Three Years Later, He Came Back Begging novel Chapter 269

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"I noticed your hands tremble a lot. When we were skiing, you didn't have the same effortless control over your body as you used to. When you took your meds, you couldn't even hold the water bottle steady. Victor mentioned you have Parkinson's. Did you know that?"

Lawrence's eyes burned. He forced a stiff, agonizing smile. "Really? It's not that bad. It just acts up sometimes."

Bonnie offered a faint smile. "You've changed so much. When we first ran into each other in July, I barely recognized you. You lost so much weight, and that light you used to have in your eyes is completely gone. I thought becoming a husband and a father had just matured you, but I never realized that your three years in the States might have been pure hell, too."

"You stalking me, harassing me, even pulling strings to ruin my blind dates—all of that is wildly out of character for you. In the past, no matter what happened, you never would have annoyed me, let alone genuinely scared me."

A profound sense of pity softened her gaze. "When we were on the mountain, the look on your face made it obvious that your mental state was incredibly unstable. I think your psychological trauma runs just as deep."

"And Hannah... I thought her constantly provoking me was just her showing off her perfect life. But looking back, if she was truly happy, why was she so terrified of me showing up? If you were truly happy, why would you have ever come looking for me?"

Her words shredded his heart. She was speaking so casually, like they were just reminiscing, but every single syllable twisted a knife in his chest.

"The three of us," Bonnie murmured, suddenly scooping up a handful of snow and hurling it into the distance. It slammed against the stone path, exploding into icy powder. "Tangled together, freezing each other out. You were trapped in the middle. Hannah was violently obsessed, and I was dragged in as collateral damage. We forced this toxic dynamic, and we all ended up frozen solid. Anyone trying to rip themselves free has to leave a layer of skin behind. Look at us. Hannah morphed into a lunatic, you went from the brightest guy in the room to a walking corpse, and I'm honestly not doing much better."

Lawrence swallowed hard, fighting the agonizing lump in his throat. "Compared to what you went through, our suffering is nothing. You were entirely innocent."

"Yeah." Bonnie's eyes curved in a soft smile, the brilliant starlight reflecting in her gaze, luminous and breathtaking. "Which is exactly why I'm not going to just let this go just because I know the truth now. I'm stubborn. You know that."

Lawrence had lost the ability to smile, but he instinctively tugged at his cracked, bleeding lips. The sharp sting grounded him, but the heartbreak was absolute. "I promise I won't make the same mistake twice. I swear it."