Chapter 99 Do Not Forgive Me
The crowd gradually thinned out, and Lucas let me go before my face turned completely red.
My feet touched the ground, and I immediately turned to leave.
I walked for quite a while in a daze, and only then did I look around, confused—where was I?
Before me was a wide expanse of water, with a huge black rock standing in the center. Next to it was a large sign that read "Eternal Stone."
A staff member stood in the corner wearing a microphone, explaining in a gentle tone, "On land, there are diamonds; underwater, there's the Eternal Stone. What they have in common is they're both incredibly hard—even after tens of thousands of years, they won't disappear. They symbolize undying love."
Following the explanation, I looked at the Eternal Stone. It was a large, completely black rock with a smooth surface, polished by seawater for who knows how many years. It was quite big, at least as tall as a person.
Under the lights, the stone had a warm luster, but appearance-wise, connecting this heavy rock with diamonds seemed like a real stretch!
But supposedly this stone was magical, like the Wishing Tree on Whisperwind Isle—a sacred place for couples. Many people came here to pray for a long-lasting relationship with their loved ones, to spend their whole lives together.
I wouldn't be fooled by this kind of commercial gimmick, but I felt a bit annoyed—why did I end up walking here of all places?
Couples all around were snuggled up together, the atmosphere romantic and warm, while Lucas and I stood 2 feet apart.
Just as I wanted to sneak a glance at Lucas's expression, the balloon on my handbag suddenly floated away.
A couple nearby quickly caught the balloon and was about to hand it to me, but Lucas waved them off. "Keep it. Wishing you happiness."
Then he grabbed my wrist and said, "Let's go. This place isn't right for us."
His grip wasn't strong, but it didn't allow me to refuse.
What did he mean by "not right for us"?
I tried to shake off his hand in frustration. Lucas glanced at me, his tone flat. "Tired? I can carry you."
I swear, that sentence was definitely a threat!
I let him pull me forward in sullen silence. After leaving the underwater Eternal Stone and walking for five or six minutes, the scene before me suddenly opened up.
A huge coral island swayed in the water, with the long coral formation white on the left, light pink and orange in the middle, and orange-red on the far right.
I looked at the information board in front of the glass window—this was seven giant corals artificially joined together to create a living area for small marine creatures.
The brightly colored corals had completely grown together over many years of fusion, their branches intertwined and tangled, forming a natural nest.
Many small marine creatures swam slowly near the coral—colorful clownfish, transparent shrimp, and little sea turtles that had to rest after crawling a few steps.
On the sandy bottom beneath the coral, countless white stones the size of quail eggs were scattered about. At first glance, the stones had dense dark spots, but looking closer, I realized there was writing on them. The water flow had gradually worn away the words, and those that hadn't completely disappeared looked like spots.
"Here, visitors can write their regrets, pain, or things they want to forget on stones and throw them into the water," Lucas said.
I was a bit startled. Didn't Lucas say this was his first time here? How did he know so much?
Lucas didn't explain, but he said, "Running into you today wasn't a coincidence. I came here on purpose to see you."
I'd already guessed this. Not long ago, Arthur had let it slip too—they'd originally been sleeping in at home, but Lucas had dragged them here.
Lucas looked at those white stones and pressed his lips together. "I wanted to come here with you."
I seemed to understand a bit what Lucas wanted to do.
He released my wrist, walked over to a staff member, and soon came back with a blank white stone and a pen.
"That child," Lucas began, his voice hiding a barely noticeable tremor. "Do you want to write it down?"
I stared at him in a daze.
Looking carefully now, I noticed he really had lost weight. There was an unshakeable weariness and sorrow between his brows—because of me, because of that lost child.
This unbearably painful thing for me was equally cruel to him. The moment he learned of that child's existence, he had already lost that child forever. That's why I had chosen to hide it from him back then.
And because Lucas's heart had always been with Amelia before, this pain had been mine alone.
But now, it had become our shared grief.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
"I looked up the medical records you hid from me." Lucas gripped the stone tightly, then, after a moment, pulled out a folded paper from his pocket—my examination report from back then.
In the ultrasound image, a tiny fetus was visible in the dark area, one inch long, with the heartbeat and blood vessels observable, and the outline of the head and torso visible.
"You don't have to forgive me." Lucas's voice became hoarse. "I can't forgive myself either."
"I'm so sorry."
My heart suddenly clenched hard, sour and painful.
I'd never imagined Lucas would apologize. Or rather, in the scenarios I'd imagined, we'd completely break up, he'd marry Amelia, I'd stop dreaming about love and focus on revenge and my career—anything but this current scene.
I was silent for a long time, countless images flashing through my mind.
The joy when I learned I was pregnant, the panic when I discovered bleeding, the grief and helplessness lying alone in that hospital bed. All these things happened because of Lucas, yet he wasn't there for any of them.
"Where were you during all those times?" I kept my head down, murmuring.
Tears kept sliding from my eyes, flowing down my cheeks.
I pushed away Lucas's hand. "I won't write it."
I didn't want to forget this. I didn't want to let it go. I'd rather leave the wound exposed to the air, aching day and night, than let it heal and become just a few weightless words in my memory.
That familiar embrace surrounded me again.
Lucas cupped my face and let me cry for a while, then he lowered his head and kissed my eyes. "I'm sorry."
I glared at him resentfully through my blurred vision. "Even if you apologize, I won't forgive you."
He kissed the tear tracks on my cheeks. "Okay, don't forgive me."
"Don't kiss me." I leaned my head back to avoid his lips.
Lucas agreed good-naturedly. "Okay, no more kissing."
I pressed my hands against his chest, trying to push him away. "Go away!"
Lucas stopped saying "okay." He said, "I'm not leaving."
He'd made a complete mess of my emotions today. I struggled harder. "Then I'm leaving! Let me go!"
Lucas gripped my hands tightly. "You can go wherever you want, but from now on, I'll follow you, chase after you, no matter where you go."
Sure enough, Lucas looked all devoted, but he was still just as impossible to reason with!
"You want to keep pestering me?" I shouted at him.
"Yes," Lucas answered firmly. "I'll pester you for the rest of my life, until death makes it so I can never see you again. If I gave up on you, even filling this entire sea with white stones wouldn't fill my regret."