He Knelt and Asked Me to Give My Heart to His Student Chapter 07
The door slammed shut behind me.
Adrian didn’t look up. He just kept patting Chloe’s back in the same mechanical rhythm.
“Professor Carlisle, I’m sorry. I never thought Natalie would even lose the baby because of—”
She was cut off before she could finish.
“How’s the apartment search going?”
She froze, tears still trembling in her eyes. “I’m looking. I’ll move out as soon as I can.”
He nodded and finally stopped moving his hand.
“Get some rest. I’m going out for a walk.”
Chloe tugged on his sleeve. “Can I come with you?”
Adrian rarely refused Chloe anything, but this time he shook his head with almost no hesitation.
He couldn’t even explain what he was feeling. There was a dull heaviness in his chest, and all he wanted was to get out of
that house.
The truth was, when he went to the county courthouse that day, he had planned to bring Natalie home.
He had deliberately worn the charcoal suit she liked best and gotten up early to make himself presentable.
Just like he had said before, after eleven years together, it wasn’t possible that he felt nothing for her.
He had taken it for granted that Natalie felt the same.
And on top of that, she was pregnant.
He knew better than anyone how much that child had meant to her.
So he had been willing to give her a graceful way back.
What he had never expected was that by the time he saw her again, she had already ended the pregnancy.
That was when panic had set in, and he had kept pressing her for an answer.
But every word she said pointed to the same conclusion.
She had truly given up on him. She had let him go completely.
But how could that be? She had loved him so much.
Adrian walked down the route they used to stroll together and kept thinking about that question.
A retired professor happened to pass by and asked, “Where’s Natalie? Weren’t you two taking walks together after work
every day before?”
His voice came out dry. “Natalie’s sick. She’s been resting at home lately.”
The older man nodded and patted him on the shoulder with a cheerful smile.
To be honest, I’ve never seen a couple more in love than the two of you.”
“Remember your first year on the faculty? You asked Natalie to help in the lab, and Ryan Cole made some crack about a
girl from another school getting into Columbia through a man. You beat him black and blue for that.”
“When the university was about to discipline you, Natalie was the one who went to Ryan and begged him to settle it.”
Adrian stopped dead.
“Natalie went to beg Ryan?”
J
The old professor stared at him. “You didn’t know? That girl was terrified the disciplinary record would ruin your future.
so she ran off to plead with him like a fool. He squeezed nearly five grand out of her too. I heard she sold her gold
necklace just to come up with the money.”
After saying that, the professor waved and left.
Adrian remained where he was, standing there blankly for a very long time.
Back then, all he had known was that Ryan chose to settle. He had never known Natalie had gone to him first.
No wonder she had kept telling him not to worry those few days.
No wonder the gold necklace she always wore had suddenly disappeared.
He closed his eyes, and a tear slipped down soundlessly.
The sky slowly darkened.
He sat down on a bench by the road, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it.
Come to think of it, he rarely smoked, because she didn’t like it.
He only ever had one when he was so exhausted he needed it to clear his head.
Chloe called him, sounding pitiful.
“Professor Carlisle, the doctor said my condition is getting worse again.”
“What if I don’t live long enough to find a matching heart? I’m so scared.”
He rubbed his temples tiredly. “If you don’t make it, then I guess that’s just your fate.”
There was silence on the other end for two full minutes. Then she spoke again as if nothing had happened.
“Where are you? Do you want me to come pick you up?”
“It’s late. You should go home.”
His voice turned hard as he corrected her. “The place you’re staying now is Natalie’s and my home, not yours.”
Then he hung up.
Adrian crushed out the cigarette and tossed it into a trash can,
Then he called Natalie.
He wanted to ask if she’d moved all her luggage.
He wanted to ask what she planned to do next.
But she didn’t answer.
Adrian stayed on that bench all night.
As his consciousness blurred, he found himself back at seventeen.
On the school rooftop, Natalie in her uniform was walking slowly toward him.
“Adrian, are you skipping evening study hall again today?”
He stared at her, a little dazed.