I Walked Away Seven Years Too Late But Right on Time novel Chapter 82

Her lingering resentment had always stemmed from how his love constantly wavered, running hot and cold.

The gastric bleeding and the car crash—she knew about both. But her feelings back then were entirely different from how she felt now.

Both incidents happened after he returned from France.

The car crash happened during their second New Year's together.

He had just returned from France and was driving back to Boston. He hit a median barrier just as he was arriving. Fortunately, he hadn't been speeding, and his injuries weren't severe.

He was hospitalized in Boston. The company sent her and the administrative manager to the hospital to pass along their regards. She only caught a brief glimpse of his mother, offered a quick greeting, and then his mother stepped out. Sophie had been so completely focused on him lying in the hospital bed that she didn't even get a good look at his mother's face.

She wanted to stay and take care of him, but he refused. She had left utterly disappointed.

The time he suffered from gastric bleeding was during their fifth year together.

It was spring. Luke had gone to France on an emergency trip, and he returned looking heavily burdened. In the middle of the night, he sat alone in the living room, smoking until dawn.

He had a lot of business dinners during that time, but he wouldn't let her accompany him. Only later did she hear that he had been drinking heavily and recklessly at the table.

He vomited massive amounts of blood, terrifying the people with him, and was rushed to the hospital that very night.

As his secretary, she rushed over first thing the next morning to care for him.

He was never someone who complained about pain. She assumed he would definitely keep something like this from his parents, only sharing good news while hiding the bad.

When she overheard him on the phone telling his parents he was hospitalized for a bleeding ulcer, she had been stunned for quite a while.

Before his parents arrived, he told her to go home, insisting she didn't need to come by for the next few days.

Back then, she couldn't help but feel incredibly hurt. Was he really that terrified of her meeting his parents?

Now, it all made sense. She finally understood his difficulties and his protective intentions. At the very least, those seven years hadn't been a complete lie.

But there was no going back.

Gavin turned the moment he heard Sophie call his name.

Sophie walked briskly toward him, practically floating down the steps, a serene smile of closure on her face.

He stepped forward to meet her and grabbed her hand. In that instant, the heart he had been keeping suspended in his chest finally settled. His waiting and his persistence had been rewarded. He knew with absolute clarity that Sophie had finally chosen him. He had been working late when she texted him, saying Luke had asked to meet and that they had things to clear up, telling him not to wait up.

How could he not wait? Working late into the night, he was completely out of focus, his mind miles away.

When he rushed over, her conversation with Luke was still ongoing. He didn't go inside. He just stood out there, waiting, his heart tied in knots.

It was mid-March, and the cherry blossoms lining the street were in full bloom. Standing with his back to the coffee shop, staring at the blossoms, he thought back to their college days—watching Sophie's hurried silhouette during this exact season.

So many times they had brushed past each other. So many times he had watched her smile beneath the cherry blossom trees, knowing that smile was never for him.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify