Chapter 771 - Nicolae Moved On (1/2)

Nicolae looked back at Aleksis. He finally disclosed what was in his heart to the girl in all honesty.

”Aleksis, you know ... it's not easy to move on with life when the person you love leaves you, right? We've talked about this before.”

Aleksis nodded slowly. ”That's right. I remember your words last year before we...”

Aleksis paused, then changed the sentence. She did not want to mention the words 'before we get married'.

She chose another sentence to convey her point. ”I remember your words last year when we were at Father's conservation in Kenya. At that time, you told me that I must not be too hard on myself. Moving on with you did not mean I had to force myself to forget my past with Alaric.”

”That's right,” Nicolae said calmly. ”Now, I will use those words to myself. Aleksis ... someday I will move on. I will find a girl whom I will love with all my heart, and she will love me as much as I love her. And then I will move on with life. But, this past year ... what I did was: I tried to get on with my life by forcing myself to forget what had happened between us, even though it wasn't true.”

”Nic ...” Aleksis looked at Nicolae deeply.

”Along the way to this place, I thought a lot about that sentence, and now I realize that I will always love you ... You will always have a place in my heart, but I must let you go from my life because you belong with someone else. I must move on with my life, not by forgetting you.” Nicolae seemed emotional, but he kept speaking calmly.

”You will always be the girl I once loved - because we cannot erase history. You are also the mother of the children I love so much. By accepting that fact ... accepting that you are a part of my past, I will be able to move on to the future. I will be able to open my heart to the woman who will become my last love.”

”I'm glad to hear that you've made peace with yourself and found the best way for you to move on with life.” Aleksis touched Nicolae's hand and patted it softly. ”For me, you will always have a place in my heart as the only man I ever loved when I thought my husband passed away. You are my best friend, and forever you will have a place in my life and my family.”

”I'm glad to hear that, too,” Nicolae said. ”It's not easy ... but I hope we can keep having a good relationship because I really want to be able to visit Altair and Vega often.”

”Of course...!” said Aleksis happily. ”You will always be Daddy Nic for Altair and Vega.”

The girl stretched her arms with a smile. Nicolae smiled back and understood what she meant. He stepped closer to her open arms and hugged her warmly.

For a few moments, they were hugging to break the awkwardness between them that had been preventing them this past year from acting like in-laws or friends.

Nicolae and Alexis felt very happy because now, it was as if the invisible wall that blocked their relationship was slowly disappearing. Now, they can look at each other as two good friends.