Three Years Forgotten, Why Go Crazy When I Say Goodbye? novel Chapter 34

"What are you doing here?" Seth was the first to approach, deliberately blocking her path.

Willow didn't have the energy to deal with him. She tried to sidestep him and leave, but her phone alarm chose that exact moment to go off. A voice prompt blared from the speaker: "It's Julian's birthday today. Wish him a happy birthday."

Willow panicked, scrambling to silence the alarm. It was a reminder she had set years ago. Back then, her workload had been so overwhelming that she was terrified of forgetting his birthday. With everything that had happened since she got back to New York, the date had completely slipped her mind, and she had forgotten to delete the alarm. The timing couldn't have been worse.

Unfortunately, they all heard it loud and clear.

Seth stared at her with a mockingly amused expression, acting as if he had her all figured out. He sneered, "So you did come for Julian's birthday. Well, your timing is terrible. As you can see, he's already got someone celebrating with him. Vivienne is prettier than you, has more class than you, and plays the piano. What exactly do you bring to the table?"

His grin widened into something cruel. "Another pathetic handmade piece of trash? Or maybe one of those painfully cringeworthy love letters? Let me spell it out for you—Julian was absolutely sick of receiving that garbage every year. He always handed it straight to us to throw away."

Willow's eyes snapped wide open. She stared at him, completely paralyzed by shock.

During the years she had loved Julian the most, preparing his birthday gift was the most important event of her year. Terrified that a store-bought item wouldn't convey her feelings, she poured her heart into making something by hand every single time.

She had always known there was a chance he wouldn't like them. But she never imagined he would treat her heart like actual trash, passing her deeply personal gifts around for his friends to mock.

The thought of her most vulnerable, desperate feelings being ridiculed by these men made her blood boil. Her voice dropped to a freezing register. "Do you have any concept of respect? Or privacy?"

"Nope, sure don't," Seth mocked effortlessly. "Why don't you teach us? With your incredible writing skills, I bet you'd be a fantastic teacher."

To prove his point, he casually recited two lines. At first, Willow didn't register what he was saying. But as he kept staring at her with that taunting smirk, it hit her like a physical blow—he was quoting one of the private letters she had written to Julian.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify