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Returning the Ten Years I Stole
Returning the Ten Years I Stole
Author: Dragon Mother

Chapter 1

Author: Dragon Mother
Gwyneth's POV

Leanna Sandoval was stunned when she saw me. Her eyes were red and puffy, and it was obvious that she'd been crying earlier.

"Gwyn? What are you—"

"Leanna," I said, trying to sound calm. "Can I come in and talk?"

The living room was a mess. There was also a half-eaten cake on the table.

I smiled at her and went straight to the point. "I'm here to apologize on behalf of Gram. He forgot your birthday, and that's entirely his fault."

Leanna bit her lip and said nothing.

"It's not that he doesn't love you; he just doesn't know how to show it. He's never been good at that. You broke up with him, and he's now drinking his sorrows away at the bar."

I paused for a second before saying, "Leanna, I think you should go after him."

In my previous life, Graham Rowland would also go drinking at the bar all night long on Leanna's birthday. He had never gotten over her.

Leanna looked at me and smiled all of a sudden. Yet, the tears in her eyes continued streaming down her face even more.

"How could such a cold, aloof person like Graham have such a kind and thoughtful person like you as his sister? I'll head to the bar now. Thanks, Gwyn."

After telling her which bar Graham was at, she changed out of her home clothes and went out the door.

I heaved a long sigh of relief as I stared at her back. That night wasn't going to happen again in this life.

I went home and dug out my old diary that I'd hidden in a deep corner of my wardrobe.

I was ten years old, homeless and wandering the streets at night when Graham—18 at the time—took me in. He was cold and aloof with everyone else, but he was very gentle with me. I knew that I had fallen in love with him when I was old enough to realize it.

However, it was a secret that I could never reveal to anyone else.

I grabbed the diary and tore it to pieces, shredding every page. Then, I threw the scraps into the toilet and flushed them down.

About half an hour later, the door opened. Leanna walked in with a very drunken Graham in her arms.

Graham was clutching her tightly in his arms as he kept calling out her name and mumbling, "Anna… Please don't leave me… Let's not break up… I was wrong… I'm sorry…"

Leanna just had a helpless look on her face as she said, "Alright, alright. We're not breaking up."

She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw me. "Can you get him a glass of warm water and some pills, Gwyn? I'm going to take him back into his room."

"Okay."

She then helped him into the bedroom.

I stayed in the kitchen, waiting for the water to boil on the stove, hearing the sounds coming from the room. Graham was talking to her like a baby, and she was chuckling the entire time.

In my previous life, I knew from the first moment Graham introduced Leanna to me that they were a perfect match.

Leanna was bright and easygoing, and she also came from a well-to-do family. She had impeccable manners, and she also treated me just like family.

In short, she was a very good person altogether.

She would never have died if it weren't for me. They would have ended up together, happily ever after.

This time, I was going to make it up to them entirely.

Leanna ended up taking care of Graham in the room for the entire night.

When I woke up the next morning and came downstairs, I saw Graham bustling about in the kitchen.

He made scrambled eggs, warmed up some milk, and cut the crusts off the sandwiches before arranging them neatly on the plate. Then, he brought them over to Leanna and said gently, "Here. Eat while it's still hot."

She grinned at him and teased him, asking, "Since when have you learned to take care of other people like this?"

He simply gazed at her for a while without saying anything, but the corners of his lips curved upward.

In my previous life, he used to cook a lot for me too. And when I was on my period, he would bring me ice cream and hot chocolate whenever I needed it.

I paused at the stairway, a little hesitant to interrupt their moment.

"Gwyn? Come here and have breakfast," Leanna said, waving at me.

Graham looked up at me expressionlessly.

I walked over to the dining table and sat down. He immediately got up and sat in the next seat, so there was an empty spot between us.
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  • Returning the Ten Years I Stole   Chapter 9

    While Gwyneth's colleagues were celebrating in the meeting room, she decided to come out for some fresh air.Her phone rang just then. It was a call from Leanna."Gwyn! Congratulations! I just saw you on the news!"Gwyneth grinned and replied, "Thanks, Leanna.""Hey, I told you to stop calling me that. Call me Anna," she said in a light and cheerful tone. "By the way, are you free this weekend? I want to grab coffee with you.""I'm free. Are you bringing your boyfriend too?"Leanna was stunned. Then, she chuckled and asked, "How did you know?""That bouquet in your story didn't look like one you'd buy for yourself.""Sharp eyes," Leanna said with a laugh. "Alright. I'll bring him with me. You can be the judge of him on my behalf."The weekend arrived bright and sunny.Leanna was already at the cafe by the time Gwyneth arrived. She was sitting next to an elegant-looking man."Gwyn!" Leanna exclaimed, waving at her. "This is Matthew Humphrey. Matt, this is Gwyneth Rowland. She

  • Returning the Ten Years I Stole   Chapter 8

    And yet, Graham had pinned the blame entirely on Gwyneth.He divorced her, tormented her, left her penniless, and blocked her from ever finding work. She'd died in her rented apartment with no one by her side. And the last thing she'd heard from him was. "Your love disgusts me, Gwyneth Rowland."Graham buried his face in his hands, trembling violently.He remembered everything. He'd finally remembered everything from his previous life.…Graham didn't sleep a wink the whole night.As soon as it was light out, he grabbed his phone and called Gwyneth."The number you have dialed is not in service."He froze, then dialed her number again. Yet, he got the same response.He went onto WhatsApp and sent her a text message. "Gwyn. I need to talk to you."However, he noticed that her "last seen" was missing, and the message he sent only registered a single gray tick even after a long time.Had she blocked his number?Graham's hand trembled as he gripped his phone.Leanna finally wo

  • Returning the Ten Years I Stole   Chapter 7

    Gwyneth's eyes were bright, crinkling at the corners. She'd never smiled like this at Graham before. Or rather, she had smiled at him this way, but he had never paid any attention to her before.Leanna came out of the kitchen and saw him staring at his phone. She leaned over to take a look."Oh, the post on Gwyn's Instagram? She looks really good in that coat, doesn't she?"Graham locked his screen and put it on the table. "Yeah."Leanna just looked at him without saying a thing.That night, he sat alone in the living room after Leanna had gone to bed. He turned on his phone, found Gwyneth's Instagram profile, and began scrolling.They were all photos of her in Lanton, whether at the library, the cafe, the Tames River, the Big Benny… And she was smiling very happily in every single one.Occasionally, there would be the silhouette of another man, tall and lanky beside her, and Graham figured that the person had to be Dean.He set his phone down and closed his eyes.He didn't kn

  • Returning the Ten Years I Stole   Chapter 6

    Gwyneth walked over, picked up the jewelry box, and opened it.A pair of pearl earrings lay inside the box. It was a gift that Graham had given her on her 18th birthday. She stared at them for a few seconds before closing the box again."You don't want them anymore?" Graham asked.She shook her head. "Nope."Then, she put the box back on the dressing table and turned to leave.Graham stood at the door, staring at the box. For some reason, he felt that the box was staring back at him in the otherwise empty room."Gram," Gwyneth called from downstairs. "I'm leaving now."He went downstairs and saw her standing at the door with the sun behind her, casting a golden glow on her silhouette.She was wearing a plain white T-shirt and blue jeans, and her long hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail, looking very tidy and put together."Thanks for taking care of me all this time, Gram," she said with a smile. "Leanna hasn't fully recovered yet, so you're going to have to take extra good

  • Returning the Ten Years I Stole   Chapter 5

    Third-person POVGraham's grip on the bill tightened when he heard Leanna's words. He didn't say anything and just continued staring at her.Leanna was still grinning happily at him. She patted his arm and said, "Your sister's all grown-up now. She's going to elope with someone else. Aren't you going to say something?"He found himself responding with, "Yeah. That's good."His gaze slid past Leanne, landing on Gwyneth instead.Gwyneth stood quietly by the window with her head down, the sunlight casting a long shadow on the ground. She was avoiding his gaze, not even sparing him a single glance from the start."I'll take you both home first," he finally said, putting the bill away and helping Leanna to her feet. "The doctor said that you need plenty of rest. No overexerting yourself."Leanna grinned and nodded, turning back to beckon Gwyneth over. "Come on, Gwyn. Let's go!"She sat in the front passenger seat, while Gwyneth sat in the back. No one spoke during the drive.The ra

  • Returning the Ten Years I Stole   Chapter 4

    "Gwyn."I stopped walking and turned to face Graham.He handed me a set of keys."I bought a two-bedroom apartment near your campus. It's already been renovated. You… You should move in soon."I was stunned for a moment. Then, I took the keys and nodded. "Okay."There was no hesitation and no questions asked.Graham just looked at me as if he was trying to gauge something from my facial expressions. However, I just calmly took the keys from him, pocketed them, and continued up the stairs.I began packing the next day, throwing out or donating most of my belongings. I was planning to buy them new and start fresh in that apartment.I also began coming home later and later every night. I was basically absent from the dinner table most of the time.The belongings in my room began getting fewer and fewer. My bookshelf was emptied first, followed by my wardrobe, then my dressing table. There was only a single jewelry box sitting by itself in the center of the table.I didn't get ho

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