A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

Chapter Alena

38

I watched my marriage went from nothing to everything. The Italian leader was once ruthless and brutal, I didn't even think he could love. Yet, he proved me wrong by showing me different types of love-he never complained or changed the way he loved. The butterflies never left ever since he said he loved me, and whenever we were together, it was always us against the world.

I didn't expect myself to fall in love with someone like him, either. Someone who seemed to shut off every time someone got too close. He proved me wrong again and again, making me understand even a man like him, he went through lengths.. My heart broke every time I accompanied him to therapy, but he never gave up. He managed to complete his treatments in less than six months which surprised the doctors because they thought he was going to take longer. Well, he proved them wrong in that one. I was proud of of my husband.

There wasn't anything I wanted to change about him. I felt blessed to have a husband like him, someone who could be there for me all the time, someone who understood me, someone who wasn't afraid to communicate and show his true feelings. He was everything I ever asked for in a man. And I got it all from the same person.

It was naïve of me to think that I wanted to marry my ex-boyfriend, to have a future with him when he wasn't the one for me. I was a fair believer of everything happened for a reason and if things weren't meant to be, they weren't going to be ours anyway. If I ended

up with my ex-boyfriend, I was probably going to be miserable.

Endless tears every night.

He was good at being a narcissist, and it took me a while to see the truth. For all I knew, I was glad when I found out about his acts-how he had cheated on me.

Took me a while to realize my worth, but it got me to be stronger. I was better in life, and I thrived to succeed instead of always thinking about him. He never did prioritize me.

When it came to Matteo, he was the perfect package.

4-

4-

I didn't have to tell him what to do or what not to do, he just knew. Maybe, because he was older and more mature, but I didn't think that was the point.

He went through a heartbreak of his own and it took him years to heal before he could accept someone new into his life. He fixed his way of thinking, and he made himself a happy man before he could make me happy.

He knew not to depend on his partner because we were responsible for our own feelings. We couldn't be a sad person and ended up dumping our traumas on our partner.

His good looks were a bonus to me. What mattered most was his personality and his attitude.

"Alena Orlov?"

I frowned at the familiar voice calling me out before I turned around. It took me by surprise to find my ex-boyfriend standing a few feet away from me. Well, he seemed surprised as well to see me here. 08:29 Tue, Oct 22

Chapter 38

"Nick, what are you doing here?"

"I had an appointment. Wait, you work here?" He glanced down at my scrubs, which could easily tell anyone I was a doctor

here.

"Yeah, I'm almost finished with my residency."

"That's amazing. I can't believe how fast time flies since the last time I saw you,"

"That was years ago. A long, long, time ago."

+5

Nick nodded, clearing his throat and I took a few seconds to glance down at his fingers, if he was wearing a wedding band. If he was married to the woman he cheated with, but he wasn't wearing any rings.

All I could see was an expensive wristwatch.

"How are you, Alena?" He asked, a small smile plastered on his face..

"I'm doing fine. What about you?"

"I haven't been feeling fine in a while. I came here to look at my results."

I hope everything's okay with you."

Are you

I was hoping for that, too. I can't imagine being sick."

Yeah yek?" continued t I to look at me, hesitating on whether he was supposed to answer. It was obvious he wasn't fine, but I didn't want to pry if he wasn't willing to tell me anything. We haven't been in contact for years, and we didn't even know if one of us was alive or not.

Nick con

"I'm not in perfect health," he replied slowly.

"I hope you'll I be okay, Nick. I really hope everything's okay with you,"

Suddenly, his eyes were a bit teary as he looked away. He managed to hide it away from me-then again, he was good at not expressing his feelings. It wasn't hard for him to hide and ignore his true feelings. He did it all the time.

"I heard you got married."

Just like that, he had shifted the conversation to a different direction. He was asking about me instead of going on with his condition-it didn't matter to me. I was fine with people knowing about my status because I was madly in love with my husband. In a matter of nine months, we were still the perfect couple.

In the eyes of others.

We knew our struggles. We knew our

and downs.

ups

I did.

"Yeah, I I'm

you, Alena. I'm sure

I ever asked

waist and it didn't take me long to know it was my husband. I didn't even have to turn around to look because just by the smell

simple touch, could know it

he gave his hand for

Ale Alena's husband.

handshake, "Nicholas.

to meet

Well, if you don't mind me, I have to go now." Nick cleared his throat, looking at me and back at Matteo-things were never the same, it got awkward when we ended things in bad

he walked away, without sparing a

+5

+5

feeling okay. I knew him that way because of the years we were together. And just now, I knew he wasn't fine. There was a lot going on in his head, and he just wanted to pretend he wasn't struggling. Matteo turned

of you,

a progress for him, but whenever he felt the pain, he kept pushing forward-he said he had been

was walking on his own

Matteo. They came to visit multiple times when Matteo was always at home during his recovery, they talked business and about work mostly, but they were treating him like a family. Matteo didn't tell me anything, he tried to play it cool, but I knew he was

selves. Mama seemed to be getting close with Matteo, too-she kept cooking for him whenever I was at work, and she seemed to be close with Maria as well. They met frequently when Matteo was still struggling with crutches. Overall, my family and his

his son-in-law, but he saw the sacrifices Matteo made for me. He noticed every single time I

too.

he truly believed that what Matteo and I

I believed it, too.

Matteo had waited at the lobby. We

HE

Chapter 38

I

as he placed his warm hand on my

had

never bothered me when I was taking a long shower or a long bath after work because he knew, I needed the calm and peace. Once I was done rinsing my body and wrapping a clean towel around me, I looked at myself in the mirror. I noticed just how different my body looked for the past few

few times, trying

I

s hallucinating.

a pregnancy test. I had bought it a couple of months back in case I needed to use it in the nearest future-not that I was expecting anything, but it felt right to take a test one right now. Matteo and I were sexually active, ever since I had taken my IUD out, we never tried any other methods. We wanted children, we were just not planning

test done. As I waited for a while, I kept pacing back and forth before deciding it was better

back into the bathroom, fully dressed in a a

eyes as I grabbed to pick up

When

my eyes were bursting with tears. I slowly grabbed onto the counter beside me as I cried, not believing myself. My hand went down to feel my invisible bump as I smiled, a

As

I

soon a

the kitchen, I saw Matteo serving dinner on the kitchen island. We were always eating in the kitchen on the stools because it

waist

"You're a

up, baby?"

"Yeah, I feel better."

let's eat dinner. You must be

my face as he leaned in

We

were

but my smile was wider. I was trying hard not to

really happy... is there something you'd like to share

No.

just think I should smile

look

I was thinking of ways to tell him. I could just

Chapter 38

plan a surprise-I wasn't really preferring the latter, because I just

to watch a movie later, and

©

71%1

direction, but he didn't bother to say a word. I was smiling as I took a bite of my food, and I knew he was starting to find that odd. Once we were done with

nervous. Could

I said as I pulled his

the screen. My eyes were focusing onto him, and I was imagining how our baby would look like if

my face?" He asked, glancing down at

shook my head, "Why do you

"You

at me.

I

one doing

chest. Once we had chosen a movie, we continued to watch it. Well, Matteo was continuing to watch it, the whole time I was just staring blankly at the

focus, at all. "Matteo,"

"Mm?"

Mm?

"Here."

to grab it. Then, when he realized what he was holding, he immediately sat up straight. He continued to stare