That girl’s resolve touched him to the core. He sympathized with her and fell in love with her, but his sister found out about it and tried to stop him from seeing her.
In the end, while being seven months pregnant, Anastasia brought over a hundred designs to his lecturer’s house, and she finally moved him. He made an exception for her and allowed her to enter the design institute as a student.
She was incredibly gifted. Despite her abject situation, she created masterpieces that took everyone’s breath away.
Outside the delivery room, he gingerly carried the child she gave birth to in his arms. At the same time, the doctor chewed Mason out because her amniotic fluid had nearly dried up by the time they arrived at the hospital, and the baby would have suffocated to death had they been just a few minutes late.
Right at the moment, all Mason could think about was his desire to look after this mother-and-son duo, even if his family protested against the relationship.
Three days after the delivery, Mason was the one who took care of Anastasia and her son while they were cooped up in a tiny room. By the time the baby was about to celebrate his first birthday, she graduated.
At the same time, his family came over and did their best to stop him from ever seeing her again. He was called back home for three months and when he finally returned to where she lived, all he saw was a letter that she had left behind. She was gone, and they lost contact.
The last time he saw her was in a photo of one of QR Group’s ceremonies. She had become a chief designer and was accepting an award. Her smile was dazzling and confident, and she looked like a brilliant star shining in the sky.
She had grown strong and confident, and she found her footing in life, while he left for a different country.
Life worked in mysterious ways.
They were finally in the same city again, but now that they managed to see each
other once more, she had already found the love of her life and was about to get married.
Anastasia was in a reverie at the restaurant.
The sunlight flitted through her hair and her eyes a sparkle that made them seem like diamonds.
Elliot only had eyes for her while she seemed to be caught in her thoughts, though he did not know what they were.
“Let’s eat. The food’s getting cold,” he reminded her gently.
Anastasia exhaled slowly. All this talk of the past dredged all those feelings back up again. In fact, she felt incredibly guilty over the manner of Jared’s birth too. Before he was born, she was not a good mother.
She had hated his existence and had tried to prevent him from being born. She had also even tried to take her own life before..
“Can you tell me what’s on your mind?” Elliot asked softly. He was truly worried about her.
“When I was pregnant with Jared, I really did not want to keep him. I tried searching for a place to get an illegal abortion done and I even tried taking my life” Anastasia’s eyes glittered with tears. She did not know why she was spilling all these horrid details about the past to him.
Elliot’s heart felt like it was being squeezed. He sat beside her and pulled her into a hug, “I’m so sorry. I’m the one who caused all your suffering.”
“I don’t know how I managed to pull through back then, but Mason was my savior.” Anastasia looked up at him and said, “You need to be good to him, okay?”
Elliot nodded. “Yes, I’ll make sure he has a good career with the company.”
“Everything I have today, and the fact that I was able to meet you, is all thanks to the help he gave me back then. If it hadn’t been for him, I might’ve drowned
in that freezing river that day.” She poured out all the memories that she had locked away.
He held her even more tightly as he kissed her hair. There was nothing he could do about her past, but he would do his absolute best to make it up to Anastasia and Jared in the future.
Once they left the cafe, Elliot and Anastasia went to pick up their son. The sun was beginning to set, and they watched as he came running out to them.
Both of them felt their heart surge with joy.
“Daddy! Mommy!”
Elliot reached out and carried Jared with one arm while using the other hand to hold Anastasia’s. “Let’s go home.”
In a bar in the city center, before opening time, a man was sitting at the bar, drinking alone. His long and slender fingers picked up the faceted glass and brought it to his luscious lips before he downed it in one go.
Once he finished drinking, he slammed his fist on the table and everyone around him jolted as if his fist had slammed into their chests.
“Damn it! Who on earth is she?!” The man’s cool voice was laced with frustration.
