Chapter 226 The Price of Protecting Her

Chapter 226 The Price of Protecting Her
ADRIAN

My hands were clenched into fists as I walked back and forth through the hospital garden, my footsteps hitting the ground harder with every turn. The fresh air around me did nothing to calm the storm inside my head.

The words I had just heard refused to disappear. They kept coming back over and over again, haunting my mind no matter how hard I tried to push them away.

Elara still wanted him.

I stopped for a moment, staring at the ground as my jaw tightened.

After everything Alessandro had done. After all the pain, all the damage, all the tears he had caused her… she could still look at him and feel something.

Something that should have been gone a long time ago.

My chest felt heavy as I tried to understand how this was even possible. How could she? How could my own sister still hold onto the person who almost destroyed her?

I dragged a hand through my hair, trying to push away the anger burning inside me, but it was impossible. Every time I thought about Alessandro, every time I remembered what he did, it only made it worse.

I turned my head and looked at Costa. He was standing a few steps away, silently watching me. He wasn’t surprised by my reaction; he knew exactly how much this was affecting me. He knew I wasn’t just angry.

I was scared.

Scared that Elara would choose him again. Scared that after everything I had done to protect her, I would still lose her to the same person who hurt her.

For a moment, neither of us spoke. The silence between us grew heavier until I finally broke it.

“We will follow your plan,” I said.

A small smile slowly appeared on Costa’s face, like he had already expected those words to come out of my mouth.

“I am sending my younger sister out of the country,” I continued, my voice becoming colder. “It’s better she stays far away from that bastard.”

I looked away, trying to calm myself.

“I don’t know what poison he fed Elara to make her still want him. I don’t understand how she can still have feelings for someone who destroyed her.”

My hands tightened again as the anger inside me grew stronger. “But as long as I, Adrian Moretti, am here, I won’t allow that to happen.”

Costa watched me carefully, letting my words sink in before he finally spoke. His expression was calm, almost like he was already thinking ten steps ahead.

“So what country are you sending her to?” he asked.

I didn’t need time to think about it. The answer was already clear in my mind.

“Egypt.”

His eyebrows lifted slightly.

“My family has a company there. She can stay there and manage things. She will have everything she needs, and most importantly, she will be far away from Alessandro.”

The moment I said his name, the anger inside me returned.

Alessandro.

Even hearing it was enough to make my blood boil. Costa walked closer and placed a hand on my shoulder, but his touch did nothing to calm me down.

Because I could still see her face in my mind.

Elara looking at me with those eyes. The way she defended him. The way she still cared about him despite everything.

My own sister.

After everything I had done to protect her. After everything I had watched her go through.

I looked away, trying to push the thoughts aside, but they stayed there, refusing to leave.

“If you send her there, do you really think that will stop anything?” Costa asked.

His voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and I slowly turned to him.

“What are you talking about?”

He didn’t answer immediately. He just looked at me, like he was waiting for me to understand something I didn’t want to accept.

“She can still remember him,” he finally said.

My expression hardened.

“Distance doesn’t erase feelings, Adrian. If she still loves him, she will find a way to hold onto those memories. And if Alessandro wants to find her, he will.”

I didn’t say anything because, deep down, I knew he was right. Sending her away would only separate them. It wouldn’t change what was inside her.

Costa watched my silence, and slowly, a small smirk appeared on his face. He had another idea, something he hadn’t said yet.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He leaned closer, lowering his voice as if the words he was about to say were something that should never leave between us.

“Let us make her forget him.”

My eyebrows pulled together. For a second, I thought I had misunderstood him.

“What are you saying?”

“We can make her forget the memories connected to him. She won’t remember Alessandro. She won’t remember what she feels for him.”

His words settled heavily between us.

“She will be able to start over without him in her life.”

I stared at him, unable to look away. The garden suddenly felt quieter, like even the world around us had stopped for a moment.

For a second, I pictured a future where Alessandro no longer existed in Elara’s mind. No more pain. No more tears. No more watching my sister break herself over someone who didn’t deserve her.

It sounded like the answer I had been searching for.

But then another thought came to me, one that made my chest tighten.

She was my sister. My blood. The person I was trying to protect. And I would be the one taking something from her, something she might never get back.

My anger slowly faded, replaced by a heavy feeling I couldn’t ignore. Because protecting her was one thing, but hurting her to save her…

Wasn’t that the same thing I was trying to stop Alessandro from doing?



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