Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 9

When I woke up, a doctor was standing beside my bed. He looked over my chart with a sigh.“You were already nursing a stomach ulcer. This time, the ulcer flared up and caused an acute perforation. Why didn’t you come in sooner?”After Ty Hyland left, I had called him twenty-six times. He had not answered once.In the end, I had to call an ambulance myself.I nodded numbly.I had no idea how much time had passed when Ty opened the door and walked in.He was still signing to me.My chest ached, so I turned my face away and closed my eyes.Tears slipped down my cheeks.A hand brushed over my damp face.“Why are you crying?”It had been a long time since he had actually spoken to me.Was it already one years since he met Luna Winter?He spoke normally to everyone else. I was the only person he insisted on communicating with in sign language.When Ty saw that I was awake, he reached out to stroke my hair.In the soothing tone one might use with a child, he said, “I didn’t wan

Inside the private party room, Ty’s friends were joking around.“Ty, how did you get Yvonne wrapped around your finger like that? You tell her not to speak, and she obeys. You tell her to bring the dress, and she brings it without question.”Someone immediately chimed in.“Yvonne lost her parents years ago. She’ll have no one else if she leaves Ty.”They did not know that I had an aunt overseas who ran a business. Her name was Claire Lloyd.Years ago, my grandfather had tried to force her into marriage. The night before the wedding, Mom helped her run away. She stayed away for twenty years.When we found each other by chance two years ago, Claire burst into tears at the sight of my face, which bore such a strong resemblance to Mom’s.She had asked me several times to move abroad and live with her.I had always refused because of Ty. I had never told him about her, either.Ty had an arm around Luna and made no attempt to correct them.Instead, he laughed in agreement.“That’s

A sudden sense of helplessness overwhelmed him.He repeatedly reassured himself that she had probably just gone to the restroom.Clinging to that thought, Ty sat down beside the bed.He ran a hand over the sheets.They were cold.Only then did he open his messaging app to text Yvonne.Her profile picture had disappeared.The account no longer existed.That was when the full realization struck him.Like a man possessed, he called Yvonne.“We’re sorry. The number you have dialed is no longer in service.”His call log was a sea of red.It was the same red as the calls he had ignored from Yvonne three days earlier.He refused to believe it.Yvonne could not have left him.She had always done whatever he said. She had always depended on him.Ty raced out of the hospital room and grabbed the first nurse he saw.“Where is the patient from Room Six? Is this how you people do your jobs? How could you let a patient disappear from her bed?”The nurse trembled under his furious g

(1st POV)I never expected to see Ty again.Yet, there he was on a street in Seattly City, running toward me after a month apart.Ty had lost weight. His already chiseled features appeared even sharper.His usually neatly combed hair had fallen loose over his forehead. He looked exhausted from the journey.When he reached me, he tried to grab my wrist.I took two steps back and avoided his hand.He froze as he watched me pull away.His gaze rose to my face. His eyes were glistening with tears.“Yv, I’ve missed you so much. You said you’d wait for me.”I frowned.Of course, I had only said that to get him to leave.Seeing him again, I really had nothing to say to him.I did not even hate him any longer.I did not love him, either.I had moved on completely. All that remained was a quiet calm.I looked into his eyes without flinching. “I lied. I only said that so you would leave and I could get to the airport before I missed my flight.”For a long while, Ty simply star

I next heard about Ty six months later.That day, I had just finished restoring an antique porcelain bowl.The delicate bowl on my workbench had been covered in fine cracks. It had taken me an entire week to finish repairing the final seam.Claire nodded in approval. “Not bad. Give it a few more years, and you might put me out of business.”I smiled as I packed away my tools.As I stepped out of the studio, I found Chazz waiting by the door.He lifted the insulated food bag in his hand and gave it a little shake.“Finished for the day? I brought you dinner.”I paused in surprise.“Why are you here again?”“I was in the neighborhood.”He said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world.“Besides, didn’t you say that you always forget to eat when you are working on a restoration? With your sensitive stomach, skipping meals isn’t an option.”He pressed the food bag into my arms.“Try it. I spent all afternoon making chicken and vegetable stew.”I looked down an