Chapter 193 Repay His Sacrifice
Five minutes later. Paulo held an emergency meeting with several doctors and nurses. Roman
attended the meeting too. Having discussed the plan previously, they quickly confirmed their respective
roles and set off to take action.
Twenty minutes later, two nurses entered with Erin’s meal, knowing that Erin was hiding but pretending
not to see her.
The nurse with long hair called out, “Miss Lane? Where are you?”
Erin heard her from her hiding spot, but she neither showed herself nor made a sound. She didn’t feel
like seeing anyone at the moment.
The nurse with short hair said, “Stop calling for her. Maybe she’s in the restroom. Did you know we
have a new patient in the ward today? You must have heard of the famous actor, Roman. Oh my, it’s
such a pity! I heard Roman suffered extensive burns on his legs and even on his face by accident. It’s
really unlucky for an actor because their face is as important as their acting skills.”
“Yeah, I heard about it too. He’s under the care of Dr. Zenith right now. This morning, they had a heated
argument because Roman was informed it would take at least a year to treat his burns. Roman couldn’t
accept it, and he got quite emotional-” The nurse with long hair was interrupted as a man in a
wheelchair suddenly rushed into the ward. The man in the wheelchair was none other than Roman.
Erin, who had been hiding underneath the blanket, fervently wished for the nurses delivering the meal
to leave quickly. Therefore, she listened carefully to the conversation between the two nurses to see
when they would be making a move.
When she heard the name “Roman,” she thought she misheard or that it could be someone with the
same name. But the nurses not only mentioned Roman’s name once, but they also referred to him as a
“famous actor.” It could only be the Roman she knew!
Erin almost impulsively wanted to come out and ask the nurses about it, but she realized her face was
now completely exposed with the ghastly and horrifying burn scars clearly visible. Apart from the
blanket she put over her head, she had nothing else to conceal her face
from view.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtRight then, Roman saw a corner of Erin’s blanket exposed from a distance, and the sight of it tugged at
his heartstrings melancholically.
He composed himself and instantly began an impromptu performance. He asked the two nurses in
Erin’s ward agitatedly. “Hey, you there! Can you tell me where did Dr. Zenith go? I need to see him!”
The nurse with long hair responded, “Mr. Blair, please calm down. Why don’t we go back to your ward
first?”
“Enough! Go get him for me! I’ll wait for him here!” Roman spoke in an unfriendly tone.
Both the nurses immediately left to find the doctor.
Meanwhile, Erin, who was still in hiding, felt her entire body go stiff. She never expected Roman would
appear in her ward. Her emotions were extremely conflicted and complicated. On one hand, she
wanted to reveal her identity to him, to tell Roman who she really was. But on the other hand, she was
scared to face his fearful expression when he saw her face and found out who she was.
Also, what if Roman told Chandler about her?
Just the thought of this possibility made Erin slay as still as a statue, as she was afraid of being
discovered by him. Although there was a distance of about sixty feet between them, Roman felt that
Erin had built an insurmountable wall around herself, blocking out everybody
else she knew.
She even isolated herself from her son. Roman could tell how fearful and inferior she fell to even stay
away from her own son. Thinking of
that, Roman’s heart ached immensely for all the misfortunes Erin had to go through.
He would never forgive himself for that phone call where he concealed the truth from her. Why didn’t he
speak up back then?
When Tessa was sent back to the country and confessed to the details of her crimes in the detention
center, Roman found out that Jack had used Chandler’s concealment of the truth to trick Erin into going
to meet him alone, which resulted in her being kidnapped.
If he were to sort out and determine who was to be blamed for Erin’s kidnapping–he, Chandler, Sean,
Alana–everyone who knew the truth and deliberately withheld it was equally guilty!
If only one person had spoken up back then, Erin wouldn’t have fallen for Jack’s trap. However, looking
back at the past and hanging on to it was meaningless. No one could turn back time to rectify this
mistake.
Carrying this heavy sense of guilt and remorse. Roman lived an extremely repressed life. Ever since
Erin vanished, he hadn’t taken up any roles. He constantly searched for her. There were times when he
lost faith and fell into despair. He, too, had been as desolate as Chandler
was. 1
After some time, he realized that he couldn’t go on like that and stepped out of his personal hell. He
went on with life normally, but he was no longer the same man that he once was.
He could no longer wholeheartedly devote himself to his acting career. He’d become somewhat unable
to distinguish between reality and illusion, living in a state of constant confusion, purposely isolating
himself from the rest of the world.
It wasn’t until the arrest and death of the serial killers, Tessa and Jack, coupled with the return of Erin’s
son, that Roman regained a glimmer of hope. He began to feel hopeful that Erin might still be alive,
after all.
Holding on to this belief, he started to become more positive in his outlook. This went on until over a
month ago when Paulo suddenly
contacted him.
Paulo informed him that Erin was still alive!
Roman’s despaired soul was resuscitated, but when he learned about Erin’s current situation, he felt
like he had fallen into an abyss yet again. The photos taken during Erin’s treatment showing her
recovery progress made him feel as if bits and pieces of his heart were torn from it every single time he
lay eyes on them.
He recalled all the memories he shared with Erin in the past, and he remembered the time they spent
together at DragonSky Studios in Fleuverton. After Roman found out about Erin’s state, he didn’t sleep
for three days and nights. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see in his mind was Erin’s smiling
face, which he couldn’t get rid of no matter what.
After taking two weeks and thinking it through, on a plain night when the moon and stars hid from view,
Roman drank some alcohol and
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmdealt severe burns to his chin and right leg.
He did that to atone for the phone call in the past when he didn’t speak the truth. In addition, he also
wanted to accompany Erin and help
her get through this painful and agonizing time together.
Erin needed strength. She also needed the companionship of a friend.
Ten minutes later, Roman didn’t see Dr. Zenith, who was supposed to play along with his acting.
Instead, Paulo arrived in person.
In response, Roman immediately looked at him with a puzzled expression. A sharp gleam flashed in
Paulo’s eyes. Ignoring Roman, he
walked straight toward Erin.
When he reached where she was hiding, Paulo suddenly bent down and said to Erin, “Until when do
you want to hide? It’s time to lace
reality! Originally, Roman and I had planned to put on a show to encourage you to accept treatment,
but then we thought, we don’t owe you anything, so why should we keep making efforts?”
Paulo then started ranting. “I saved you, provided free treatment for you, provided you with food and
shelter on top of regularly pretending to be your classmate to get news from your mother. After all that,
you can’t go on living just because you saw the true extent of your
burns. Aren’t you giving up too easily? Think about how young your son is! Don’t you want to hold him
in your arms after you recover? Don’t you want to hear him call you ‘Mommy‘? Do you really plan to
abandon your parents like this? They gave birth to you, raised you, and this is how you repay them?
There are so many people in this world who get into accidents every day. Should they all die because
they’ve become disfigured or disabled? And the reason is they’re no longer whole or their former
selves. Are you saying they should all give up living because of that?”
There was a hint of determination and helplessness in Paulo’s eyes as he frowned. “Erin, no one can
constantly provide you with strength except yourself! If you truly want to die, none of us can stop you.
Whether you choose to bravely live or die as a coward, the ball is in your court.”
The next words that came out of his mouth carried a strong sense of severity. “But I want to tell you one
thing, Erin. In order to lift your spirits and give you courage, Roman voluntarily burned himself on his
lace and leg severely so that he would feel the same pain that you felt. How are you going to repay this
sacrifice he made for you?”