Chapter 20
Lance stood there, staring at the pitch black villa in the distance. A bitterne sugges
Ever since his relationship with Hedy had been exposed and father had drorced t
had been telling him to give up on her.
His friends warned that he’d gone too far–even a heartiest apology might not an asther’s
forgiveness.
Fred had pointed out that the Rhodess were the ones at fast for concealing his feelings for Bely and deceiving Anthea. She hadn’t even made a scene over the forced wedding, If Lance kept posting her, it would just make him unreasonable.
The Orlando butler had practically begged him to leave Anthea alone, insisting that confined pursuit would only hurt both of them.
And Anthea herself had said she would never turn back to him.
But Lance couldn’t accept it. Anthea had loved him for so long, and he’d only just realized his own feelings for her.
The love that should’ve been mutual had been unknowingly destroyed by his own hands. He hadn’t even had a chance to fix it before it all came crashing down.
Lance shifted, intending to knock on the Orlando’s gate again.
But as he raised his hand, a sudden weakness overcame him. His vision darkened, and he collapsed
Lance fell seriously ill, Anthea’s name constantly on his fevered lips.
Fred, despite his anger, couldn’t completely ignore his son’s condition. No matter how much he resented what Lance had done, Fred’s fatherly instincts kicked in.
Too ashamed to ask Anthea directly, Fred had someone call her, pleading for her to visit Lance in the hospital, just to talk.
The call was on speaker, allowing both Toby and Stacy to hear every word.
Chapter 20
After hearing Fred’s request, they were furious and reached for the phone, ready to give him a piece
of their minds.
Their precious daughter, whom they’d cherished for over twenty years, had been hurt by Lance for so long. They’d already been more than generous given Fred’s past help to their family.
How dare he make such a request now?
Anthea held her parents back and took the phone to the balcony.
“Mr. Fred, I’ll agree to visit Lance, but I have one condition…”
Fred was elated. He’d been prepared to be cursed out by the Orlando family, never expecting Anthea to agree so readily.
“Yes, of course! Anything you want. Just come and see him, that’s all I’m asking!”
Anthea watched the setting sun as she spoke softly. “I want…”
After several days in the hospital, Lance’s fever finally broke, and he regained consciousness.
Still groggy, when he saw Anthea standing beside his bed, he thought he must be dreaming.
He gave a bitter laugh. “Another dream.”
“Not a dream.”
That familiar voice sent a jolt through him. Lance’s eyes flew open, and he tried to sit up and
embrace her.
But his illness had left him too weak. He managed to rise briefly before falling back onto the bed.
“Anthea…”
He gazed at her with desperate longing, as if trying to etch her features permanently into his
memory.
Unlike Lance’s agitation, Anthea remained remarkably calm.
“Lance, I thought with your personality, you wouldn’t keep coming after me after the divorce.”
Chapter 20
“1”
Lance opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Anther shook her head
“Because it seems that I was never in your heart. I knew something was off between you and Baby from the beginning. But I thought, no matter what, you two were siblings. It conidia’t go too far int tried to ignore the nagging feeling I had.”
But I was wrong. And I kept hoping that once we got married, you would change, that you’d finally start to care about me. But you didn’t. You know what, Lance? I knew about every lie you told st Hedy. At first, I wanted you to admit it. But later, I just gave up. Because I stopped loving you
“Think about it—if you were me, if you’d lived through what I did, would you forgive yourself?
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