Semua Bab The Longing Too Late: Bab 1 - Bab 10

Because Samantha never showed up, the engagement party ended in awkward silence and unbearable humiliation. I returned the engagement gifts one by one to the guests as they left. When I reached my aunt, Linda Hayes, she shoved her gift back into my hands as if it had burned her. "Just keep it," she said, her face pale with anger. "But don't you dare send me another invitation next time." Then her voice began to shake. "Caleb, I mean it. Don't drag my name into this mess again. I can't keep showing up just to watch people laugh at you—and at me." After my parents died in a car accident six years ago, Linda became one of my few remaining family members. She used to pity me. She used to defend me.But after watching me turn myself into a public joke again and again, even she had finally reached her limit. And honestly, so had I. After the last guest left and the ballroom was nearly empty, I stayed behind to clean up the mess. A server walked over carrying a black trash ba

When I found out the truth, I went straight to Samantha and demanded an explanation. My eyes were bloodshot with anger, but she did not look guilty at all. She did not apologize for lying to me, nor did she even try to explain herself. Instead, she took out her phone and played the video she had recorded of me apologizing to her. "Ryan was sick. That part was true, wasn't it? So how exactly did I lie?" Then she smiled and shook the phone in front of me. "Go ahead and make a scene. Tell everyone, if that makes you feel better. Once they see this video of you begging me to forgive you, they'll only think you're crazy." She pushed me so far that I ended up hyperventilating and had to be rushed to the hospital. Only then did Samantha seem to realize she had gone too far. When I woke up in the hospital, she was sitting beside my bed, her eyes tearful and red, apologizing repeatedly. She promised to make up for the missed engagement party and said we would hold another celebratio

My eyes burned, and for a moment, I could barely speak. I had lost a friendship that truly mattered because of someone who had never deserved that kind of loyalty from me. For Samantha, I had thrown away my dignity again and again, sinking lower each time just to hold on to a relationship that had been destroying me from the inside out. I had realized it late, but at least I still had a chance to make things right. I put an arm around my friend's shoulders and told him I was leaving the country soon. He looked upset when he heard it, but in the end, he supported my decision. He knew better than anyone that if I made the same mistake again, then whatever happened next would be on me. … After Samantha left the bar, she lost all interest in the rest of the night. Ryan tried the same old trick again. He pulled off his tie and leaned closer, deliberately flirting with her. "Samantha, stop drinking by yourself. You haven't looked happy since we got here. Did Caleb get under y

Samantha tried calling me, but none of her calls went through. Desperate, she went door to door, knocking on the neighbors' doors and trying to find out where I had gone. Unfortunately for her, no one knew anything useful. Only one old lady told her that the house was not being sold for the time being, and that I had ended the arrangement with the real estate agency. When Samantha heard that, she finally relaxed a little. She rushed to the nearest phone store, bought a new SIM, and sent me several messages from a new number. 'Caleb, I know you only pretended to sell the house because you were angry with me. I know I was wrong now. I promise we can have the engagement party this weekend, and then we can make it official right after. Okay?' Another message came in right after. 'The sounds you heard last time were only Ryan and me acting. I never betrayed you. Please believe me.' When Samantha tried to send a third message, it failed. The red exclamation mark appeared on

Before the cab door could fully close, Samantha forced her hand through the gap. The door slammed hard against her fingers. "Argh!" Her scream tore through the night. She collapsed to the ground, clutching her bleeding hand as she cried out in pain. Even the driver looked uneasy. "Sir," he spoke carefully, glancing in the rearview mirror, "are you sure you don't want to check on her? Couples fight all the time. Maybe you should—" "She's not my girlfriend," I said coldly from the back seat. "She's stalking me." The driver's expression changed instantly. The next second, he hit the gas and drove off without looking back. "Yeah," he muttered. "I thought something was off about her. She looked seriously unstable."And just like that, Samantha and I were finally over. Now that my mother's necklace was back in my hands, there was nothing tying me to her anymore. The day before I left the country, I booked a private room at a hotel restaurant and invited a few former cowork