After that, Alex became apletely different person.
No longer the high-and-mighty CEO of Carter Industries-he turned into a shadow following me around.
I ran my gallery, so he opened a coffee shop across the street, personally brewing coffee every day and having his assistant deliver it.
I went to art exhibitions, and he’d trail behind at a respectful distance like some devoted bodyguard.
When my anti-trafficking organization opened a new shelter, I attended the ribbon cutting. He anonymously donated an astronomical sum.
He tried every possible way to squeeze into my life.
But I kept him locked out of my worldpletely.
never touched his coffee, never acknowledged his stares, never reacted to anything he did.
le was like air to me-totally invisible.
yearter, my gallery gained international recognition.
was invited to host a solo touring exhibition in Paris.
pening night was spectacr-glittering gowns and packed crowds.
stood on stage giving my speech, scanning the audience, when I spotted a familiar figure.
lex stood in the most inconspicuous corner, wearing a faded white shirt, quietly watching me.
lis gaze was focused and reverent, like a believer looking up at their god.
hat look-it’s what I’d desperately wanted for three years.
ut seeing it now only felt ironic.
I the reception, he made his way through the crowd with a wine ss and approached me.
Congrattions, Grace.”
lis voice carried a barely detectable tremor.
just nodded politely and turned to greet other guests.
Grace.” He stopped me,
I’m having surgery next month,”
froze.
He managed a smile uglier than tears. “The doctors say my hippocampus was damaged from childhood trauma-that’s why I had memory distortions and cognitive issues.”
“The surgery’s risky. I might… forget everythingpletely.”
“So before I go under, I wanted to ask you one more time,”
He looked at me with desperate, all-or-nothing madness in his eyes.
“Will you give me another chance?”
“If I forget you, just tell me who you are again. This time I promise-I’ll remember you from the first nce and never lose you again.”
Looking at him, I suddenly felt at peace.
“Alex, just forget.”
“Forget me, and set yourself free.” <fn060a> Content originallyes from find?novel</fn060a>
I didn’t give him a chance to respond and melted back into the crowd.
That was thest time I saw him.
Later I heard the surgery went well, but he’d lost all his memories.
He was no longer CEO-the Carter family business went to distant rtives.
He lived alone in that rose-filled mansion like a ghost trapped in the past.
Sometimes people would spot him wandering around the gallery district.
Clutching a faded old photograph, asking everyone he met.
“Excuse me, have you seen this girl?”
The photo showed a girl in a white dress with a rose-shaped birthmark on her arm.
And I was already on the other side of the world, starting my new life.
My galleries opened worldwide. My name became a powerhouse in the art world.
I also met someone wonderful.
He was a photographer who’d take my hand and explore every corner of the globe with me.
He remembered every version of meughing, crying, with makeup, without.
Every morning he’d say: “Good morning, my artist.”
On proposal day, he got down on one knee with something that wasn’t a diamond ring-it was a thick photo album.
Every page was me.
Grace,” his eyes sparkled with joy, “I want to spend my life capturing every part of you.”
I cried happy tears.
True love doesn’t make you cut off pieces of yourself to fit someone else’s mold.
It’s someone who can see through crowds, past all disguises, and recognize the one and only you.
As for Alex-
Let that little girl in the white dress live forever in his memories.
And me? I’m already wearing my favorite colors, walking toward my own thousand brilliant suns.