Chapter 22

The door in front of her was wide open, revealing the figure of a middle-aged woman with a cheerful smile standing there welcoming them.

"Aunt Rosaline," said Dimitri, he lowered Leo from his lap and greeted the woman.

"Dimitri," greeted the woman Dimitri called Aunt warmly. It seems that she is the one who served as the mother of the orphanage. "Who did you come with?"

"Hello, Auntie," Rachel greeted politely as she kissed the woman's arm. "I'm Rachel."

Rosaline hugged Rachel warmly. For a moment Rachel felt bewitched, it had been so long since she had felt this warm, tight embrace again after her mother died.

Rosaline let go of the hug. Then looked at Dimitri and Rachel in turn. "Are you friends, girlfriends, or—"

"Friend!"

"Future lover!"

Dimitri and Rachel said at the same time.

Rachel suddenly looked at Dimitri with dilated pupils. While the man just smiled innocently showing a row of white teeth.

Rosaline laughed softly at the behavior of the two of them.

.

(*)

Dimitri and Rachel sat side by side on the green grass in the large yard of the orphanage. They watched a group of boys playing ball even though the sun was setting.

"You know what, Rachel?" called Dimitri in a low murmur. The man glanced at Rachel who was staring straight ahead. "Actually, I used to live in this orphanage when I was a kid."

Dimitri's confession succeeded in making Rachel turn around with a face of extraordinary shock. Her eyebrows knit together, and her beautiful face showed a reaction between shock and almost disbelief. Even Rachel thought she might have heard wrong.

Dimitri was now looking straight ahead. He looked at the children who were fighting for the ball, but his mind was wandering far away.

Half daydreaming, the man said again, "As far as I know, my mother used to get pregnant out of wedlock at a very young age, even at that time my mother was still studying in her second semester in Germany. Mama's boyfriend is a Chinese from Singapore, he is a jerk and ran away from responsibility …"

"... Grandpa Albert who knew about it and didn't accept my mother's pregnancy, he asked my mom to abort the womb, but she refused and insisted on keeping me, Rachel..."

"... in the end, my mother was forced to return to America and was allowed to give birth to her child. On one condition..."

Dimitri turned to Rachel, took a deep breath then smiled bitterly and said, "She will have to give birth quietly and leave me—the child, to the orphanage, until she has a man who is equal to our family and is ready to commit."

Rachel gasped. Totally shocked by Dimitri's confession. She couldn't imagine… Dimitri—one of the grandchildren of Albert Alexandre who was famous for being rich, a child who should be full of wealth and love had to spend his childhood in an orphanage.

"Then when I was seven years old, suddenly my mother came by claiming to be my mother."

Dimitri continued his story. There was a moment, before then he looked straight ahead and said,

"Can you imagine it? Since I was little I knew that I was alone without parents and family, living in poverty in an orphanage, and even always the most hopeful for adoption. Then suddenly came a rich woman who easily claimed to be my mom."

Then suddenly Dimitri's tone turned soft. "I feel… my heart hurts, Rachel."

Rachel looked at Dimitri with concern, but couldn't say anything to encourage or sympathize.

"I don't know why you're telling me something so private, Dimitri. But what I know for sure is that you don't need sympathy or pity."

Dimitri looked down at the pebbles scattered in front of him with a small smile. What Rachel said was absolutely true.

"You're right, I'm not telling you everything to gain your sympathy," admitted Dimitri at last. 'But because… I want you to know everything about me. I want you to dive into me as deeply as you can, Rachel."

Rachel gasped softly. Actually, she was quite surprised by Dimitri now openly confessing his feelings. After all this time he just acted like a friend wrapped in attention.

For Rachel, all of this was too sudden. It was like having a sudden attack.

Suddenly she saw another side of Dimitri.

Suddenly Dimitri shared his little secret.

Then now, suddenly the man openly said he wanted them to know each other more deeply.

"But, as I said at the beginning, right now I can only offer you a friendship, nothing more than that, Dimitri, I..."

The woman took a deep breath, then turned to Dimitri with a look of guilt mixed with regret. "I don't want when us to get any closer, while my heart is still left for someone else. It wouldn't be fair to you. Sorry, Dimitri."

Rachel finally confessed her feelings to Dimitri too, after all this time. Admits that she has feelings left, as well as an unfinished past, which makes her unable to accept Dimitri further into her life.

"Failed to move on?" Dimitri confirmed, even though he already knew this when he overheard the conversation between Rachel and Nancy in the office pantry.

However, what Dimitri found was Rachel shaking her head. "To be more precise, I just haven't moved on yet. It takes a lot of time to be sincere and accept the situation."

"Then that means there's still a chance, right?"

The man insisted. Of course, he didn't want to just give up. Not before Rachel saw his earnestness, sincerity, and seriousness.

"I just don't want to play with your feelings, Dimitri. I'm sorry. I'd better tell you this from the start before you expect anything further."

The man smiled wryly, the words of refusal that came out of Rachel's mouth were like thousands of arrows that stabbed into the bottom of his heart.

Dimitri took a deep breath, feeling for a moment the air supply around him had suddenly run out of nowhere.

The large courtyard with the strong wind suddenly felt suffocating, so it was difficult for him to just reach for air.

In fact, invisible wounds are much more torturous. he didn't know where the wound was, but it felt like he was in a lot of pain in there.

Is this what it feels like to be rejected by a woman?