All Chapters of Goodbye Under the Northern Lights: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

Just as I pulled the zipper closed on my suitcase, the lock clicked behind me. Raymond Kane and Madelyn Wright burst through the door, carrying snorkel masks and a bulging bag filled with colorful inflatable floats.Madelyn spotted the winter coat draped across the couch and stopped short, then doubled over laughing."Raymond, pay up," she said between giggles, pointing at my suitcase. "I told you she'd be pissed, but I didn't think she'd actually pack all her winter stuff just to prove a point."Raymond leaned against the wall, shook his head, and sent her the money with a rueful smile. "Alright, you win." He pocketed his phone and came closer, reaching out to ruffle my hair. "Grace, I already bought you a new ticket. We took the joke too far this time, okay? Don't be mad anymore. Come on, take all those heavy clothes out. You won't need them in Palmaris."I stepped aside, avoiding his hand. His arm hung awkwardly in midair, and a frown crossed his face. "Are you really goin

Chapter 2

I picked up my phone and opened my inbox. The latest email was from the competition committee. It stated that my submission had been disqualified from this year's competition for containing non-competition elements, which violated both the integrity of the artwork and the anonymous judging rules.I held the screen up in front of Madelyn. The smile on her face slowly froze, and then her eyes reddened. "Seriously?" she said, sniffling as she put on a more wounded look. "Those judges have no sense of humor. How was I supposed to know they'd be that uptight?" She continued, "I just wanted you to relax a little. You've been so tense over this competition. How am I supposed to stand by and watch you run yourself ragged? Grace, could you stop looking at me like that? Worst case, I'll pay you back for the entry fee."Raymond stepped forward and shielded her behind him, like he had done countless times before. Whenever she cried, I was automatically expected to back down."Grace," he s

Chapter 3

I bought a cup of hot coffee in the waiting area. Just as the lid clicked into place, a hand came down hard on my shoulder. The coffee splashed over the rim, burning my knuckles.I spun around.Raymond and Madelyn stood behind me. Raymond's coat was buttoned wrong, and sweat glistened at his temples. Madelyn was still clutching her Palmaris boarding pass, breathing so hard she could barely form a sentence."Enough," Raymond said, taking the coffee from my hand. He touched the side of the cup, then placed it back in my palm. "At least you remembered to buy something hot. You didn't freeze, did you?" He said it like he was comforting me, but his tone made it clear he considered the matter settled."We're not going to Palmaris anymore. We missed our flight because we came looking for you. We're even now. Come home with me."Madelyn finally caught her breath. She straightened up with her hands on her knees and looked at me. "Grace, what are you even doing at the international te

Chapter 4

I took a cab back to my apartment alone. I slumped against the seat, closed my eyes, and forced myself to take slow, deep breaths. Over time, the suffocating ache in my chest and the relentless ringing in my ears finally started to recede.When the cab pulled up to the curb, the driver lifted my suitcase out and offered to take it to the elevator. I shook my head. Cradling my broken laptop in my left arm and dragging my suitcase with my right hand, I made my way inside.The first thing I did was go to the study and check the drawer for my backup drive. It was still there, tucked away in the back. I let out a quiet breath of relief, then went to the bedside table for my medication. Just as I lifted the bottle, I heard the front door unlock.Raymond stood at the entrance, wearing a grim expression. "So you actually came home."I ignored him, slipping the backup drive into my suitcase's inner compartment. "Get out."He didn't budge. His eyes landed on the pill bottle in my

Chapter 5

When I woke up, my injured arm had been immobilized.A nurse was tending to my bandages, and when she noticed I was awake, she said gently, "You needed seven stitches in your forearm, and you lost a fair amount of blood. The security guard from your building heard the glass shatter, broke the door down, and brought you here."I lay there staring at the ceiling, trying to make sense of where I was. My throat felt raw and parched. The nurse handed me my phone. "We charged it for you. It's been ringing constantly."The screen showed dozens of missed calls, all from Raymond. Madelyn had also left a flood of voice messages.I didn't listen to any of them. Instead, I opened a video a mutual friend had sent me. In it, Raymond sat casually in a booth, a drink in his hand, sounding completely at ease."Grace is just acting out because I've always let her. Keep her in there for a few hours, and she'll realize who really has her best interests at heart."Someone off-camera laughed. "You s

Chapter 6

The wind in Northgate was unforgiving, whipping against my skin like cold needles.When Professor Walter met me at the airport, the first thing she noticed wasn't my suitcase. It was the bandage wrapped around my arm.She didn't press me for an explanation. She just took off her scarf and wrapped it around my shoulders without a word. "The studio is warm," she said gently. "Get some rest first."I nodded and followed her.Here, no one made bets on my moods, and no one treated my personal space as an inconvenience.I set to work rebuilding my portfolio from the beginning. My laptop was sent off for repairs, but I was relieved to find that my backup drive had saved most of my important files. For every layer that was missing, I redrew it by hand, often working late into the night.Whenever the wound on my arm began to throb and itch beneath the bandages, Professor Walter would knock lightly on my door and leave a bowl of hot soup on my desk."Take your time, Grace," she would sa

Chapter 7

Raymond had lost so much weight that I barely recognized him. His black overcoat hung off his shoulders like it belonged to someone else. Madelyn, too, seemed like a shadow of her former self. Her hair was thrown back in a messy knot, and there were dark circles under her eyes. I knew they had dropped everything and rushed here as fast as they could.Raymond forced his way through the crowd and stopped before me. His eyes were bloodshot, and his voice came out as a broken whisper. "Grace." I didn't respond.He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ring box, then dropped to one knee. The murmur of conversation around us faded into silence."I didn't come here to bet or to mess with your feelings," he said, his voice trembling. "I came to beg you to marry me. Let me spend my life trying to be worthy of you again. Please."Madelyn walked toward me, crying as she reached for my arm. "Grace, I finally get what it means to respect someone's boundaries. I was fired from

Chapter 8

Three years later, I returned home in the middle of winter to settle the ownership of the old house my parents had left behind. Jeff came with me. By the time we finished the paperwork and walked out of the government building, snow was falling heavily. He reached over and gently pulled my scarf higher around my neck. "Cold?""I'm okay.""I'll go get the car. It's right across the street. Wait for me here at the entrance."I shook my head. "Let's walk together."As we approached the corner, I spotted a man crouched on the sidewalk. He was wearing a thin overcoat that had seen better days, and he was holding a cheap strawberry cake in his arms like it was the most valuable thing in the world. It was Raymond.He didn't notice me. Perhaps he wasn't looking at anything around him at all. His eyes were fixed on his phone, where the profile picture of a long-deleted Instagram account glowed on the screen.He muttered, "Grace, it's your birthday today. I finally remembered. You're

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