Severo Laris began to sulk and decay.
The floor of the Imperial block was littered with empty bottles, thrown everywhere.
Engracia did not answer her phone calls and no one answered the door when she knocked.
Severo Laris is sitting on the carpet, sprawled on the edge of the sofa, as if he had passed out drunk.
Costillas pounced on him, grabbing his arm with both front paws and shaking him.
Severo Laris woke up slightly and looked at Ribs with an affectionate smile and reached out . . and shook Ribs’ head, “Stop it, Ribs.”
“Meow.”
Ribs struggled to drag the phone away with his little paws, it was still ringing and Severo Laris scanned the caller ID Engracia.
He opened the answer button.
Engracia: “Severo Laris, open the door for me, I’m at your door.”
The tall figure of Severo Laris staggered toward the door due to the many drinks he had consumed.
The doors open.
A strong smell of alcohol wafts toward Engracia.
“Severo Laris, you can’t live after breaking up with Paula Rouco, can you?”
Severo Laris recently stopped going to Professor Donato, and Engracia asked Rufio about it, only to learn that Severo Laris had stopped going to the firm and had dropped all of his clients’ cases.
A complete waste of youth.
Severo Laris did not react in the slightest to Engracia’s questions and irritation, but turned and walked back through the entrance of the house.
“What are you doing here?”
Engracia looked at his disheveled appearance and gritted her teeth angrily, “Severo Laris, look at yourself in the mirror and see how you are now, disheveled, smelling of alcohol, unshaven, a drunkard, a drunkard! For not having Paula Rouco, are you going to kill your whole future? How did you become like this? This is not the Severo Laris I know”.
Severo Laris sat back down disheveled on the carpet, laughed derisively, and said, “What was the Severo Laris you knew like?”
“The Severo Laris I know, hardworking and never a heavy drinker, cool and measured, with an almost perverse routine, should be standing in court, bright and shining, not lying here in a drunken stupor.”
Severo Laris picked up a bottle of wine and was about to drink it when Engracia snatched it out of his hand and smashed it against the floor, breaking it into pieces and spilling its contents all over the floor, while the flying shards of glass cut Severo Laris’ cheek, leaving him with a small bloody cut.
Severo Laris didn’t respond, his eyes empty as he looked at the mess on the floor and calmly said, “I used to think that working and earning money meant more than anything else. But I found that after I lost her, all that has lost its meaning for me.”
Engracia looked at Severo Laris’ lost soul and her heart sank, but her mouth was strong: “But you and Paula Rouco have broken up, and you want to live in the pain and decay of losing her for the rest of your life? If you really can’t let her go, go find her.”
Looking for her? What other strength and reason did he have to present himself to her?
He hurt her so much.
He was not there for her when she needed him most, insisted on breaking up with her and indirectly caused her to miscarry.
Severo Laris cannot forgive himself.
Adam Rouco was right, she didn’t deserve him, not from the beginning.
His father had kidnapped Paula Rouco, and he, like his father, was a bastard.
How could a bastard like him deserve her?
Engracia bent down, stared at him and said, “Severo Laris, I don’t care how sad you are now. You have to know that it cost you a long, long time to get what you have. After all, you didn’t get into Imperial University, and you shouldn’t lose yourself over something like your feelings. My dad told me that those two places to further your studies in the United States are still open, and he admires you.”
Engracia took her business card out of her money clip and placed it on the coffee table in front of her. “This is my father’s card, so if you’re thinking about it, feel free to contact him. But you’d better give him a quick answer. Because this is a position that a lot of people want.”
“Severo Laris, you should know how important this opportunity is for you, maybe it will change your life.”
…
Paula Rouco’s mood is stabilizing and normalizing.
But this is thanks to playing the piano.
Every time she plays the piano, the clutter and sadness in her heart seem to recede of their own accord, and only the pleasant sound of the piano resonates in her ears.
Occasionally, it is a morning or an afternoon of playing.
Paula Rouco’s day-to-day life after school: playing the piano, planting flowers and lawns with her grandfather.
A month later, she was in a much better mood and started sending friends.
A photo was taken of her and Roberto Rouco planting flowers, which were bright and the yard was full of bright sunshine.
Paula Rouco shows the photo to Roberto Rouco, who is wearing old glasses and frowns with a smile, “Hey, Grandpa is so old, he’s not photogenic at all.”
“No, grandpa you’re young, you promised me a long life.”
“A long life, that’s an old devil. But Grandpa would like to live until the day our Paulita really grows up and gets married. Grandpa would like to see our Paulita wear a wedding dress and marry the man she loves and live a happy life. At that moment, Grandpa will be able to close his eyes.”
Roberto Rouco caresses his granddaughter’s head.
Paula Rouco, with slightly sore eyes, smiled and said, “What good health you are in, Grandpa, I’m sure you’re going to live long.”
“Even if it’s to grow up with us Paulita, Grandpa is going to live a little longer.”
Grandparents and grandchildren are enjoying themselves.
Paula Rouco snuggled into the old man’s arms and choked a little.
Roberto Rouco froze, stroked his granddaughter’s little head, and asked, “What’s wrong with Paulita?”
“Grandpa, I will miss Grandpa very much if I go abroad to study. Grandpa loves me the most.”
“To study abroad, ah…,” the old man mused, “You have plans to study abroad?”
Paula Rouco nodded and said, “I used to stay in the country to study, also because I didn’t want to leave my grandfather, my dad and Estrella, but there were really no good music schools in the country, and in the last while, I thought about it and my dad told me that he was going to transfer me and asked me which school I wanted to go to, and I told my dad that I wanted to go to the Curtis Institute of Music in the United States. ”
“Ah America, that’s a long way away.”
The old man was somewhat reluctant, as he had always adored Paulita, but he had to support his granddaughter’s decision.
“Although going away to study abroad and not being able to see you for a long time, grandpa will miss you, but you are still young and so smart, you can’t stay at home with grandpa every day like these days. paulita, do what you want, go ahead, you are still young and you have a big and high sky to go.”
“I’m so sad to leave you all behind.”
The old man patted his granddaughter’s back and said comfortingly, “Life is a process of constantly saying goodbye, and when you live to your grandfather’s age, you will know that this life is nothing but happiness and good times.”
…
Adam Rouco took care of all the paperwork for Paula Rouco’s school and had a TOEFL teacher come to the house to tutor Paula Rouco.
At the end of April, Paula Rouco received an offer from the Curtis Institute of Music.
This spring has flown by as we have spent it in full preparation for the exams.
In the summer of that same year, Paula Rouco said goodbye to her family at the airport and prepared to fly to Philadelphia, USA, to attend the Curtis Institute of Music.
Upon saying goodbye at the airport, Estrella Berrocal hugged Paula Rouco and cried for a long time because of the long goodbye.
Estrella Berrocal instructed her many, many times, but finally had to let her daughter board the plane.
That day, it was not only those from The Rouco family who saw the plane off, but also Severo Laris, who was in a hurry to get to the airport in The Holy City.
Rufio learns about Paula Rouco’s movements from Susana, and Severo Laris learns about hers from Rufio.
So he knew she was on the plane today.
He arrived back from the Imperial, out of breath.
Fate had always been kind to him, and his wish to see her was not fulfilled.
And that year, Severo Laris got a place at the university to continue his studies and also flew to the United States to study for a doctorate at Harvard.
The city he went to was Cambridge, Massachusetts, not far from Philadelphia.
…
Thousands of mountains, but there is always a time to meet.