Chapter 36

• IGNAZIO WOKE UP disoriented with the sense of time. For a moment, he suspected that he might be in a dream. How could he be in the room he had left years ago? But then he remembered that last night, without coercion and with a clear mind, he volunteered to escort Olivia and Gianna back to their parents' residence.
• Ignazio groaned. Why did he take such an impulsive action? Why didn't he think about the consequences of what he was doing? What should he do now? For the past five years, he had been running away. Instead of returning to apologize to his parents, he chose to hide. And now, for some unclear impulse, whether it was because of Gianna or Olivia, he found himself back at his parents' home. What should he do if he met his parents later? What explanation could he give them? What should he say to them? Could he face his parents without feeling ashamed or guilty after all the pain and disappointment he had caused?
• Gianna might be able to accept him and forgive him easily, but what about his parents? What if his parents turned away from him? Could Ignazio endure that? Ignazio sat on the bed with all the negative thoughts in his head. With all the plans and words he had prepared for his parents. The time he spent thinking turned the initially dark sky into light. Ignazio cursed, went to the bathroom to attend to his long overdue duties. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he regretted rejecting Olivia's offer last night to borrow Meizar's clothes. Could he face his parents in a disheveled and unkempt state? But he couldn't go to his sister's room without the risk of being noticed by other occupants of the house. He wasn't ready.