Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 3108

Norah didn't go home. She wandered the streets aimlessly by herself, still holding the bag with the shirts she'd bought for Xavier. She had completely forgotten to give them to him.

At some point, the sky opened up. The rain wasn't heavy, but it didn't take long for her to get soaked to the bone.

The icy wind cutting against her wet skin somehow made the agony in her chest a little more bearable.

"I really want to give up,"

"But I can't stop clinging to you,"

"I guess I won't let go until my heart breaks..."

...

"I've loved you for so long, how could I settle for being just friends?"

"I don't want to watch you hold someone else's hand."

A melancholy pop song drifted from a roadside shop, perfectly scoring the dreary, rainy day.

Xavier had always treated her like a naive little girl who hadn't grown up. But only she knew how genuine her feelings were. She wasn't some sheltered princess completely devoid of life experience.

Her love for him wasn't an impulsive whim or a passing phase. It was a fierce, deep-rooted devotion that had embedded itself in her very bones over the years.

Yet, despite all her fiery passion, it had all amounted to nothing in the end.

He had never once felt anything for her. Her pursuit had been nothing but a burden to him.

When the person you love views your affection as a burden, your love has completely and utterly failed.

She kept replaying those few days in Bloomfield in her head. She had playfully clung to him and joked around without restraint. His quiet indulgence had convinced her that he felt something for her.

That was why she had kissed him at Zachary's birthday party.

She didn't know if she was drowning in regret or pure heartbreak. Her tears mixed with the rain, flowing down her face unchecked.

"When you leave me out in the cold,"

"Whose heart are you warming instead?"

"It's my fault for not being good enough, easily replaced..."

"Silly girl." Janice lovingly cupped her cheek. "Get some rest."

After Janice left, Norah lay back down. Her head was swimming, but her mind was still trapped in a loop of him.

She closed her eyes, and tears slipped relentlessly down her cheeks. Her heart ached terribly. The pain crashed over her like a tidal wave, drowning her. There was no salvation, no escape route. The despair and sorrow were so suffocating she could barely breathe.

She pulled the covers over her head, crying quietly into the dark.

*

Norah fell ill. She spent the entire next day drifting in and out of a feverish haze in bed. By evening, Janice called for the family doctor.

After a quick examination, the doctor concluded she had caught a bad cold from being out in the rain.

Norah was cooperative, taking her medicine and receiving an IV drip. By dinnertime, her fever had finally broken.

Geoffrey Lamont and Catherine Lamont both came by to sit with her for a bit, but seeing how exhausted and listless she looked, they told her to just rest.

Later that night, Henson came to check on her.