After saying all that, I didn’t spare Jaylee another glance. Without looking back, I turned and left the hospital room with my subordinate.} But just as we stepped into the hallway, I stopped. I turned to look through the small window in the door, my eyes locking on Jaylee, who was still standing frozen by the bed.
I knew Lovell.
She had loved me enough to take a bullet for me. She had waited three years, holding onto the promise I once made.
If it were just a fight this morning, she wouldn’t have walked away so easily. She wasn’t someone who gave up on love that quickly. Something else had happened.
I tore my gaze away from the window and strode toward the hospital’s main entrance.}
“I want everything investigated. Every single thing that’s happened since the day Jaylee showed up. I want all the details, everything.“/ Lovell’s POV
As I returned home, my grandfather greeted me with concern. And just hearing the worry in his voice made my nose sting, and I nearly burst into tears.
After chatting with him for a while to ease his mind, I went to my room, turned on my phone, and was instantly bombarded by a string of missed calls and messages.
All from Horace.
[Lovell, where are you? I know you’re mad. Please, let me explain.]
www.
www
[It’s okay if you don’t want to talk to me. Just pick up the phone. Just listen, that’s all I’m asking. Please don’t shut me out.]} [Are you back home? If you don’t reply soon, I’m coming over]
[Lovell, when you’ve calmed down, come home, alright? You remember what we said, don’t you? I promised I’d propose to you under the fireworks. Please come back soon.]}
I stopped scrolling at that message. My thumb hovered over the screen, unmoving. Propose to me under the fireworks… how could I ever forget?
Three years ago, the night before Horace was deployed, there had been a fireworks festival in the city. We stood together on the quiet riverbank, watching the sky burst into color.
Seeing how much I loved it, he leaned close and whispered in my ear, “When I finish this mission and come back, I’ll give you your own private fireworks show. And under that sky, I’ll propose to you and marry you.”
His eyes had been filled with warmth and burning affection, and the fireworks reflected in them like stars.
I had smiled, tiptoed up to his ear, and whispered back, “Then it’s a promise. I want a fireworks show just for me. And I want you to propose under it.”
Recalling it, a bitter smile tugged at my lips.
Then, without hesitation, I pulled out my SIM card, snapped it in half, and tossed it aside.
Calculating the time, Jaylee was already pregnant when Horace made that promise.
What use was a promise built on lies?
I wanted no part of it.
Just then, my grandfather’s voice came from outside my room.
“The Stokes sent a car for you. Do you want to go meet Clement?”
Clement Stokes was a mysterious, reclusive heir of his family and was now my fiancé.
I collected myself, stood and walked out the door. Then I climbed into the car the Stokes had sent.
Clement was exactly as the rumors described: a fool.
But also, not quite how the rumors made him out to be.
He wasn’t deranged or unstable. He just didn’t like to talk.
When he saw me, I thought I caught a shimmer in his eyes–like he was about to cry. Or maybe I imagined it.§
Our wedding was set two months from now.N
Until then, I cleared my schedule completely. No work, no distractions–just staying by Clement’s side. Partly to avoid Horace and partly to get to know the man I was going to marry.
Horace’s POV
The whole time Lovell wasn’t returning home, I was unraveling.
I’d stopped dealing with anything related to my organization. Every day, I stayed holed up at home, like a ghost of
myself
