Step aside, Uncle Pride：Your Nephew is My Next Man - Chapter 60: Chapter 60

Not long after Aurelia left the hospital, Luigi arrived.
He understood Aurelia's toxic family dynamics better than anyone, so the moment he'd gotten back to campus, he'd frantically applied for emergency leave to "protect" her, laying out their entire complicated history to the administration.
Normally, new graduate students were locked down on campus, but the urgency in Luigi's voice and his obvious desperation had convinced them to make an exception.
The second Luigi stepped into the hospital room, he saw Rosalia wrapped like a mummy in white bandages.
He froze in the doorway, genuinely stunned.
He'd known she was hurt, but seeing her like this—broken, vulnerable, barely recognizable—hit him harder than he'd expected.
Perfect timing: Rosalia had just regained consciousness and immediately locked onto him through the haze of painkillers.
"Luigi..." Her voice was barely a whisper, but the hope in it was devastating. "You actually came for me."
Mr. and Mrs. Cooper looked shocked to see Luigi but quickly scrambled to make space for him beside the bed.
Luigi's chest tightened as he looked between Aurelia's parents. "Jesus Christ, what happened to her?"
He'd caught fragments of Aurelia's emergency call, but nothing had prepared him for this level of destruction.
Both parents immediately dissolved into tears.
Mrs. Cooper's voice broke completely: "Our baby got manipulated into predatory loans at college. She's so young, so trusting—those monsters took advantage of her."
"Now we owe more than we'll ever be able to repay, and Rosalia felt so guilty about destroying our family that she..." She couldn't finish the sentence.
Luigi's stomach churned. Despite everything, seeing anyone reduced to this was horrific.
After offering hollow condolences, he scanned the room with growing anxiety. "Where's Aurelia? I know she came home."
At Aurelia's name, Mrs. Cooper's grief instantly transformed into bitter resentment.
"Don't even get me started on that selfish girl. Instead of helping her sister in crisis, she had the nerve to lecture us about our parenting. Rosalia is fighting for her life, and all Aurelia could think about was her own petty grievances. The moment we asked for help, she ran off with some man like the ungrateful bitch she's always been."
Luigi felt white-hot rage explode in his chest. Even with their daughter hospitalized, they were still poisoning the air with their toxic favoritism.
He stood abruptly, his entire body vibrating with barely controlled fury.
Mr. Cooper desperately grabbed his arm: "Luigi, please! Rosalia's been asking for you since she woke up. We know you two have history—real feelings."
"Could you stay with her? Maybe talk her through this? She needs someone who actually cares about her."
Mrs. Cooper joined the desperate plea: "She's so fragile right now. Having you here could make all the difference in her recovery."
Luigi looked down at Rosalia—genuinely broken, genuinely suffering—and felt his heart crack slightly.
But then he thought about Aurelia out there somewhere, probably falling apart while dealing with this family crisis alone.
"I'm sorry, but I can't. I have someone else I need to find."
He walked out without another word, leaving behind their shocked protests.
Whatever sympathy he felt for Rosalia couldn't compete with his desperate need to reach Aurelia.
He texted her immediately: Where are you? I'm coming to get you.
Aurelia saw the message while sitting in a cozy shabu-shabu restaurant in Lower Manhattan.
This place had been her childhood sanctuary—she'd been coming here since elementary school, but hadn't set foot inside since leaving for New Mexico after graduation. The familiar comfort of the thin-sliced beef and delicate broth felt like a warm hug she'd been craving for years.
Isaac was meticulously preparing her dipping sauce, his movements careful and precise.
"I make legendary ponzu sauce—everyone who tries it becomes obsessed. Trust me on this."
When their order arrived, Isaac immediately took over cooking duties, his attention laser-focused on making sure she had perfectly prepared meat and vegetables.
Aurelia's bowl kept filling up faster than she could eat. She laughingly tried to fend him off: "Isaac, stop! You need to eat too—I'm one person, I can't handle all this food."
But seeing her actually smile for the first time all day made Isaac's heart soar. He'd do anything to keep that lightness in her eyes.
As they laughed together, the restaurant owner approached with a warm smile.
"Aurelia! My goodness, it's been forever! So wonderful to see you brought your boyfriend back to our little place. I was starting to worry you'd forgotten about us after starting college."
Aurelia's face immediately went rigid with panic and embarrassment.
Isaac watched her withdraw into herself, his protective instincts flaring as he realized this was about to become another painful reminder of her past.
"You're so kind as always," Aurelia managed. "I just don't get back to the city much during school. Thought I'd show my friend one of my favorite places."
The owner beamed: "Well, you look absolutely radiant! Though I have to say, your boyfriend has changed so much since high school—I barely recognized him from that hockey player you used to bring in!"
The words hit Aurelia like a physical blow. Isaac watched her face crumble as memories of Luigi crashed over her.
"He's not my boyfriend," she said quietly, her voice hollow with old pain. "And he's not Luigi either."
Her hands were shaking slightly as she continued: "Luigi and I... that ended right after graduation."
Actually, calling it an ending was generous. They'd never really been together at all—just her naive delusions and his cruel manipulation.
Isaac's heart broke watching her retreat into that familiar shell of self-protection, and his own rage at Luigi burned even hotter.