.”
With a faint sound, something shattered on the ground.
Suddenly, Erikughed. After a long while, he closed his eyes.
“So I really am such a terrible person. Kara, thank you for loving someone like me for seven years.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t bother you again. I will pray in my heart that the rest of your life is peaceful and joyful.”
He turned around woodenly and walked away with slow, heavy steps.
In the setting sun, his silhouette was filled with hopeless loneliness.
A ripple stirred in my heart, and I called out to him.
“Erik.”
He stopped, but did not turn back.
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“Live well…”
Live well, with your mother’s heart.
Erik kept his promise, and I didn’t see him again for a long time.
It wasn’t until two yearster, when Giorgio apanied me to pick up my mother and bring her home.
That was when I finally heard news about him.
After Erik returned, he sold off his assets and built a memorial hall.
Later, he was targeted by Tania for revenge. In the struggle, he identally killed her, then climbed to the rooftop, in- tending tomit suicide.
But at thest moment, he regretted it. Even though he tried desperately to save himself, he still suffered multiple fractures.
Although he eventually regained consciousness, his intellect was permanently impaired.
But he also escaped legal punishment.
Giorgio and I went to see him-or more urately, to see my mother’s heart, which was supposed to carry the love of the two people who loved me most.
Erik no longer recognized me, but he still smiled at me foolishly.
The hospital caregiver said that all these years, he had never smiled at anyone.
“Will youe to see me again?”
I thought for a moment and replied, “I will.”
Because my mother’s heart is here.
After we left, Giorgio didn’t look well. He insisted on taking me to see the infamous memorial hall.
Inside, it was almost an exact replica of the home Erik and I once shared.
The photo of the two of us had been restored and hung on the wall. He was smiling brightly, while my face was cov- ered by a cute bunny sticker.
In the disy case beside it were our engagement rings.
Under the incandescent lights, they sparkled brilliantly.
In the very center of the exhibition hall stood the piano where he and I first met.
Giorgio asked, “Shall we y a piece together?”
“Do you know how?”
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08:32
“I can learn.”
“But I’m not very smart, so I’ll need you to teach me patiently, step by step.”
He gently took my right hand, asking tentatively.
This time, I didn’t pull away. Instead, I softly held his hand, feeling the warmth at my fingertips.
“Sure, I like being a piano teacher.”
In that moment, I let go of certain obsessions. With light in my heart, anywhere could be a stage.
The end.