I’m Not His White Rose Anymore Chapter 19
Three days passed like this.
Lorenzo tried to call home several times, but each time he picked up the phone, he didn’t know how to explain himself to that little woman.
Every time Lina called him “Daddy,” he felt more and more on edge.
When Lina called him “Daddy” again, without even adding his last name, Lorenzo finally snapped.
“Isabella, since you’re not leaving, you should transfer Lina’s legal guardianship back to your name.”
Isabella, who was bringing Lorenzo a plate of fruit, her face instantly turned pale.
The fruit platter fell, scattering fruit all over the floor.
Lina burst into tears. “Daddy, don’t you want me anymore?”
The commotion brought Sofia running.
“Lorenzo, what’s gotten into you this early in the morning?”
Looking at the screaming Lina, the hurt and upset Isabella, and the furious Sofia, Lorenzo felt utterly exhausted. “I’m going home.”
Back at his own house, the quiet was a relief.
The note he had left for Vivian on the table was gone.
She must have seen it. She must be waiting for him.
She’s probably still at work right now.
The sense of security washed over him, and he fell into a deep sleep.
He had that dream again.
He dreamed that he and Vivian were finally together, and they had a child.
A daughter, beautiful, just like Vivian.
But he never had time for them. Every time they needed him most, something would happen with Lina and Isabella.
At first, his daughter resented him. But slowly, her resentment turned into a longing for his affection, and an envy and admiration for Isabella and Lina.
Finally, one day, the child Vivian had raised with her own hands said to Isabella:
“Aunt Isabella, I wish you were my mommy.”
Lorenzo felt like he couldn’t breathe.
He thought he finally understood why she wanted a divorce.
She had sacrificed everything for this family, only to be betrayed by her own child.
On the day of their divorce, the only thing he could say to her was, “I’m sorry.”
She smiled and said it was okay.
Her hair was already streaked with white. He couldn’t bear to look at her.
To make up for it, he gave her almost all of his money.
He thought she would finally have a happy life of her own.
But three months later, the tragic news came.
The old, dilapidated apartment building had collapsed in a storm, trapping her underneath.
Her body wasn’t discovered until three months later, when the rubble was being cleared.
No one knew how much pain she had been in.
No one knew how long she had struggled, trapped under the debris.
Three months. Not even her own daughter had remembered she had a mother.
In that moment, his heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vice, so tight he couldn’t breathe.
It wasn’t until the apartment manager handed him a Montblanc pen.
“This was Ms. Hayes’s only possession. She was clutching it in her hand, even in death. It must have been very important to her…”
Lorenzo woke with a jolt, gasping for air.
The dream was too real, as if it had actually happened.
“Vivian…”
Vivian wasn’t back yet.
She must still be at the deli.
He needed to see her, quickly, or he wouldn’t be able to suppress the fear rising in his heart.
But as he tried to get dressed, his hands were shaking uncontrollably.
Not just his hands; his legs were weak with fear. He stumbled and fell hard in the doorway.
He drove straight to the deli.
For the first time, he traced the route she took to work every day.
A two-mile walk from their suburban house, then two different buses.
The buses didn’t run often, so she would have had to leave extra early to make sure she wasn’t late.
The whole journey probably took about two and a half hours.
Lorenzo was stunned. She spent five hours commuting every day?
Why had she never told him?
He could have easily driven her to and from work!
Isabella’s commute was less than an hour, yet he drove her every single day.
A wave of guilt washed over Lorenzo, but it was quickly overshadowed by a growing sense of panic.
Panic that she had realized how unfairly he had treated her. Panic that she would wake up and leave him.
When he arrived at the deli, they were just about to close.
An employee was using a pen to record the day’s accounts.
That pen looked familiar.
It was the pen from his dream. The one Vivian had clutched in her hand until she died!
“Where did you get that pen?”
Lorenzo tried to control his temper, but the natural authority of the mafia heir still made the employee jump.
She was confused. Wasn’t this the handsome man she and Vivian always gossiped about?
“Vivian gave it to me.”
“Impossible! She would never give this away!”
In that moment, Lorenzo lost control. He lunged forward and snatched the pen.
Ink splattered on the employee’s clothes. She was furious.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”
Her angry shout brought another employee out from the back.
The weather had gotten colder recently, and she had a scarf wrapped around her neck.
Lorenzo’s heart lurched again.
“Where did you get that scarf?”
He remembered the day before Vivian’s birthday. He had gone to a department store and bought her a red dress.
Isabella had called him with some urgent matter, so he had rushed over, the dress still in his hand.
He was only gone for a few minutes, but when he came back, Isabella was already wearing the dress, a slight blush on her cheeks as she thanked him.
“Lorenzo, I love this dress. Thank you.”
He wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out.
He went back to the store and picked out a one-of-a-kind scarf instead.
And now, that scarf was around someone else’s neck.
Vivian, what are you doing?
Lorenzo was furious. He snatched the scarf as well.
Both women were on the verge of tears from anger.
“You’re a grown man, and you’re stealing my scarf? Vivian gave this to me!”
Finally, someone put two and two together. “Who are you to Vivian?”
Vivian had worked here for over half a year.
He had been here dozens of times.
And yet, no one knew who he was to her.
How pathetic.
“I’m her husband!”
Everyone: …
“Get Vivian out here!”
Lorenzo was truly angry now.
How could she just give away the gifts he had so carefully chosen for her?
A blind rage was consuming him.
The two women looked at each other, stunned.
“Vivian quit a long time ago!”
“Aren’t you her husband? How could you not know that?”
“Oh, right. You were probably busy with that Dr. Ricci. No time to worry about our Vivian…”
“No wonder Vivian pretended not to know you in the shop. Who would want a husband who’s always messing around with other women!”
Lorenzo stood there, frozen.
Was that it?
The first time he came to the shop, he was with Isabella.
Isabella had said the food here was more authentic than at the big department stores, so they came.
Vivian was on duty that day.
When she saw them, she went into the back room.
He had always thought she didn’t acknowledge him because she was ashamed of her background.
Was this the real reason?
