Rosalie looked down, suddenly at a loss for words.


    Theodore went on, "Rose, whether you choose to forgive me or not, I have to remain hopeful and give it my best shot. Otherwise, I''ll die in misery. Perhaps I might give up eventually, but not now. I really can''t give up. If I do, I might not be able to survive."


    Rosalie started tearing up. She couldn''t possibly feel nothing over what he said, given their decade-long rtionship. However, she couldn''t possibly turn around, throw herself into his embrace and forgive him just because of what he said, either.


    She could neither be utterly heartless, nor forgive himpletely.


    "Theo, I don''t know what to say. Why make things difficult for yourself?"


    "I don''t find it difficult at all. This is hope that keeps me alive. Rose, please don''t...don''t make me lose that bit of hope, won''t you?"


    "But I have the right to ask you to stop pestering me."


    “Can you tell me if us attending the wedding that Grandma told us to is considered me pestering you?" Theodore asked.


    Rosalie shook her head. "No."


    Theodore went on, "Rose, you''ll never cut ties with the Spencer family. I''m saying this not because I think you''re indebted to our family and that you should be repaying our kindness, but because you''re the best woman I''ve ever known.


    "No matter how fiercely we fight with each other, you''ll never cut ties with the Spencer family. But if you don''t do that, we''ll continue seeing each other in all sorts of events, or even have to do things together, such as attending that wedding today.


    "Rose, you said we can''t be friends,Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    and you''re right. That''s because aside from love, we have kinship between us. We have that


    connection between us that will


    never be broken, even though we''re not technically rted by blood. Yet, your rtionship with the Spencers cannot be judged by the blood.


    "You are family, and now I see clearly our rtionship. We''re like family members with a deep grudge between us. Although you can''t


    forgive me ande back to me et


    you won''t ignore me if something bad happens to me. In turn, if something bad happens to you, I won''t stand idly by. That''s what family members do for each other-never abandoning each other, no matter how upset we are with each other."


    Family...


    That word pierced Rosalie''s heart all the way through.


    She wanted to refute Theodore''s ims, but she couldn''t find any reason to. What he said did seem to be the case. They were family, on top of their previous rtionship as husband and wife.


    Although they weren''t rted by blood, not all families in this world were rted by blood. Even people who were rted by blood could end up scheming against each other, and be heartless to one another.


    Conversely, some families may not be rted by blood, but they do everything for each other and are genuine toward each other. That was far superior to some families rted by blood.


    Come to think of it, while her rtionship with Theodore ended up in tatters, they did grow up together after all.


    How many decades could one enjoy in a lifetime? Their youth was the most beautiful time of their lives.


    Even though Theodore broke her heart and she found him to be a real bastard, it was strictly limited to their rtionship. Theodore wouldn''t really hurt her.


    Although he had misunderstood her and even med her, he had paid the price for it, which came in the form of Ker never trusting him and returning to him again. She even married another man, and he still remained clueless about her being pregnant with his child to this day.