All Chapters of The One Who Waited: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Uriah spent the night in his hotel room, plagued by nightmares of losing Irina, cursed to never find her again. He woke up in a cold sweat, gasping against his pillow.Even after waking, the nightmare did not truly end.Sitting up in bed, Uriah lit a cigarette. The pale blue morning light filtered through the curtain gaps, mixing with the white smoke in a scene that felt both worn down and suffocating.Leaning back against the headboard, he tried desperately to understand how things had gotten to this point.More importantly, where had it all begun?Eight years ago, Beth had taken Sophie abroad. He and Sophie had grown up together, so naturally, he did not want her to leave. He had even asked her if she could stay. However, she had been completely enamored with the idea of life in Meurica back then. She thought everything overseas would be fresh and exciting.For a while, Uriah had been a complete mess after Sophie left–that was until he met Irina, a transfer student at his schoo

Roger answered the door. When he saw Uriah standing there, his face showed no surprise. "Uriah, you're here.""Dad, it's been a while. I came to bring Irina home.""Come on in."Roger had always liked Uriah.After all, Uriah was well-educated, had a good job, was an upstanding person, and was quite handsome, too. He and Irina made a good match.If it were possible, Roger still hoped the two of them could work things out. Nonetheless, while he could give them the opportunity, whether Uriah could win Irina back was up to how Uriah went about it.Hearing the commotion outside, Irina came out of her bedroom.Seeing Uriah again did not stir strong emotions in her because, based on her understanding of him, she had expected him to come.Looking at Irina, whose complexion was clearly much better, the anxiety weighing on his heart for the past two days finally eased. He mustered a smile, and the familiar tenderness returned to his eyes."Yeah.""Irina, can we talk?""Sure, give me a

In that footage, Irina waited from 7 p.m. until past midnight, and the food on the table grew cold while the custom birthday cake slowly collapsed, its frosting smeared and ruined.At 11:15 p.m., just as Irina finished clearing away the dishes and cake, Uriah came home with exhaustion and worry written all over his face. Before she could say a word, he spoke in deep frustration about Beth and Sophie returning from abroad and Beth being diagnosed with cancer.Seeing how devastated Uriah looked, Irina did not mention her birthday at all. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him and comforted him for a long time.In truth, on Irina's birthday, Uriah had left work two hours early. He had bought flowers and picked up a diamond bracelet he had custom-ordered for a while. However, the moment he received Sophie's call, he abandoned everything he was supposed to do. Uriah rushed happily to the airport and gave the flowers and gift to Sophie, whom he had not seen in eight years.Looking ba

"It's so beautiful..." Irina mumbled in awe."I have pretty good taste, don't I?" Luther was all smiles as he opened the front door and gestured for her to enter."Mr. Zimmerman, are you planning to live here yourself?""Yeah, this is going to be my marital home.""Wow! Your wife is really lucky.""She's not my wife yet, but she should be soon."At this, Luther looked a bit embarrassed, and the tips of his ears turned pink.Seeing Luther's shy expression, Irina could not help but smile.Although Twilight Villa was an empty shell with nothing in it yet, to an interior designer's eye, this house was a treasure.Irina asked, "Mr. Zimmerman, do you have any thoughts for the renovation?""I'll leave it to you. I'm fine with anything.""Leave it to me?" Irina asked in confusion.Luther looked at Irina with amusement in his eyes. "You're the designer, not me. Don't I have to go with what you say?""That's not what I meant. I mean, what style do you like? Like traditional, modern,

Irina had been enjoying her meal. However, hearing Uriah's words, the piece of meat she just grabbed never made it to her mouth. She set down her utensils, wiped her mouth, and looked at Uriah seriously."Uriah, at this point, it doesn't matter who was right or wrong anymore. The day I left Sterling City, I never planned to turn back. You should move forward, too.""I don't want to move forward, Irina." Uriah suddenly grabbed Irina's hand, growing agitated. "We've been together for eight years. I really love you. You can't just give up on me because of one careless mistake."Yes, I made mistakes, but I swear you're the only one I love, and I never did anything to betray you. Why can't we turn back?"By the end, Uriah's voice was choking up. His eyes were turning red, like he was about to cry.In the past, before experiencing all that distrust, being ignored and overlooked, Irina would have truly felt heartbroken seeing him like this. Nonetheless, the damage had already been done,