Ten Days to Goodbye

She couldn't stop crying.

Her eyes were full of pain and shock. She kept whispering, "How could this happen..."

But I couldn't answer her, because I didn't know either.

All I could say was, "Charlotte, you won't be happy if you marry him. Promise me, okay?"

She wiped away her tears and looked at me with red, swollen eyes.

"But he's not with me right now. He went to Suncrest to beg the mysterious doctor to treat my legs."

I froze.

I had almost forgotten. Back then, a stage accident had crushed my legs so badly that I could barely stand.

At that time, Alex Jensen was even more heartbroken than I was. He stayed by my side every single night.

He changed my bandages and massaged my legs until morning.

Later, we heard about a mysterious doctor in Suncrest who might be able to heal me.

Alex left immediately.

He knelt outside the doctor's house for three days without eating or drinking. His calves swelled up before the doctor finally agreed to help me.

But now...

I couldn't help reaching down to touch my legs. They had healed, but somehow we had still lost each other.

The most ironic part was...

"Do you know who the girl downstairs named Lydia Wood is?"

She shook her head, her eyes still red from crying.

I answered sadly, "She's the doctor's granddaughter."

She gasped in shock and covered her mouth as tears spilled out again.

"So Alex fell in love with someone else while trying to save me?"

I shook my head.

"I don't know. Maybe it wasn't love back then. They met again two years ago, five years after your time."

The two of us fell silent.

Just then, I heard the electronic door lock unlock. I quickly hid my phone behind my back.

When Alex looked over, he didn't ask what I was doing. His eyes were red, and he looked completely worn out.

He let out a bitter laugh. "Happy now? I sent her away."

I stared at him without expression. Behind my back, my nails dug into my palm until it hurt.

"Happy? Alex, is this marriage only my responsibility? Am I the only one who's supposed to fight for it?"

He ripped off his tie and tossed it onto the couch. After saying only, "Stop being so unreasonable," he brushed past me, walked into the bathroom, and slammed the door shut.

I stood there, stunned. After a long time, I lowered my head and took out my phone again.

Charlotte was crying so hard on the screen. "That's not the Alex I know..."

But I couldn't cry.

I wanted to let everything out like she was, but not a single tear would come.

"Maybe people really do change."

I picked up my suitcase and was about to leave when a heavy rain suddenly started outside.

At the same time, my phone buzzed with a notice that my flight had been canceled.

I sighed. It looked like I wouldn't be leaving tonight after all. Carrying my suitcase again, I pushed open the bedroom door.

"You sleep in separate rooms now?" she asked carefully.

I paused for a moment before answering helplessly, "Yeah. We've been sleeping separately for almost a year."

She kept crying.

"But at this point, Alex couldn't even fall asleep unless he was holding me..."

My eyes trembled. Too much time had passed. So much that I had almost forgotten.

Back then, Alex had terrible insomnia. The only way he could sleep peacefully was with me beside him, so we were never apart.

I spoke softly, "He has someone else who helps him sleep now. Lydia is a very skilled doctor."

After a long silence, Charlotte looked at me with tear-filled eyes.

"Alex will be back in three days. Then I'll use those three days to completely give up on him."

I nodded. "Okay."