Part 34

"GIANNAA... DARLING." Ignazio softly called his daughter's name again. His lips, which had been sealed for so long, dared not utter that name. But now, he repeated it as if it were a mantra he had to memorize. "Forgive me, sweetheart. Forgive me, my dear." Ignazio spoke with quivering shoulders and tears that continued to fall.

Gianna looked at Olivia with the typical puzzled gaze of a child, and Olivia responded to the unspoken question in those eyes with a smile. Olivia's hand lifted in a motion as if reciprocating a hug and stroking something. Gianna nodded and returned Ignazio's embrace, placing her little chin on his broad shoulder while gently patting Ignazio's back as if to comfort him.

"I have forgiven you, Papa," Gianna said in her flat tone. "That's why, Papa, don't get sick again, so you won't leave me again." The child's complaint made Olivia, who was initially moved, burst into laughter. Ignazio seemed to be the same. His shoulders trembled, and Olivia heard a faint chu