Chapter 21
Clarine’s POV
I stared at the key in my hand, feeling a little dazed.
These past few days, I’ve been staying at Hans’s villa. On the first day, one of the maids gave me a full tour of the place.
She told me the attic was off–limits. The door was locked outside and no one was allowed to go
- in.
The maid specifically told me that the key was only in Hans‘ hands and no one could enter without his permission. Even the housekeeper was only allowed once a week to clean and Hans would accompany them.
Someone once asked the housekeeper what was inside the attic. The housekeeper just looked mysterious and wouldn’t reveal anything.
Now, I stood at the attic door and Han’s had personally given me the key.
I glanced at Hans, who looked a bit nervous and teased, ‘Is this where you keep your ex–girlfriend’s things? Are you finally going to be honest with me?”
Hans’s face flushed. “You’ll know what’s inside once you go in and see for yourself.”
I inserted the key, turned the lock and opened the door.
The first thing that caught my eye was a huge oil painting over a meter tall.
It showed a long–haired girl in white sitting under a tree with her eyes closed, feeling the breeze.
That girl… was me.
I paused, then slowly walked further inside. There were about ten photos of Hans and me together.
Because Hans always found ways to tease me when we were little, I always tried to avoid him when I grew up.
We didn’t interact much, so we naturally had very few photos together. The ones here were all cropped from larger group photos.
Behind them were stacks of sketches. Every single one was of me.
I never knew Hans could draw.
‘Are these… all drawn by you?”
Hans nodded. “I learned specifically to draw you. Before I knew it, I had drawn so many.”
So all this time, without me ever knowing, someone had loved me that deeply.
My mind was a mess as I looked at him. His expression was a mix of nervousness and hope. ‘Hans, I…”
He gently took my hand, his voice soft. “It was wrong of me to always bully you when we were kids. I was such an idiot back then. I thought teasing you would get your attention, make you realize I liked you. But I never expected it would push you away, right into that jerk, Tyler’s arms.” Listening to Hans’s account, I could not process this reality.
Chapter 21
8:09 pm DDDD
“I know you must be overwhelmed right now, struggling to accept it. I didn’t tell you this to
pressure you.”
Hans slowly knelt on one knee before me as he spoke and pulled out a ring.
“Clarine, if your feelings toward me have changed even a little… could you give me a chance?” The ring was far smaller than the one Tyler had given me when we got married.
But that wedding ring was something Tyler had bought in a hurry from a jewelry store the day before our wedding.
This sapphire ring, however, had the gemstone carved into the shape of a flower, with my name engraved on it.
This was a wish I had made as a child. I wanted my spouse to give me a ring like this if I got married.
Hans remembered and he remembered for over a decade.
“Marriage isn’t a cage. If you find out after we’re married that you still don’t like me or don’t want to stay, I won’t force you.”
“I’ll let you go.”
I looked at the sapphire ring before me for a long time. Then, I slowly nodded.
“Okay. I’ll marry you.”
8:09 pm DDD
Clarine’s POV
