Eight Years of Maybe One Day of I Do—Bride Swapped Deal With It novel Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After the wedding, Thea vanished.

Her number went dead. Social media stopped updating.

She blocked him everywhere.

Caspian pulled every string he had.

Finally found out-the day after the wedding, Thea left with Kieran and moved to his hometown.

He convinced himself she was just upset.

Back when they were building the business, buying the apartment-they’d picked HER favorite city.

Why would she willingly move now?

He tracked down the person who bought their old place.

They didn’t want to sell. Caspian offered a price they couldn’t refuse.

Paperwork went through fast.

When he finally held those familiar keys again, opened the door, and walked into the empty, unfamiliar-smelling space-

The irony hit him like a slap.

Nothing had changed.

Same layout. Same view. Even the tiny holes in the wall where they’d hung photos.

But everything was different.

He had it deep-cleaned, restored every detail from memory.

Then he took photos, found an old email of hers and sent them.

[Home’s still here. You can come back anytime.]

No response.

He started “traveling for work” to her city.

Found out where her parents went-the park, the market. Engineered run-ins.

Mr. and Mrs. Marlowe always looked uncomfortable when they saw him.

“Caspian… you’re here again. Thea’s… she’s doing well.”

“I know I didn’t visit enough before. I’ll come more often now.”

He showed up with expensive supplements, fruit baskets, sincere smile.

11:43

Eight Years of Maybe, One Day of I Do-Bride Swapped, Deal With It!

6.3%

He tried to piece together Thea’s life from scraps of conversation.

Mr. Marlowe would sigh.

Finally just patted Caspian’s shoulder.

“Let the past stay in the past. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Hard on himself?

No. He was just fixing his mistakes.

He was convinced that if he tried hard enough, stayed patient enough, he could get that door open again.

He forgot.

The person behind that door wasn’t waiting anymore.

He ran into Thea for real at a corner café.

She was sitting by the window with a friend.

Caspian practically ran inside.

“Thea.”

She looked up. But when she saw him, smile faded.

“Mr. Reid. What a coincidence.”

Her friend watched him like a hawk.

“Can we talk? Just five minutes.” His voice was rough.

Thea hesitated, nodded at her friend.

1

“You… you look good.” He forced the words out.

“Thanks. Did you need something?”

“I… I bought our apartment back. Set it up exactly how it was.”

“And Juniper-I fired her. Nothing ever happened between us. I swear. I just didn’t notice the stuff she was pulling. I was stupid…”

He was desperate, rambling.

Like saying it all out loud could wipe away eight years of dust.

Thea listened quietly.

When he finally stopped, breathing hard, staring at her-

She spoke.

11:43

Eight Years of Maybe, One Day of I Do-Bride Swapped, Deal With It!

6.5%

“Caspian, I believe you.”

His eyes lit up.

But she kept going. “I believe nothing physical happened between you two. Probably.”

She paused, then looked out at the busy street.

“But… so what?”

Caspian froze.

“It was never about whether you slept with Juniper.”

“It was about the fact that for eight years, every time you had to choose, I was always the ‘next time,’ ‘later,’ ‘don’t make a scene’ option.”

“Your secretary. Your job. Your reputation. Even your friends’ jokes-they all mattered more than the fact that I just wanted a home.”

“The bouquet was the last time you had to choose. I saw your answer.”

She rested a hand gently on her stomach.

The gesture was soft. But it stabbed him.

“Caspian, I don’t hate you. Really. You could fire a hundred Junipers. Buy back ten apartments. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I’m doing well now. Kieran… he’s good.”

When she said his name, her eyes lit

That light used to be Caspian’s. Now it burned him to look at.

“Please. Don’t interfere with my life anymore. Don’t make things hard for my parents. Let this be the end.”

She stood and gave a small nod, then walked back to her friend.

Caspian didn’t follow.

He sat stiffly in his chair.

“So what?”

Those words echoed in his head.

They finally shattered all delusional hope he’d been clinging to.

He thought he could fix things with money, explanations, time.

Fix what?

A person he’d taken for granted until she was gone?

A relationship that had been falling apart for years?

He still didn’t let go completely. Like he was addicted.

11:43

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