A Promise Of Infinity

In His Eyes

Corale huffed in annoyance.

Of course Gael will stop in their hot activity because he still has the shame of betraying her! Shame! Nothing more!

Corel couldn't believe Gael was telling the truth that he loved her now. If he really loved her, there was no way he would still choose to lick Victor's shoes. If he really loved her, he would have told her that he was being pressured rather than stealing the money she'd accumulated over a year to pay for living in Paris during college.

'Just drop it.'

Corale rolled her eyes.

"Corale?"

"Oh!" Corale realized that her sister had finished studying. She squatted down to give a warm hug, "How was school? Some lessons are difficult for you, Agnes?"

"Not much other than math," Agnes answered innocently, "I'm glad you're staying with us, Sis."

Oh ...

Corale forgot that her only step-sister refused to let her go to Paris because Agnes was afraid to be alone, she had no friends to play with anymore. She wasn't disappointed, basically Agnes didn't understand anything deep yet, "Sure," she muttered, "let's go then," she continued gently holding her sister's hand.

Agnes nodded enthusiastically.

Corale smiled brightly at her sister's innocent behavior.

That's right, there's no way Corale could be annoyed when she was stared at by those two big, innocent aqua blue eyes?

"Eh? Gael~!"

Gael?

Corale turned her head slowly towards Agnes' tiny index finger, and sure enough, not far from her was Gael standing in the light of the late afternoon sun.

"Corale ..." Gael softly said, "I'm sure you have time to chat now. Can we talk now?"

***

Corale didn't avoid him, it's time to talk about what happened. She took Gael to a cafe that had a children's playground so that Agnes would not be disappointed in knowing the fact that her future brother-in-law had committed the crime of stealing money.

Corale did ask her family not to tell Agnes about Gael's problems so as not to disturb her innocent mind, because she knew how much her sister admired Gael's hard-working figure, and was very happy when she found out about their relationship.

Corale watched Agnes who was busy playing from the small bridge of the fish pond with Gael beside her, she was amazed by her little sister's talent for getting along with other children.

Agnes has a positive magnet that attracts people to like her, at least that's how Corale feels all along.

Agnes's cheerfulness caused a hint of jealousy in Corale's heart, not because she didn't like it, but because of this big problem, she hoped to be a child again and play with her sister until the problem was over. She knows impossible, there is no magic in this world, just wishful thinking.

"Agnes is really cute, right?"

Corale still kept her lips shut, refusing to answer that question. Why anyway? This wasn't the first time Gael had praised Agnes as cute.

Gael let out a small breath. Corale realized there was no desire to soften him. He accept his fate as he rested his chin on the handrail of the dark brown wooden bridge, "Are you sure Agnes didn't hear? I'm sure you'll scream."

"What am I supposed to scream? Tragedy has happened," Corale replied bitterly, "I have nothing to talk about but I ask you not to expect anything from me anymore."

"You mean about us?" Gael asked desperately, "you know I didn't do this against my will."

"I know," Corale sighed, "this tragedy made me realize that our relationship will never be the same again. I'm sorry."

For her trust is hard to rebuild, she could have started a relationship with Gael again, but the wound that was scratched her was deep after she found out her money was used to pay for his college, not returned because he felt guilty as he claimed.

"You don't need to apologize, I should. I'm sorry, Corale," Gael choked out, "if I could change the time, I'd be honest with you."

Corale didn't answer, noticing Agnes who conscientiously stopped playing to look at her, probably happy to see her again with Gael after two weeks of not being seen together.

"I have no choice because I owe a lot to Victor's family," Gael expressed his frustration, "the interest they make is not the same as the agreement."

"You know that Victor's family has always been blood leeches," Corale criticized sharply, "you don't need to live here either, you can find a job near your campus. I told you I'm an adult, I can take care of myself ...!" She is tired of being considered weak, she admits she is afraid of Victor, but she always has a way of avoiding him.

"Promises are promises," Gael said.

"Your promise paid off a long time ago," Corale emphasized, "Mind your business ... just take care of yourself ...!" she snapped, annoyed at Gael's great concern.

"Corale," Gael muttered desperately, "how can I live in Strasbourg while the woman I love is frightened by Victor's obsession with you?"

Corale's heart wavered a little hearing Gael's confession of sincerely protecting her, one of the reasons why she start falling in love. She had to convince her heart to stay strong that he was the one who ruined her dream of studying in Paris, "For the past two years I've been fine. Victor didn't go as extreme as you fear."

"Like I was afraid?" Gael asked sarcastically, "You forgot the incident where he intended to kill your father in exchange for you to marry him?"

Corale remembered that, still fresh in her deepest memory, how she was frightened by Victor's threats, moreover, the Police did not imprison him, only gave a warning, if it happened again, they would take legal action. Shows how much influence the Victor family has in Eguisheim.

From that moment on, Victor often visited her family's bakery shop with the excuse of collecting a debt that had been paid off a year ago, when in fact he only wanted to see her.