Chapter 15
Two years later, I could finally take off the mask and show my face in public again.
If you looked closely, you could still see the scars, but they didn’t interfere with normal life anymore.
At least I wouldn’t scare people just by walking down the street.
I went back to Harvard to finish my degree.
Two years changes everything. Nothing was the same.
My classmates looked at me with this mix of pity, curiosity, and sadness.
But nobody had the guts to say anything to my face.
A few of my closer friends broke down crying when they saw me.
“Aurelia, you’ve been through so much.”
“That evil bitch got off way too easy!”
“Five years? That’s nothing for what she did!”
I just smiled. “It’s in the past now.”
Yeah, it was in the past.
The bright, carefree Aurelia was dead.
The one who survived was forged in fire.
I threw myself into my studies, desperate to make up for those two lost years.
My grades shot through the roof. I got scholarships, internship offers from major companies.
My advisor said I was the most driven student he’d ever taught.
“Aurelia, your determination is incredible.”
“After everything you’ve been through, to still have this kind of strength–it’s remarkable.”
I just smiled:
What choice did I have besides being strong?
Spend every day crying and feeling sorry for myself?
That would’ve been exactly what Seraphina wanted.
Alistair was still stalking me.
He even showed up at my department and got down on his knees in front of everyone.
It was this beautiful sunny day, people walking all over campus.
Then suddenly he appeared and dropped to his knees with this loud thud.
22:48
My Childhood Ex Ruined My Face for His Crush? Cute. I Ruined Their Lives
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Chapter 15
“Aurelia, please forgive me.”
His voice carried across the whole courtyard, drawing stares from everywhere.
“I know I screwed up. I know how badly I screwed up.”
“Just give me a chance to make it right, please?”
He was kneeling so straight and rigid, like he was trying to shatter his kneecaps.
More and more people started gathering around.
Some were filming, others pointing and whispering.
“Isn’t that Alistair Hawke from computer science?”
“Why’s he on his knees?”
“I think it’s about Aurelia… you know, that girl who got the acid thrown on her two years ago.”
“Jesus, he’s just trying to apologize now?”
I stared down at him with zero emotion. “Alistair, what’s the point of this?”
“I…” His voice broke, tears streaming down his face.
“You think kneeling here is gonna bring my face back?”
“You think it erases two years of agony?”
“Do you have any idea how much skin grafts hurt? Do you know what it’s like changing bloody bandages every single day?”
“Do you know what it feels like to look in the mirror and not recognize yourself?”
Every question was like a knife twisting in his chest.
He was sobbing like a little kid, snot and tears all over his face, looking pathetic.
“I know it can’t fix anything, but I don’t know what else to do…”
“Please, Aurelia, just give me one chance…”
“Let me take care of you, let me make it up to you…”
“Then don’t do anything,” I said, turning away. “Just live your life and stop bothering me.”
“Aurelia!”
He screamed after me, his voice completely raw.
I didn’t look back.
Some people, some things–when they’re over, they’re over.
You can’t unring a bell or fix a shattered mirror.
He should understand that by now.
22:49
