“Leaving? Look at you, How could I leave you like this?”
I still didn’t believe him.
Cried out, I clung to him, refusing to let go..
He sighed, resigned, and lay down beside me.
$ slent soundly for the first time in a long time
12:19 PM
&
He sighed, resigned, and lay down beside me.
I slept soundly for the first time in a long time.
When I opened my eyes, Ronan was gone.
My phone, which had been silenced at some point, was flashing with over 99 missed calls, half of them from Donovan. Beyond that, the alumni group chat, which had been dead for years, was suddenly buzzing with activity.
Donovan had posted a message, suggesting an alumni reunion.
[A reunion hosted by Donovan Sutton? I’m definitely going!]
[I heard Ronan Finch is back too! We should invite him!]
[Ronan Finch? The Ronan Finch? When did he get back?]
[That’s him! I’m a huge fan, I follow his every move. Rumor has it, he came back to propose to the girl he’s been in love with for ten years.]
Just as I read that, my phone was plucked from my hand.
Ronan’s handsome face filled my vision.
He gently ruffled my messy hair. “Slept well?”
I shook my head and slowly shifted to sit on his lap.
“I thought you weren’t coming.”
Before returning, I had sent him an email with my address.
He never replied.
I assumed he was too busy to even check his email, but then he was the first person I saw when I arrived.
It was a surprise, to say the least.
But with the surprise came a shock.
He pulled me into his arms. “Are you angry?”
I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his chest, refusing to speak.
His voice softened. “I left in a hurry that day, and I lost my phone. That’s why I couldn’t contact you right away. But I did reach out later, didn’t I?”
“Are you still angry? Hmm?”
After he left, I’d fallen into a deep depression.
When they said he’d been whisked away by some rich woman, I actually believed them.
His phone went straight to voicemail, his messages went unanswered. It
t was like he’d vanished from the face of the earth.
If he hadn’t finally contacted me, I was on the verge of filing a missing person report.
I shifted in his arms and pressed on.
“Then why didn’t you reply to my email?”
“I booked a flight the second I got it. I wanted to surprise you. Instead, you gave me a heart attack.”
I suppose seeing me show up with Donovan must have been quite a shock for him too
A small smile touched my lips. “But I still haven’t forgiven you.”
He leaned down, and the dangerous glint in his eyes sent a shiver down my spine.
T
“Then I guess I’ll have to resort to other methods.”
I instinctively tried to flee, but he caught my ankle and pulled me back.
Don’t let his dapper appearance fool you. Ronan was a completely different person behind closed doors.
I pressed my hands against his chest. “Ronan, I just got off a plane…”
“It’s fine,” he murmured against my skin. “I’ll do all the work.”
The “work” lasted well into the night.
I was exhausted and starving, curled up in his arms and sulking.
He, on the other hand, seemed to be in an excellent mood and brought up the reunion.
“A buddy of mine invited me. You’ll come with me, right?”
I decided to provoke him. “Donovan will be there. Aren’t you afraid something might happen between us?”
His hand traced a slow path down my waist, and his handsome smile made my hair stand on end,
“You’re welcome to try.”
What a petty, possessive man.
Ronan and I had planned to go to the reunion together.
But in the morning, he called to say something urgent had come up and that I should go ahead without him.
I never expected to arrive at the private room only to hear them still talking about me.
The voices inside continued, each comment more vicious than the last.
Amid the noise, I clearly caught Genevieve’s voice.
She was saying, “As you all know, my sister, Carys, married Donovan in my place.”
“These past three years of marriage have really taken a toll on her. I hope when she arrives, you won’t make things difficult for her.”
Genevieve was a master of feigned kindness.
If she truly cared about my reputation, she would have shut down the gossip the moment it started.
But she didn’t.
