Chapter 235: He Doesn’t Deserve You
"We have really met in the past, haven’t we?"
He stopped mid-action, looking up at her. "Do you finally remember something?" he asked calmly.
Lowering her eyes in disappointment, she replied, "No, but I have this feeling. I don’t know what to call it, like we truly have met before."
He gazed at her for some time before the corner of his lips pulled up in a smirk. "The night has just begun, my lady. Midnight is still a bit far off. Don’t tell me that feeling is you already falling in love with me?"
Natalia quickly denied, "Of course not!"
Christopher smiled; he had been teasing her. Turning serious, he said, "But you don’t have to worry about a meeting of the past if you don’t remember it. There’s always the present and the future; those are what matter."
Natalia smiled softly and continued eating. Christopher would debone the fish and place it on her plate.
She watched how relaxed and laid-back he looked. He was a very sweet and considerate person that could be mistaken for being aloof if one wasn’t familiar with him, but with those he was familiar with, he would be laid-back and somewhat playful. She smiled, thinking his personality was quite interesting.
As he looked up at her, he smiled back before resuming to debone the fish for her.
The night air was soft and slightly warm as they took a walk around the hill after the meal. From a far distance, both their silhouettes looked like two dark shadows—one shorter and smaller and the other taller and larger—due to the full moon shining over the hill.
"So, were you and Tristan close as cousins from childhood?" Natalia asked curiously.
"Mm, you could say that. You could also say that we were very fond of getting on each other’s nerves." He said with a small chuckle. "I remember one time, I put a snail in his shirt just to gross him out. He felt the slimy thing walking down his back, but he couldn’t get it out—he was literally jumping."
"You did that? That’s so naughty," Natalia said, laughing.
"Yeah, you could say I was quite the naughty kid in the past, but Tristan—he was forced to grow up quickly, and the little playfulness about him vanished after my aunt died. He became... detached."
Natalia sighed; she had heard from Celine that Tristan had had a rough past.
"But then he’s really happy now. Tristan was the last person I ever expected would someday send a wedding invitation, but then it happened."
"And you? Do you ever see yourself getting married someday?" Natalia asked curiously.
"There was once a time I never saw myself as one who would want to settle down, but then... sometime back, I met someone, and she made me change that perception. So yes, you can say I do envision myself getting married someday. And you?"
A memory flashed through her mind as he asked her that question.
’I have no greater desire in this world than to be with you, Natalia, to someday call you my wife—the only woman I’ll spend the rest of my life with.’
Peter had been the one to say those words to her in the past, and back then, more than anything, they had been the sweetest words she’d ever heard, because in her heart she had also begun anticipating a time she would be able to start a life with him as well, because he was, after all, the man she loved.
It took a few more steps for Natalia to realize Christopher had stopped walking at some point. She stopped as well, turning back to look at him in question.
"You’re heartbroken?" he asked, as if her expression just now had shown it all.
Natalia was shocked he had been this quick to pick it up when she thought she was someone very good at hiding her emotions, but she sighed, giving a bitter smile before she turned around. She didn’t see the disappointed look that crossed his face before it went rigid, with a hint of rage between his brows.
"Who is he?" He cleared his throat, finally catching up. He kept a neutral look on his face while internally keeping his rising anger in check. What he was feeling enraged about was not the fact that he had actually kept her in his heart and she had fallen for another, but the fact that there was actually someone who could break her heart. So there was such a man who didn’t know the value of a gem if he had one, and judging from her expression, he could tell she was still in love with whoever the scumbag was.
Though she had told him that she was in love with someone else, he hadn’t thought the person was stupid enough to have broken her heart.
But then that was how love works—in the eyes of the one who truly loves you, you would be nothing short of a precious gem they could do anything to keep, to cherish, to love, and hearing that another could hurt you, all they’d feel is rage. That was exactly how Christopher felt.
Natalia was silent for some time before she finally said, "Peter." She paused for a few seconds before adding, "Peter Ramford."
"Ramford?" Christopher asked thoughtfully before suddenly realizing something. "He was part of Tristan’s groomsmen."
Her silence confirmed it. Christopher sneered, recalling the man in question. It was just him? What did he think of himself to break her heart? He wasn’t even someone remarkable if not for his father’s identity as a politician.
They both walked in silence for some time before Christopher finally spoke up. "Well, I know a heartbreak can be painful, and I could tell you I’m sorry, but I’m not."
Hearing that, Natalia looked at him sideways. He added with a shrug,
"He was an idiot. He let you go, and I found you again. It’s that simple—he doesn’t deserve you." Christopher said in a matter-of-fact way.
Natalia sighed. That was exactly what she had been telling herself for the longest time when he’d broken her heart back then. It had hurt so much, she told herself a lot of things to reduce the pain and forget about him, but then nothing she told herself was believable, nor did those words she tried to instill in her own mind make it hurt less or make the heartbreak go away sooner.
But then, for some reason, hearing it from him at this moment, something in her wanted to believe. She smiled subtly. "Has anyone ever told you that you’re very good with words?"
"No, just you," he said, then added internally, Because you’re the only one I say these words to anyway.
For those who knew him, they would say that he was someone who avoided women like a plague, but in actual truth, it was just that he had met someone years ago who caught his heart and made him feel like every other woman was not worth it. So he stayed away from them and never associated with women.
And because of that, and also because of the fact that they had always been playing pranks on each other in their childhood, Tristan had actually set him up with the groomsmen, and they ended up daring him to ask a woman to dance.
On that night, Christopher had been incredibly irritated. He had walked up to the first woman he saw and asked her without even fully looking at her, but he had been surprised when the minute he raised his head, he was met with those beautiful pair of chocolate brown eyes that he could never forget.
’It’s her!’ his heart had exclaimed. He had looked closely, taking his time to study her face, her features that were etched in his heart, in his mind for eight long years. It is her!
Though he had been disappointed that she couldn’t remember him, that still wasn’t something that would stop him from trying to win her over.
Halfway into the night, they shared dessert under the stars and laughed, enjoying each other’s company.
Christopher reached over, gently wiping off the remaining hints of ice cream at the corner of her lips. Natalia smiled up at him, and he smiled back before turning to stare at the moon, both of them sitting by the cliff.
"Don’t get too comfortable, midnight is still some time away."
"A few hours away, to be exact," Natalia reminded him.
"Yes, and I’ll assume you’re just taunting me by reminding me of that," he said, making her laugh at him. "But... it doesn’t matter if I win your heart or not, as long as during the span of this night, you’re happy."
She looked up at him, and he smiled softly before getting up. "Come on."
Looking up, she asked, "Where are we going?"
"Don’t tell me you thought this was it?" he asked, offering her his hand. Natalia didn’t think twice—she took his hand, and he effortlessly pulled her up. He tugged her with a tiny amount of force, and she landed against his chest as she got onto her feet. Up close, she could see his long lashes over his deep-set dark eyes. For some reason, she was momentarily entranced in his stare before he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him.
The car once again drove into the night. The warm air was soothing as they arrived at a place that looked slightly dark.
Christopher got down from the car and went over to open the passenger door.
"Where are we?" she asked curiously.
"You’ll see," Christopher said, then walked away. Going over to the back of the car, he opened the trunk and pulled out a small bag before coming back to her side and taking her hand.
Natalia smiled, realizing he seemed to really like holding her hand, and she couldn’t deny that she enjoyed the secure feeling of his large palm holding her own either.
They arrived inside, and Natalia gasped subtly, looking at the vastness of the smooth ground before her.
Christopher kept the bag on a small bench at the side, pulling out two skating shoes from inside it.
Natalia looked at the white ground, realizing to her amusement that he had brought her to a skating rink.