Adopted to Biological? Keep Your Golden Child Scapegoat Out novel Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The wind outside the hotel was cold, cutting across my face with the bleakness of autumn.

Lily carried my equipment case, her footsteps light-like she was afraid to disturb me.

I’d barely reached the curb when I heard hurried footsteps behind me. Someone calling my name.

“Scarlett, wait!”

I turned around. It was Freddie.

His suit jacket was draped over his arm. His hair was a mess. Sweat covered his forehead.

He ran up to me, breathing hard, his chest heaving. His eyes were full of guilt.

“I’m sorry.” His voice came out hoarse. “I’m sorry I didn’t come find you back then. I’m sorry… for being with Sienna.”

I looked at him. Sunlight fell across his face, highlighting the fine lines at the corners of his eyes.

When we were kids, he used to say my eyes were big, like a deer’s. But now, his eyes didn’t hold any trace of what they used to.

I thought back to senior year of high school. He’d climbed over the wall, clutching a piece of milk candy in his hand, saying, “Scarlett, let’s both get into NYU. When we do, I’ll take you to see the ocean.”

I remembered the sweetness of that candy for years.

“Why did you get together with her?”

I asked. My voice was soft. The wind could’ve carried it away.

“In college, she came to me and said you’d forgotten about me. That you’d gone to UT Austin and were never coming back.”

His fingers clenched the jacket so tightly his knuckles went white.

“She said you hated me. That you hated me for not standing up for you back then. I… I panicked. I tried to find you, but you’d changed your number. The old house was empty. I thought… I thought you really didn’t want to see me anymore.”

Something twisted sharply in my chest. It hurt.

The first day I arrived at UT Austin, I went to NYU’s campus gates, I thought he’d be waiting for me there.

I waited all day. He never showed.

Later, I found out he was already with Sienna by then.

“It was always you I lovd.” Freddie’s eyes turned red. Tears pooled at the edges.

Chapter 8

“After the college entrance exam, I went to the old house to find you. Your parents said you’d left. That you were never coming back. I sat outside that house all night, holding the milk candy I’d bought for you. It melted in my hand.”

The candy melted… just like whatever chance we’d had. It was already gone.

“I broke up with Sienna. The wedding’s canceled.”

He took a step forward, reaching for my hand. I took a step back, dodging him.

“Scarlett, can we start over? I know I messed up. I’ll treat you right this time. I promise.”

I looked at him. My heart was calm.

All those years of liking him. All those years of hoping. Time and lies had ground them down to nothing.

“Freddie, we were never meant to be.”

He froze. The color drained from his face.

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