Ice Prince: Rewrite The Star

"You don't have to be afraid of me. You know I won't hurt you." Max coaxed in the softest voice, hoping his sincerity could reach deep into his wife's heart.

'Chleo' didn't answer him as if she couldn't believe that the man wouldn't hurt her.

"Chleo, I admit I was wrong by threatening you and forcing you into this... unwanted marriage. But have I ever hurt you physically? Have I ever taken you to a dangerous place? I never even touched your family even though I threatened you to hurt them."

'Chleo' felt her chest assailed with excruciating pain. Instead of feeling relieved to hear the man's sincerity, she felt even more guilty.

The man had never once hurt her. Even when she was forcibly taken to England, her husband never restrained her movement.

On the other hand, she was the one who often hurt him. Countless times she had said nasty words to her husband.

She should be the one apologizing. 'Chleo' should be the one feeling guilty and persuading her husband not to avoid her.

But why the other way around? Why was the man apologizing and feeling guilty?

"That's why," Max took a deep breath before continuing, "Please don't avoid me."

Max stepped back towards the girl, and this time 'Chleo' didn't budge from her spot.

Max was relieved to see his wife not moving, and for a moment, he almost lost control of wanting to embrace her in his arms right there and then.

But he restrained himself and stopped advancing when the distance between them was close enough.

"We have to talk," Max's declaration invited a questioning look from a pair of brown eyes. "What do you want me to do? Are you willing to give me a chance, or do you want me to disappear from your life?"

'Chleo' gasped at her husband's choice. Not only her, but the other Chleo was also surprised and felt itchy to take over her body.

But she didn't do it because she had promised to give her other self time.

'Chleo' could have opted for the second option because she had already decided to return to Alexis.

But strangely, she couldn't express it right away. Her heart was warning her that Max would truly leave her if she chose the latter.

"I thought you said we should talk. Are these two options that you want to talk about?" 'Chleo' changed the topic of their conversation as a means of evasion.

"We can talk about other things if that's what you want. I miss the moments where we can chat casually."

"You realize it wasn't me, don't you?"

"It was you."

"We are different." 'Chleo' insisted on refusing to be equated with the other Chleo because she knew they were utterly different.

Max took out a dollar coin from his trouser pocket and handed it to Chleo.

"One dollar? Why did you give it to me?"

"What do you see in that coin? Do the two sides have anything in common?"

'Chleo' sighed and answered the question without needing to look closely at the two sides of the coin. "Do you think I'm a child? Of course, it's different. There are no coins had same sides."

'Chleo' gasped at realizing her own words while Max smiled broadly at that.

"Precisely. No coin has two identical sides. Even though they have two different sides, they are still the same coin worth one dollar. Just like you. Even though you have two different souls and different life experiences, you are still the Chleora I love."

Max took the coin back from Chleo's hand then continued his explanation. "What does this one-dollar coin mean? I can throw it away because its value doesn't mean much to me." Max literally threw the coin in the snow, and no one knew where it landed.

Then Max took one step at a time without taking his eyes off his wife. "But you are another story. You are much more valuable in my eyes, and I will never throw you away."

Slowly Max took one of Chleo's hands without force from each movement. He approached his wife as gently and gently as possible as if he would scare her away if he did it with a rush.

Then Max brought Chleo's hand to his chest, exactly where his heart was beating.

'Chleo' strangely felt her body shiver as the man approached her, closing the distance between them. She felt unbelievably nervous, feeling the cold skin touch her hands. But she neither rejected it nor avoided it.

'Chleo' let her husband lead her hand to where the man's heart was beating. She could feel the pulse beneath the man's clothes and instantly her heartfelt warmth.

It was the first time she had felt such a fast and firm pulse on her palm. She even no longer knew whose pulse was faster between the man's heart or her own.

"Do you feel it? My heart is yours, and I am yours. So I leave the choice to you. If you want me to disappear, I will leave. At least I can survive as long as I know you're still in this world. I will not force you to be with me or stalk you. Or, you give me a chance to amend my misdeeds to you and start over. Are you willing to give me a chance?"

'Chleo' didn't answer because her heart was pounding hard while the other Chleo felt like screaming to urge her stupid self to give a 'yes' answer.

On the other hand, 'Chleo' wanted to answer it with her voice, but strangely she couldn't find her voice as if a lump of solid object stuck in her throat.

In the end, 'Chleo' nodded her head, indicating that she was willing to give the man a second chance he desired.

After all, she had promised herself to give her husband a chance to approach her in the next life.

This might not be the next life that she had expected, but this life was a new one for her.

Seeing Chleo nod once in answer to his question, Max's heart rejoiced, and he felt like he wanted to pull his wife in his arms.

But he kept his hand to himself.

At first, 'Chleo' had hoped that Max would let go of her hand as soon as he got the answer. She found herself could no longer withstand the pounding of her heart which felt like it would explode if she had to feel the man's pulse under her palm.

However, the man surprised her with his following request.

"Can I hug you?"

WHAT???