The Years Between Signing and Seeing novel Chapter 296

Once they were in the bedroom, Stella locked the door and got straight to the point.

“Suzie… about you and that Hayden guy… I’ve been wracking my brain, but I just can’t see any chemistry between you two. So what’s the deal with that candid photo from the airport? The one where he has his arm around you.”

Suzie pulled Stella down to sit with her. She started from the beginning, explaining how Hayden had helped her dodge the speculative fans at the airport.

She had never intended to hide any of this from Stella and had planned on telling her everything tonight anyway.

After Suzie finished, Stella was silent for a long while before letting out a soft sigh. “I guess this is what the old folks call fate. I understand you don’t have feelings for Oliver, and I think your plan is actually a pretty good one. It’s just… Oliver’s probably going to be hurting for a while.”

“Stella, I had a faint inkling before, but I always believed the three of us shared the same kind of love—a bond closer than friendship, more like family,” Suzie said, pausing to collect herself before continuing.

“It wasn’t until I ran away to Cherryblossom Town and he dropped everything—his parents, his company—to come and take care of me that I realized how serious it was. That’s why, even though I desperately needed help and someone to look after me, I made him leave. But over the past few years, he’s tried to bring it up several times, and I’ve always changed the subject or deliberately avoided being alone with him.”

Seeing Suzie’s spirits drop, Stella quickly tried to comfort her. “Suzie, I see it clearly now. When it comes to love, you either feel it or you don’t. You just have to follow your heart and not feel too burdened. Of course, our bond with Oliver is different; we grew up together, and it’s not the same as with friends we’ve just met. But I believe that once this passes, we’ll go back to how we were before.”

Suzie nodded, remaining quiet for a long time. Then, she recounted her conversation with Helen, Oliver’s mother, though she only shared the part about Oliver.

She also told Stella about the expensive bracelet she had bought for Helen. “Stella, even though that bracelet cost more than everything Oliver spent to help me back then, I still feel like I’m indebted to him.”

After a long silence, Stella spoke. “Suzie, I agree with you. We have to tell Oliver, but he’ll have to pretend he doesn’t know in front of his mother. If we don’t tell him, and he finds out later, he might spend the rest of his life regretting not spending more time with her at the end. If that happens, we’d be cruel for keeping the truth from him.”

Suzie nodded. “Okay. We’ll tell him.”

…

The next day, at Timefly Studio.