Chapter 27%
On the screen, I was smiling as I flung myself into his arms. He awkwardly patted my back. “Natalie, why are you so clingy?”
I glanced up at him with a playful pout. “Because I like you.“%
Back then, he didn’t know how to respond to affection. So stiffly, almost clumsily, he hugged me tighter. “Can we stay like this forever?“&
In the video, my ears were flushed red, but I answered without hesitation, “Of course.“%
He stared at the screen, eyes bloodshot, as if he had tumbled straight into a past he once believed would stretch on endlessly.
He watched us visit the amusement park for the first time, watched himself stand in line for three hours just to take me on the giant Ferris wheel;
He saw my birthday, the one where he tried to bake a cake and turned the kitchen upside down, yet I still beamed at him like he was the world;2
He saw the night I broke down from stress and how he stayed up with me till dawn, counting stars to calm my heart;&
He saw me curled in his arms, whispering, “I just want to cling to you for the rest of my life, no job, no ambition.“}
And he had believed it, believed that love like that could last forever.
But time passed. He grew colder, busier, more convinced that I’d always be there, waiting, forgiving, understanding.”
Until one day, I wasn’t.
With trembling fingers, he reached out to touch my face on the screen.\
s fingertips met nothing but cold glass.
breathing turned shallow like a drowning man clawing for air.
Natalie…“2
He called out softly, almost pleading.”
But no one answered.
It was on my wedding night that I saw the trending headline.
The image was grainy, but unmistakable, it was Brynn, pale and disheveled, being wheeled out of the hospital.
A far cry from the dazzling, proud man I once knew.2
I froze, my finger hovering just above the screen, unable to press play.
Hayden stepped out of the bathroom, damp from the shower, holding two warm glasses of milk.
Noticing my dazed expression, he offered a faint smile. “You saw it?”
I looked up at him. “You already knew?”
He sat beside me and handed me the milk, every gesture filled with quiet care.
“Not just that his leg’s injured, but that place is damaged too.“%
I blinked, not surprised.
My first thought slipped out. “Then he and Sylvie are stuck together for life now.“>
Hayden let out a soft chuckle, part surprise, mostly relief.
He set the milk aside and suddenly pulled me into his arms from behind, his chin resting on the curve of my shoulder.
“If that’s how you see it, I can finally breathe easy,” he whispered.
“You thought I’d feel bad for him?” I raised an eyebrow.
I was afraid your heart’s too soft,” he murmured.
I didn’t answer. I simply took a sip of milk, sweet, smooth, and warm against my lips.
Hayden had always seen the softness buried in me. He feared I’d cling to the past, that even the faintest guilt might wedge its way between us.8
But what he never realized was that I had already let go.
That night, he had drunk a little, just enough to make his eyes glimmer like candlelight.
He kissed me, starting from my earlobe, trailing down my neck, inch by inch as if needing to confirm that I truly belonged to him.
His touch held urgency like he’d been holding back for far too long.
Even at that moment, he didn’t forget to take precautions.
Itilted my head, breathless in his arms, and asked quietly. “Why are you still using that tonight?“%
He leaned close, his voice hoarse, trembling. “Because I’m afraid you’ll get hurt again… because of a child.”
I froze R
Afraid I might misunderstand, Hayden quickly added, “It’s not that I don’t want to. I’m just scared, scared you’ll have to suffer through that pain again“:
