A Promise We Couldn't Keep のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 11 - チャプター 17

"If you don’t stop harassing me, Simon, I’ll call the police and report you." Simon’s eyes burned red, but I couldn’t tell whether from anger or frustration.Finally, he raised his hands in surrender, gritting his teeth. "You win, Chloe. And I must be an idiot—leaving the damn hospital just to get involved in your mess!" In a fit of rage, he kicked over a trash can on the sidewalk, cursing under his breath as he stormed off. I watched his figure disappear into the distance, my grip on my phone going slack. Tilting my head back, I tried to hold back the tears threatening to fall. However, that ache in my chest only grew stronger. …A week later, Noah and I returned to Hilltown. I hadn’t been back since my grandmother passed away. We handed out gifts to the locals. The children were overjoyed, running around us in excitement. Noah’s adoptive parents no longer lived here. As a gesture of gratitude, his biological parents bought them a large home in the city and gav

He sat in his car for as long as I stood there watching. Neither of us said a word about it. Noah turned his head, looking out the window, refusing to meet my eyes. "So, you finally said it…" Even with his body tightly wrapped in his suit, his posture rigid to the point of tension, he couldn't suppress the faint tremor running through him. I pressed my lips together, swallowing the ache in my chest, but still, I forced out a small smile. "Noah, you’re a good man. You really are. But life is long. There’s so much more ahead of us. We can’t be trapped in love alone." Suddenly, Noah’s emotions erupted. He slammed his fist against the steering wheel, his voice raw with frustration. "But I want to marry you! That’s all I want! Is it so wrong to want to spend my life with the person I love? Why does everyone keep telling me I made a mistake?! What did I do wrong?" For the first time, the Noah who had always been proud and in control, looked utterly shattered like someone ha

"You’ve asked me before—why I never got jealous when you brought other women home." My voice was calm, steady, and cold. "Because I never loved you. I only used you as a temporary replacement for Noah, a way to numb myself and keep going." Simon stared at me in disbelief. Tears welled up in his eyes, threatening to spill over. "No… that’s not possible! Chloe, you love me! You took care of me when I was sick. You put up with me when I lost my temper. How could you say you never loved me?" His pain didn’t shake me. My emotions remained composed, detached. "Simon, you hurt me. And I lied to you. In this relationship, neither of us were good people. We both deserved what we got." His shoulders hunched slightly, as if carrying a crushing weight, still unwilling to accept my words. I took a deep breath. "Simon, you don’t love me as much as you think you do. You’re just not used to losing. You’re too proud, and now that I’m the one walking away, it’s eating at you. Don’t

Little Noah and little Chloe had once walked the same path.But in the end, they still drifted apart.…Two years later.A friend mentioned Simon to me in passing.After losing his ability to paint, his life took a downward spiral.In the end, he sold his studio and left the city.No one knew where he went.He had cut ties with everyone.As for Noah, he had lived up to expectations, rising to become a highly successful young entrepreneur.I wasn’t doing too badly myself—I had been recognized as an outstanding teacher in the city, an honor I shared with another female colleague.…That day, the two of us were in a car on our way to the award ceremony.As we waited at a red light, a large LED screen on a nearby shopping mall caught my eye.A live interview was being broadcast.There, in the center of the screen, stood Noah—composed, poised, radiating confidence.Like a star in a sea of flashing cameras, he was surrounded by media, every lens hungering to capture his slightest expression,