The Years Between Signing and Seeing novel Chapter 149

“I found him at the foot of the mountain,” the girl said, still panting. “He was already hurt… I just can’t carry him any farther.”

Chloe frowned, her gaze shifting back toward the dark woods. She remembered from earlier that day that the foot of the mountain was a considerable distance away. How could this small girl have carried a boy all the way here?

As Chloe was still marveling at the feat, the girl spoke again, her breath coming in ragged bursts. “I can’t go on. See over there?” She pointed toward the distant lights. “That has to be the camp. Can you please go get one of the adults? I think there’s a doctor there. Tell them he has an injury on his waist. I stopped the bleeding, but I fell a few times carrying him up here, so the wound is probably worse. You have to tell them to bring a stretcher.”

While the girl was explaining, Chloe knelt to get a better look at the boy. The sight made her gasp. She rubbed her eyes, peering through the dim light just to be sure. The injured boy was none other than the celebrated young genius of their elite private school—Jamie Baylor.

Chloe clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream.

“Can you do that?” the girl pleaded. “I can’t carry him anymore, and I can barely walk. Please, I’m begging you.”

“Okay… I… I’ll go right now,” Chloe stammered, nodding repeatedly as she got to her feet and started toward the camp. She glanced back over her shoulder; Jamie’s head was lolled to one side, completely unconscious.

Even as she ran, her heart pounding with a mix of fear and excitement, a plan began to form in her young mind.

On the way back, Chloe deliberately scratched herself with branches and tripped several times, making sure her knees and elbows were scraped and bruised. Without her even having to say a word, everyone concluded that she had risked her own life to save Jamie.

The school honored her with an award. Her family's already massive business empire flourished even more under the powerful support of the Baylor family. From that day on, Chloe became a celebrated figure everyone envied.

As she grew older, she made a promise to herself: she would marry Jamie Baylor, and no one else.