Love's New Bloom

Chapter 193

Chapter 193 Repay His Sacrifice

Five minutes later. Paulo held an emergency meeting with several doctors and nurses. Roman attended the meeting too. Having discussed the plan previously, they quickly confirmed their respective roles and set off to take action.

Twenty minutes later, two nurses entered with Erin’s meal, knowing that Erin was hiding but pretending not to see her.

The nurse with long hair called out, “Miss Lane? Where are you?”

Erin heard her from her hiding spot, but she neither showed herself nor made a sound. She didn’t feel like seeing anyone at the moment.

The nurse with short hair said, “Stop calling for her. Maybe she’s in the restroom. Did you know we have a new patient in the ward today? You must have heard of the famous actor, Roman. Oh my, it’s such a pity! I heard Roman suffered extensive burns on his legs and even on his face by accident. It’s really unlucky for an actor because their face is as important as their acting skills.”

“Yeah, I heard about it too. He’s under the care of Dr. Zenith right now. This morning, they had a heated argument because Roman was informed it would take at least a year to treat his burns. Roman couldn’t accept it, and he got quite emotional-” The nurse with long hair was interrupted as a man in a wheelchair suddenly rushed into the ward. The man in the wheelchair was none other than Roman.

Erin, who had been hiding underneath the blanket, fervently wished for the nurses delivering the meal to leave quickly. Therefore, she listened carefully to the conversation between the two nurses to see when they would be making a move.

When she heard the name “Roman,” she thought she misheard or that it could be someone with the same name. But the nurses not only mentioned Roman’s name once, but they also referred to him as a “famous actor.” It could only be the Roman she knew!

Erin almost impulsively wanted to come out and ask the nurses about it, but she realized her face was now completely exposed with the ghastly and horrifying burn scars clearly visible. Apart from the blanket she put over her head, she had nothing else to conceal her face

from view.

Right then, Roman saw a corner of Erin’s blanket exposed from a distance, and the sight of it tugged at his heartstrings melancholically.

He composed himself and instantly began an impromptu performance. He asked the two nurses in Erin’s ward agitatedly. “Hey, you there! Can you tell me where did Dr. Zenith go? I need to see him!”

The nurse with long hair responded, “Mr. Blair, please calm down. Why don’t we go back to your ward first?”

“Enough! Go get him for me! I’ll wait for him here!” Roman spoke in an unfriendly tone.

Both the nurses immediately left to find the doctor.

Meanwhile, Erin, who was still in hiding, felt her entire body go stiff. She never expected Roman would appear in her ward. Her emotions were extremely conflicted and complicated. On one hand, she wanted to reveal her identity to him, to tell Roman who she really was. But on the other hand, she was scared to face his fearful expression when he saw her face and found out who she was.

Also, what if Roman told Chandler about her?

Just the thought of this possibility made Erin slay as still as a statue, as she was afraid of being discovered by him. Although there was a distance of about sixty feet between them, Roman felt that Erin had built an insurmountable wall around herself, blocking out everybody

else she knew.

She even isolated herself from her son. Roman could tell how fearful and inferior she fell to even stay away from her own son. Thinking of

that, Roman’s heart ached immensely for all the misfortunes Erin had to go through.

He would never forgive himself for that phone call where he concealed the truth from her. Why didn’t he speak up back then?

When Tessa was sent back to the country and confessed to the details of her crimes in the detention center, Roman found out that Jack had used Chandler’s concealment of the truth to trick Erin into going to meet him alone, which resulted in her being kidnapped.

If he were to sort out and determine who was to be blamed for Erin’s kidnapping–he, Chandler, Sean, Alana–everyone who knew the truth and deliberately withheld it was equally guilty!

If only one person had spoken up back then, Erin wouldn’t have fallen for Jack’s trap. However, looking back at the past and hanging on to it was meaningless. No one could turn back time to rectify this mistake.

Carrying this heavy sense of guilt and remorse. Roman lived an extremely repressed life. Ever since Erin vanished, he hadn’t taken up any roles. He constantly searched for her. There were times when he lost faith and fell into despair. He, too, had been as desolate as Chandler Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

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After some time, he realized that he couldn’t go on like that and stepped out of his personal hell. He went on with life normally, but he was no longer the same man that he once was.

He could no longer wholeheartedly devote himself to his acting career. He’d become somewhat unable to distinguish between reality and illusion, living in a state of constant confusion, purposely isolating himself from the rest of the world.

It wasn’t until the arrest and death of the serial killers, Tessa and Jack, coupled with the return of Erin’s son, that Roman regained a glimmer of hope. He began to feel hopeful that Erin might still be alive, after all.

Holding on to this belief, he started to become more positive in his outlook. This went on until over a month ago when Paulo suddenly

contacted him.

Paulo informed him that Erin was still alive!

Roman’s despaired soul was resuscitated, but when he learned about Erin’s current situation, he felt like he had fallen into an abyss yet again. The photos taken during Erin’s treatment showing her recovery progress made him feel as if bits and pieces of his heart were torn from it every single time he lay eyes on them.

He recalled all the memories he shared with Erin in the past, and he remembered the time they spent together at DragonSky Studios in Fleuverton. After Roman found out about Erin’s state, he didn’t sleep for three days and nights. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see in his mind was Erin’s smiling face, which he couldn’t get rid of no matter what.

After taking two weeks and thinking it through, on a plain night when the moon and stars hid from view, Roman drank some alcohol and

dealt severe burns to his chin and right leg.

He did that to atone for the phone call in the past when he didn’t speak the truth. In addition, he also wanted to accompany Erin and help

her get through this painful and agonizing time together.

Erin needed strength. She also needed the companionship of a friend.

Ten minutes later, Roman didn’t see Dr. Zenith, who was supposed to play along with his acting. Instead, Paulo arrived in person.

In response, Roman immediately looked at him with a puzzled expression. A sharp gleam flashed in Paulo’s eyes. Ignoring Roman, he

walked straight toward Erin.

When he reached where she was hiding, Paulo suddenly bent down and said to Erin, “Until when do you want to hide? It’s time to lace

reality! Originally, Roman and I had planned to put on a show to encourage you to accept treatment, but then we thought, we don’t owe you anything, so why should we keep making efforts?”

Paulo then started ranting. “I saved you, provided free treatment for you, provided you with food and shelter on top of regularly pretending to be your classmate to get news from your mother. After all that, you can’t go on living just because you saw the true extent of your

burns. Aren’t you giving up too easily? Think about how young your son is! Don’t you want to hold him in your arms after you recover? Don’t you want to hear him call you ‘Mommy‘? Do you really plan to abandon your parents like this? They gave birth to you, raised you, and this is how you repay them? There are so many people in this world who get into accidents every day. Should they all die because they’ve become disfigured or disabled? And the reason is they’re no longer whole or their former selves. Are you saying they should all give up living because of that?”

There was a hint of determination and helplessness in Paulo’s eyes as he frowned. “Erin, no one can constantly provide you with strength except yourself! If you truly want to die, none of us can stop you. Whether you choose to bravely live or die as a coward, the ball is in your court.”

The next words that came out of his mouth carried a strong sense of severity. “But I want to tell you one thing, Erin. In order to lift your spirits and give you courage, Roman voluntarily burned himself on his lace and leg severely so that he would feel the same pain that you felt. How are you going to repay this sacrifice he made for you?”