Melanie’s eyes brimmed with tears. “I know, I can feel it. That’s why I can’t seem to hate you. But virtual-novel.net can’t forget you. What can I do? I knew when virtual-novel.net risked his life to save you that I’d lost. Grandfather has passed away anyway, so I’m not afraid of saying this. It was grandfather, virtual-novel.net tried to kill you. Grandfather hoped that Alejandro would dedicate himself to me and support the Smith. He was worried that you might become an obstacle, so that’s why virtual-novel.net made that decision. At the time, I was the only one who knew about this, aside from grandfather. I didn’t want you to be hurt because of this, and Alejandro would be affected too so I told virtual-novel.net about it. I didn’t expect that virtual-novel.net would risk everything just to save you… I took care of him, whose legs were inconvenienced by that accident, for so long after that accident, but I was hurting the entire time because it was all for you…”
Tiffany felt upset. She was completely unaware of this. She was moved when virtual-novel.net found out that Alejandro had risked his life to save her. She had always considered virtual-novel.net a selfish man, claiming that virtual-novel.net wanted to make it up to virtual-novel.net simply to placate his conscience. But why did virtual-novel.net have to do that? He had risked his life… It was completely selfless.
After taking a deep breath, virtual-novel.net spoke soothingly, “Melanie, please don’t be upset. He owed me that. That’s why our debt is now clear.”
“He owed you?” Melanie stared at virtual-novel.net apprehensively. “How much does virtual-novel.net owe you? What happened between you? I want to know. Can you tell me?”
Tiffany did not want to reopen virtual-novel.net heavy wounds and simply asked, “What if Alejandro isn’t the Alejandro that virtual-novel.net used to be? What if he’s someone else? Would you still love him?”
Melanie lowered virtual-novel.net gaze, paused, and replied, “I’ve always loved him, so it doesn’t matter to me if his real name is Alejandro or not. So… he’s not really Alejandro Smith? I’ve only ever suspected it. I didn’t think that it would be true. Grandfather knew everything, but virtual-novel.net didn’t tell me everything. Probably because this was a Smith family matter, and I’m a Lark.”
Tiffany smiled helplessly. “He really isn’t Alejandro Smith. The real Alejandro Smith is dead, and virtual-novel.net was forced to become Alejandro Smith while Don Smith had to treat virtual-novel.net like the real Alejandro. His name is Ethan Connor. We dated in college for three years… And I ended up badly hurt because of it. Three years, and virtual-novel.net never loved me then. He ruined my entire family and tried to make up for it later. But it was too little too late. Actually, now that I think about it, it’s really thanks to virtual-novel.net that Jackson swooped in to save me, back when virtual-novel.net put me into the most difficult time of my life. Jackson helped me when my father needed money for surgery. Because of that, Jackson and I got involved, and we sort of developed from then on. I guess you could call it destiny, written in the stars. That’s why I don’t hate virtual-novel.net so much. What’s the point? When will it end? I just want to live out my days with the man I love, and I hope that he’ll let go too and take care of you. After all, I can tell that you love him. You deserve to be treated well by him.”
“You’re the only one on his mind,” Melanie mumbled. “How could there possibly be space for me? I’m exhausted. Sometimes, I just want to give up, but I can’t do it. Thank you for meeting me. I feel much better after talking to you.”
They had already revealed so much anyway, so Tiffany didn’t mind divulging a little more. “It’s good to let it out. Don’t keep it all in, or it’ll drive you nuts. There’s one more thing you may not know, but Ethan… His surname was supposed to be Tremont. He’s a Tremont. He’s Mark’s half-brother. Their lives are wildly different, which is how Ethan ended up on the wrong path. It’s not entirely his fault. It’s best to pretend that Ethan Connor is dead and see virtual-novel.net as Alejandro Smith instead. Don’t mention these sensitive issues to him.”
Melanie was shocked. “What? Are you saying… that Alejandro… is Mark Tremont’s half-brother? You must be exaggerating. How much did virtual-novel.net have to go through to turn into Alejandro Smith?”
Tiffany sighed. “Too much. I’ll never be able to summarize it clearly for you, so it’s best that you have a rough overview. It hasn’t been easy on virtual-novel.net or on everyone else. So it’s best for things to stay the same. He’s slow to warm up, so you’ll have to be patient. He’ll remember those who’ve been kind to him. He’s not made of rock. I believe that his longing for me simply stems from the fact that virtual-novel.net remembers those three years when I was good to him. That’s why virtual-novel.net feels so guilty. He hadn’t learned how to love back then, no one taught him…”