Lucas trembled, and he tightened his embrace around Coco even more."You shouldn’t apologize at all. It’s me! It’s my fault for not finding you and letting you face such danger!” Lucas murmured. After a long while, he finally loosened his embrace and carefully examined Coco.His fingers trembled as he traced her facial features and hair. “Your hair... it’s short now.” “Yeah, it’s easier to manage,” Coco said. When she was under Leia’s care, her long hair had been a hindrance. Cutting it short was the most convenient option.As Lucas’s gaze moved downward, his eyes widened at the crutch under her arm. "What happened to you? Are you hurt?!"Coco's body stiffened, and she instinctively tried to back away. However, she couldn’t move as Lucas's arm was around her waist.“I... I’m fine,” she stammered in a panic.“Come on, let me take a look.” Lucas anxiously knelt and wanted to lift her long skirt. Coco staggered a few steps back. "No, there... there's nothing to see.""Coco,
Lucas was shocked at the sight of Coco’s right calf. He knew all too well what her leg used to look like. "Pretty ugly, isn't it?" Coco said awkwardly. "Actually... there's really nothing much to see. Sometimes, I don't even want to look at it."Upon hearing that, Lucas was stunned. Coco’s deformed leg and the hideous scar on it told him all about the pain she had endured. It was something that she wouldn’t have had to suffer if it wasn’t because of him. “Alright, stop looking,” Coco said and tried to cover her calf again. However, Lucas stopped her and bent down to kiss her deformed calf and the scar on it."I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for all the pain you've been through," he croaked.Coco stared blankly at the man before her. Lucas was kissing her calf with closed eyes, and each kiss burnt her skin. Her heart was pounding so hard that it felt as though it was leaping out of her throat.She tried hard to calm herself. His actions would only make her more reluctant to let go o
"Lucas! I don't want to go to the hospital," Coco quickly said. "There isn’t a need for that!”"Coco, please, let me take you to the hospital and have the doctor examine you again, okay?" Lucas's voice was almost pleading. "I don't know who your previous doctor was, and I will ask another doctor to examine you. I will try my best to fix your leg!” Coco couldn’t refuse him at all. Then, Lucas carried Coco out of Minnie's apartment and quickly got into his car which was waiting downstairs.He placed her in the car and instructed the driver to head to the hospital. On the way, he called his subordinates to arrange for a specialist to examine Coco as soon as they arrived.Coco nervously clutched her skirt, and Lucas placed his hand over hers. "Don't worry. I'm here with you."She looked up and met his eyes, which were now filled with concern for her.“Don’t worry, Coco. I will handle every single problem you have. You just need to stay by my side, and I'll do everything in my po
However, once they were in the car, the driver drove them to Lucas’s villa. “I can just stay at Minnie’s place!” Coco said hastily. She wasn’t totally ready to face him yet. She figured that Minnie had let something slip, which had led to this sudden encounter. “Since you’re back, why would you still want to stay at Minnie’s place?” Lucas asked.“Let me stay at my apartment, then. It’s more convenient and comfortable for me.” “What’s wrong with my place?” “Your bedroom is on the second floor. You’ve seen my leg now, and you know it’s hard for me to use the stairs.” Coco finally found a reason. “I’ll arrange a room for you on the first floor. It’ll be easier for you to move around,” Lucas suggested. “No, thank you. I’m not used to it,” she refused while keeping her head low. Lucas noticed her resistance, and he asked after a pause, “Coco, do you... not want to see me at all?”Coco was stunned. “No...”“Is that so? Then why did you let Minnie know that you’re back but
Coco hugged the cushion and gently touched the comic book. “You must be hungry. I’ll ask them to prepare dinner and set up a bedroom for you. All your stuff is still here. I’ll have them moved to the new room,” Lucas said and immediately instructed the servants.Coco noticed Lucas was being cautious around her, and it burdened her. She didn’t want him to act this way as it only made her more aware of her change. Just then, Lucas’s phone rang, and he quickly answered Minnie’s call. “Are you with Coco right now?” Minnie asked anxiously. “Yeah.”“Let me have a word with Coco.” Lucas glanced at Coco and handed the phone to her. “It’s Minnie. She probably couldn’t reach you, so she called me.”Only then did Coco remember that her phone was still at Minnie’s place.Minnie’s urgent voice came through the phone. “Coco, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to reveal that you’re back, but... if I hadn’t, a murder case would have happened in town.” Then, she quickly summarized the events at
“Coco, please don’t avoid me, okay? If you hate me or blame me for not protecting you, you can always hit me, curse me, or do whatever you want to me. But please, don’t avoid me. Don’t look away from me,” Lucas pleaded. His usual cold and indifferent tone was replaced by sincerity.Coco looked into his eyes. After a brief pause, she said, “Lucas, I’ve never hated you or blamed you for what happened. I decided to put Eden into the cradle, no one forced me! And the last words I said to you before I was swept away were truly from the bottom of my heart. So, you don’t need to feel guilty at all.”Lucas looked hurt. Those final words she had said to him had echoed in his mind countless times over the past year, each time adding to his agony.“Coco, you once said that I would eventually find someone else to love. But did you ever think that maybe I had already found her?” Lucas said while gently caressing her cheek. “I had already found her, but I was too blind to see it and kept denyin
Coco stared blankly at the man in front of her, then looked down at their intertwined hands. She felt a pang of bitterness. “I know, and I’m truly grateful that you’re willing to tell me your feelings. It means a lot, and I feel satisfied. But Lucas...” She paused, trying to maintain a normal expression. “You don’t need to say that you’ll never love anyone else but me. In the future, you’ll meet a wonderful woman, and I’ll be happy for you too.”Lucas was taken aback. “Do you think that I didn’t mean what I said?” He croaked.“I... I want to believe you’re being genuine. So... please don’t make me say things I don’t want to, okay?” Coco murmured.Hearing this, Lucas's heart sank. He realized that Coco felt that he wasn’t being sincere at all. “Are you thinking that I’m saying those things out of guilt and self-reproach?” He asked.Coco didn’t respond, but he knew the answer from her expression.Lucas took a deep breath and gripped her shoulders firmly. “Coco, listen to me. I
“O-only one of my legs is crippled, so I can still walk. I can walk on my own!” Coco insisted. She didn’t want to rely on Lucas anymore. Now, she needed to be independent and strong more than ever.“I know. I just want to make things easier for you,” Lucas explained.“But it can’t last forever. No one can carry another person all the time. Everyone must learn to be independent, especially... someone like me,” Coco replied.“Why not?” He retorted. “I can carry you forever, Coco. If you don’t want to be independent, you don’t have to be. I’ll support you!” Lucas said anxiously.However, Coco constantly created more and more distance between them. “But Lucas, I want to be independent. I don’t want to rely on you anymore!”At that moment, Lucas felt that a big gap had formed between them.-Lucas stood outside the bathroom with his mind in turmoil. Coco was taking a shower, and he could hear the water running in the bathroom. He had always thought that he would be incredibly hap