I Walked Away Seven Years Too Late But Right on Time novel Chapter 145

Luke had spent the entire day drowning in overtime. By the time he got back to his hotel, he had no appetite and zero energy. He collapsed onto the sofa, squeezing his exhausted eyes shut.

When the knock came, a fleeting, desperate hope seized him—maybe it was Sophie. She had just appeared by his side in a hazy half-dream, bringing an agonizing sense of peace.

He threw the door open, but the brief spark of hope instantly morphed into a nightmare when he saw Eileen standing in the hallway.

"What are you doing here?"

Catching the momentary disappointment that flickered across his face, Eileen shoved him in a fit of rage.

"Who were you expecting? That vile vixen?!"

Caught off guard, Luke stumbled backward, and Eileen took the opening to force her way inside.

"What is your problem?"

Luke spun around, only to see Eileen aggressively jamming a flash drive into the side of the television.

"I'm going to rip off her mask and show you exactly who she really is."

Eileen grabbed the remote, and images began flashing across the screen. Every single one featured Sophie.

There were frontal shots, side profiles, and views from behind.

Some were of her walking down the street, stepping out of a car, eating at a restaurant, or standing beside Gavin. They were clearly taken with a telephoto lens; her face was in razor-sharp focus while the crowds around her were reduced to a blurry backdrop.

It was surveillance footage, captured with professional equipment.

But Luke didn't even ask where the photos came from. His entire focus was captivated by the images themselves.

He recognized some of the expressions on Sophie's face, but others were entirely foreign to him.

At a dinner table, she held a chicken wing, licking the sauce from her fingers right in front of Gavin, her eyes dancing with mischievous glee. On the sidewalk, she playfully grabbed Gavin's hand, pretending to bite it. Standing in a field of canola flowers, she shoved Gavin away, her cheeks burning with a mix of embarrassment and fury...

With him, Sophie had always been poised, quiet, obedient, and demure. But with Gavin, she was an entirely different person—reckless, radiant, vibrant, and incredibly alive. A suffocating wave of despair crashed over Luke, tearing at his heart until he squeezed his eyes shut in agony.

When the slideshow landed on the final image, Luke finally tore his gaze from the screen and locked eyes with Eileen.

"What does this prove? It's just a bunch of creepy photos."

"Yeah, someone stalked her. But it was on my father's orders! I found these on his personal laptop. He had an encrypted password just to log in, and another password protecting this specific folder. Why the hell is my father stalking this woman? Why is he hoarding pictures of her?"

Luke ignored her questions. He stepped forward, yanked the flash drive from the TV, and clamped it in his fist with zero intention of giving it back.

Watching him, Eileen let out a dark, mocking laugh.

"Ha!" Staring at his tortured expression, Eileen didn't know whether to revel in it or weep. She threw her head back in a harsh laugh that sounded more like a scream.

Suddenly, she closed the distance between them. "What size shoe does she wear?"

Luke completely ignored the bizarre question.

His mind was racing, trying to piece together the timeline of Harold's late return that night.

It was true. Harold had sought him out that exact day, asking intrusive questions about how he had met Sophie, what her age was, when her birthday was.

"Size six, right?"

Eileen didn't even wait for his answer. She stated it as an absolute, damning fact.

Luke couldn't fathom why she was suddenly obsessing over Sophie's shoe size. He just stared at her, waiting for the next deranged trap to spring.

Reading his confusion, Eileen sneered.

She marched straight into his walk-in closet. The layout was exactly the same as the first time she had broken in. His clothes were on the left, Sophie's on the right. The garments she had shredded in her last manic episode were neatly folded on the bottom shelf.

Along the back wall, a shoe rack held his dress shoes on the top tiers, while the bottom rows were lined entirely with Sophie's stilettos. Every single pair was a size six.