Never Mistake a Queen for a Lapdog novel Chapter 900

Yet he kept waiting. He just wanted to wait.

Right before Noreen's car drove by, he had a violent coughing fit. Having just recovered from a severe illness, his immune system was practically non-existent.

When the headlights swept over him, his dark world finally lit up. It ignited a spark of hope in his chest. His eyes locked onto the car. Watched it pass. Watched it stop. And finally, saw the silhouette that brought him peace.

Noreen hadn't expected Seth to be waiting for her. And she certainly hadn't expected him to look like such a wreck. He looked like he had stood through a torrential downpour, his hair messy and plastered to his forehead. The cuffs of his pale grey jacket were stained with mottled red, glaringly obvious even in the dark. It looked like dried blood.

Seeing the red, Noreen's heart jumped, and she blurted out, "Are you hurt?"

Seth wanted to say yes, to make her heart ache for him, to make her care. But the truth slipped out instead.

"No," his voice was so hoarse it sounded like sandpaper. "It's someone else's blood."

The tension drained out of Noreen. "It's late. Go back and get some rest. I'll have my driver take you."

She turned to signal the driver, but Seth reached out and grabbed her sleeve.

Noreen paused, looking down at him. He looked up at her, raw heartache swelling in his eyes. "It hurt, didn't it?"

"What?" Noreen frowned.

"When you lost the baby... it hurt a lot, didn't it?"

He had just witnessed a pregnant woman hovering on the brink of death. He felt the pure terror of feeling life drain away. Even though it wasn't Noreen, it terrified him to his core. His grip on her sleeve tightened, as if he were clinging to a lifeline.

For him, he could never move past it.

Seth slipped down, collapsing onto the wet pavement. Right in front of the woman he loved the most, admitting his sins, begging for absolution.

"It was my fault. I was arrogant and stupid. I thought you didn't love me, so I intentionally ran hot and cold. I'm sorry."

"If I had known you had feelings for me, I swear I never would have hurt you like that."

"I'm so, so sorry."

He pressed his forehead against the back of her soft, warm hand, his voice laced with pure desperation. "Noreen, please. Can you... love me one more time? Let me spend the rest of my life making up for the pain I caused you."