Shattered Vows: Call Me Auntie Now novel Chapter 430

"I stood at the back doors of the auditorium, just watching you from afar. It only took that one look, and I never forgot you."

Raymond's voice was soft, laced with a distant, melancholic yearning.

Quinn stared at him in utter disbelief, her heart violently trembling in her chest.

It had been so long. All she remembered from that day was the sea of faces in the crowd. She had been so fiercely focused on her design that she never noticed the quiet, intense man lingering in the shadows, silently carving her image into his soul.

Six years. He had loved her for six agonizing years.

Quinn lowered her gaze, then quickly looked back up. "Then why didn't you come find me? Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

Raymond looked at her luminous features and let out a self-deprecating chuckle.

"I wanted to. But by the time I made it back to the university, Dante had already swept in."

Quinn blinked, the puzzle pieces clicking together. She remembered that time. Vivienne had just left for her studies abroad, completely abandoning Riverton.

Shortly after, Dante showed up at her campus.

Back then, she had been foolishly infatuated with Dante. The second he pursued her, she had blindly agreed to be his girlfriend.

A memory suddenly flashed in her mind. On a quiet evening, she had asked Raymond if he remained single because he was hung up on his first love.

She never imagined that she was the one who got away.

A one-sided romance was a devastating torment, and he had endured it for six long years.

Her heart ached fiercely for him. Burying her face against his chest, her throat tightened painfully as a fresh wave of tears soaked through his expensive shirt.

It was only in this moment that she truly understood. Raymond hadn't just approached her on a whim.

It was a spectacular first glance in their youth that blossomed into years of silent devotion. He had dragged her from the brink of death without hesitation, stepped up as her relentless protector every time she stumbled, and then quietly faded into the background, never demanding a single thing in return.

"Raymond..." she choked out. "I love you so much. But I'm so scared my baggage is going to ruin everything you've built."

Raymond pulled her tightly against him, gently smoothing a hand down her back.

"Quinn, my corporate empire, my reputation, my wealth—none of it means a damn thing compared to you."

"Trust me. No matter what storms come our way, I can handle them. The only thing I ask is that you never try to push me away again."

The evening breeze swept through the lush gardens of Springhill Estate. Bathed in the soft moonlight, the night felt incredibly intimate.

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