Three Years Later, He Came Back Begging novel Chapter 261

His family, his friends, and her.

So when all that goodness vanished like falling off a cliff—when she was at the absolute peak of their romance one second and crashing into the abyss the next—it had shattered her world.

Seeing him again, she had assumed he was living happily with his wife and child. But now, she realized she might not be the only one carrying the burden of pain.

This endless, tangled emotional warfare had left none of them unscathed—not her, not Lawrence, and not Hannah.

Everyone's suffering was echoing back, doubling the torment inflicted on the other two.

All the way back, Lawrence's hands had shaken uncontrollably. She thought about the pills he swallowed like clockwork, his bleak desolation, and his sheer misery.

The memory of the blood on the edge of his nightstand rushed back, bringing a sudden sting of tears to her eyes.

Bonnie decided she had the right to know the whole truth.

...

Lawrence was dropped off at the clinic, and Bonnie didn't go in with him. She returned to the bed and breakfast. The exhaustion of the trip finally caught up with her, and the moment she hit the mattress, she was out cold.

She was jolted awake by the ringing of her phone.

Checking the screen, she saw it was past nine o'clock in the evening. She couldn't believe she had slept that long.

When she answered, Victor's background noise was loud. "Are you asleep? I just called our local hero, and he didn't sound too good. He spiked a high fever at the clinic this afternoon, got some meds and an IV, and then insisted he was fine and went back to the lodge. I was worried his fever might spike again tonight, so I called to check in. He sounded super weak but swore he was fine. The guy's stubborn as hell, and I don't want him dropping dead without telling anyone."

Bonnie pulled back the curtains and peered out. "Where is he staying?"

"At the same bed and breakfast as you. That's why I called. Could you do me a favor and check on him? If it's too much trouble, I can drive over."

The guide lodgings were a bit of a drive away, and Victor was currently playing cards with friends, feeling too lazy to make the trip.

Still unsure if she had recognized him, he scrambled into his clothes in a blind panic, bundled himself up, and shoved on the sunglasses he had borrowed from Victor before nervously pulling the door open.

Bonnie lifted her gaze, looking at him calmly. "Do you still have a fever?"

A bitter ache swelled in his chest. He figured she hadn't recognized him—otherwise, why would she care if he was sick?

He should have felt relieved, but instead, an overwhelming wave of sadness washed over him.

"I... I just took some medicine," he rasped. His hot breath was trapped beneath the heavy ski mask, making his already bloodshot eyes burn even worse.

Bonnie stared at him expressionlessly for a long time. The silence stretched on so long that Lawrence's heart felt like it was going into cardiac arrest. The tension in the air was as thick as a battlefield.

Her silence was slowly tearing him apart.