\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 10\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 10\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two years later in spring, I used my savings for a down payment on a two-bedroom apartment in town.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On moving day, lots of people from the village came to help. Aunt Martha\u2019s eyes were red as she held my hand and said: \u201cElena, honey, you\u2019ve made something of yourself, but don\u2019t forget to come back and visit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new place wasn\u2019t big, but it had great sunlight. I decorated a little room for my child with cartoon stickers all over the walls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My child was two and a half now, could say lots of words, and loved calling me \u201cmommy\u201d most of all. Every night before bed, he\u2019d hug my neck and say: \u201cMommy worked hard today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That feeling of being needed and loved made life feel complete and fulfilling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the new environment, I made many friends. Lisa downstairs was a lawyer who often gave me legal advice. Mrs. Stone across the hall watched her granddaughter, and the two kids played together well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Life was peaceful and full \u2013 I thought it would continue like this forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Until that snowy winter when I ran into Gabriel at the supermarket.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked much older, with graying hair, wearing an ordinary down jacket and pushing a cart while shopping for discounted items.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment he saw me, he froze, then looked with complicated eyes at the child beside me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My son was three now, looked a lot like him, but had a completely different personality \u2013 lively and cheerful, pulling my hand and pointing at toys on the shelf.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cElena\u2026\u201d Gabriel started to say something.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there something you need?\u201d My tone was flat, like I was talking to any ordinary stranger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gabriel looked at the child, then at me, and finally said nothing, pushing his cart away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At checkout, the cashier whispered to me \u201cThat man was watching you two the whole time, his eyes were all red.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t look back and felt nothing at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The person who once caused me so much heartache was now truly just a stranger in my eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After getting home, while giving my child a bath, he suddenly asked \u201cMommy, why was that uncle staring at us?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I paused, then said softly. \u201cMaybe he thought we looked really happy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are really happy!\u201d my child giggled \u201cI have the best mommy in the world!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, we were happy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No lies, no betrayal, no grievances or tears just simple, pure love and being loved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That night, I stood on the balcony watching the snowflakes dance, feeling more peaceful than ever before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All the past pain and struggle had shaped who I was now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If I hadn\u2019t experienced that darkness, I never would have known that one person could live such a wonderful life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 10\u00a0<\/p>\n
Spring came, and my child was starting kindergarten. While packing his little backpack, I found a drawing he\u2019d made two people holding hands in front of a house, one big and one small.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMommy, this is our home,\u201d my child pointed at the drawing. \u201cJust the two of us \u2013 it\u2019s the best.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hugged him and kissed him over and over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, our home with just the two of us was the best.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All those past experiences that once caused me pain had now become the most precious treasures of my life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They taught me what real love was, what real happiness was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The me now no longer needed anyone\u2019s charity or pity. I had my own career, my own home, and the little angel who loved me most in this\u00a0<\/p>\n
world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was enough \u2013 truly enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outside the window, spring was beautiful, and my child\u2019s and my life was just beginning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
You Thought Cilantro Was Just a Flavor? It\u2019s Actually My FU, Cheater! by Mark Twain 19 \u00a0 Chapter 10\u00a0 Chapter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cilantro-taste-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20269\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}