Chapter 127 The Ending
Chapter 127 The Ending
Years passed in the blink of an eye.
Julian built his company into an empire. In the business world, his name became untouchable, legendary.
Yet for all his power, he remained alone.
People said he was cold, that he had no interest in women. No one knew the truth.
Cora had never left his heart.
Every night, no matter how late he returned, Julian would spend a few quiet moments in the room he had deliberately kept untouched. Inside were Cora’s belongings. Books she once read. Small, ordinary things she’d left behind.
And locked away in a drawer, carefully preserved, was a sonogram photo of the child who never had the chance to be born.
Work was the only thing that kept him from drowning in memory. But the harder he worked, the more she haunted him.
⸻
One afternoon, Julian reluctantly attended a fashion launch he had planned to skip.
Then he saw the guest list.
Cora.
For a moment, his world stopped.
He rushed into the venue, scanning the room with barely controlled urgency.
And there she was.
Standing beside the runway.
She wore a crisp white suit, tailored and sharp. Her hair fell in loose waves, confidence written into every line of her posture. She laughed easily, spoke with grace.
She looked radiant.
Different.
Stronger.
When her gaze brushed past him, there was no flicker of recognition.
Only polite indifference.
“Cora…” His voice trembled as he approached her.
She turned, smiled courteously, and nodded.
“Hello. I’m Cora,” she said calmly. “One of the designers.”
She didn’t know him.
Only then did Julian learn the truth.
That accident years ago hadn’t just taken their child.
It had erased him from her memory.
The pain nearly crushed him.
But this time, he didn’t retreat.
I won’t let her go again.
⸻
Thus began the Rio CEO’s very undignified pursuit.
He followed her on research trips. Engineered “coincidental” encounters at cafés she frequented. Quietly used his resources to support her studio, opening doors without ever taking credit.
He told her their story again and again.
How they signed a marriage contract.
How resentment turned into trust.
How love grew despite everything.
Cora listened as if hearing someone else’s life.
Then came the storm.
One day, searching for inspiration at the seaside they once loved, Cora was caught in a violent downpour.
Julian heard and ran.
He found her on the shore, soaked, shivering, waves crashing behind her.
Without thinking, he pulled her into his arms.
And the moment he held her—
Something broke open.
Memories flooded back like a collapsing dam.
His sharp tongue.
His quiet tenderness.
The night he chose her life over their unborn child, breaking himself in the process.
Cora’s tears mixed with the rain.
“Julian…” she sobbed. “I remember everything.”
In that instant, every misunderstanding, every separation, every wound dissolved.
They had lost so much.
But they had never truly lost each other.
⸻
Julian later rented the very restaurant where they’d first signed their contract.
This time, there was no agreement.
No conditions.
Only sincerity.
Under warm sunlight, he knelt before her.
When she said yes, the diamond ring caught the light, brilliant and steady, just like the future they finally chose together.
Their love had begun as a transaction.
It survived loss, pride, cruelty, and time.
And after wandering a long, painful circle—
It returned home.
Not bound by paper.
But by heart.