All Chapters of Start Over Without You: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Gavin stood up instinctively.His grip on the phone tightened, his fingers turning pale from the pressure.The flight attendant walked over, her voice polite yet firm. "Sir, our plane is about to take off. Please fasten your seatbelt and prepare for departure…"On the other end of the line, Marjorie's voice trembled. "Gavin, where are you going?"Eloise, legs crossed and focused on her game, made a faint, almost amused sound.Gavin quickly sat back down, his voice gentle as he tried to reassure Marjorie. "I'll be back soon. Just try to sleep for now, okay?""But—" "By the time you wake up, I'll be right there," Gavin said softly. "And the gift you've been waiting for will be there with me, too. How does that sound?"Marjorie muttered something, but Gavin couldn't make out the words.She hung up after that.Staring at the disconnected call on his phone, Gavin felt a sudden wave of disorientation.After all these years...This was the first time he hadn't been there immediat

For a moment, Gavin's mind went blank.Margaret was dead?How could that be? A living, breathing person, just gone like that?It didn't make sense.Gavin couldn't believe it.But no matter how hard he tried to deny it, details from the past few days kept flashing in his mind, the things he had ignored—her sudden decision to sell the Blue Diamond, the urn she had kept in her suitcase, her sudden shift in attitude…A sharp, stabbing pain twisted in his stomach, and Gavin staggered backward.He opened his mouth, but his voice came out weak. "Dead…?"Everything around him spun. His body, pushed past its limits, finally gave way, and he collapsed onto the ground.The last thing he heard was Eloise's frantic scream. "Hey, what the hell? Don't pass out! How am I supposed to get you to the hospital?"Gavin slipped into a chaotic, terrifying nightmare.In the dream, he stood on the edge of a vast, black sea, and Margaret was there too, wearing a long black dress. Without turning arou

The phone let out a soft beep.A brief notification chimed, breaking the silence. Margaret pulled back the curtains, and sunlight flooded the room, spilling onto the balcony where a pot of sunflowers stretched eagerly toward the light.She picked up her phone, which had been lying face down, and tapped on the latest message.It was from Eloise.[As you instructed, I stole your trench coat and shoes and left them by the seaside.[But Gavin still doesn't seem to believe you're gone. He hasn't slept for three whole days. He's searching the entire city for any trace of you and even hired a rescue boat to scour the ocean. He keeps saying he won't stop until he finds your body, dead or alive.[I don't think he'll give up until he finds proof.]Margaret frowned and lit a cigarette.Over the past few years, she had rarely smoked. Gavin had once told her it wasn't ladylike, so she had quit for him.Now, she didn't care what anyone thought. She smoked whenever she wanted, realizing how

Gavin knelt on the ground, his white shirt stained with blood. His back was streaked with fresh lashes from the whip, each line a testament to the pain he had endured.Standing nearby, his father, Virgil Hartley, wore a stern expression. "Gavin, how dare you hide Marjorie away for all these years!" Virgil's voice was cold with fury.On the other side, Marjorie's mother, Phoebe Page, let out a bitter laugh. "Gavin, I trusted you, but you kept Marjorie from us. What were you planning all this time?"Her mental health is in ruins now. Have you even made sure she received proper treatment all these years? I know you took her to see a foreign doctor over a month ago. The doctor clearly said that staying there for treatment might help her improve. Why did you bring her back instead?"You didn't want Marjorie to get better, did you?" Virgil's whip cracked again, the sound sharp in the tense air. Gavin winced at the pain, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead, but he remained s

Margaret's preparation for Olivia's birthday party went off without a hitch, and it received rave reviews from everyone. Olivia, in particular, was thrilled. She absolutely adored the Maravian dishes Margaret had prepared. After the party, she wouldn't let go of Margaret's hand, pulling her close. "Margaret, you really should come by more often. I heard you like red roses. Well, a few years ago, Malcolm planted an entire garden of them in the backyard. If you're interested, you should come pick a few and take some seedlings home to plant yourself."Malcolm gave her a helpless look. "Ever since my mom got sick, she's been a little scatterbrained. Don't mind her," he said."Of course not!" Margaret laughed. "I understand what your mom means. Since you have so many roses here, how about next time, I come by and make a rose dessert for her?"Olivia's eyes lit up. "That sounds wonderful!" She paused for a moment, casting a quick glance at Malcolm before leaning in slightly to whisper t