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All Chapters of Left Off the Christmas List, so I Left: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

The green "Submitted" pop-up appeared on my screen.A field hospital in Colombia. Five years. No returning home.I set my phone down, my fingertips still trembling uncontrollably.Loud, piercing laughter echoed from the hall. No one noticed the life-altering decision I had just made.Julian was hurrying upstairs, practically buried under a mountain of designer gift boxes.He was my fiancé. Yet right now, he looked like a devoted servant waiting on another woman hand and foot."Julian, let the maids carry those. Take a break," I said, my voice dry.He didn't even pause. "Mia just got a pure white cashmere rug in her room. What if the clumsy maids ruin it? I need to put these away for her myself."Bang. The bedroom door upstairs slammed shut.Staring at that closed door, I suddenly remembered a massive pile-up on the highway last month. My forehead was bleeding, and I was trapped in my crushed car when I called him for help."Willow, call an ambulance yourself. I’m with Mia at the equest

Chapter 2

"Tear down the whole backyard garden. Get the bulldozers in this afternoon," Elena's commanding voice echoed through the living room. "I want a full-glass outdoor art studio built by next week."My hand froze halfway to my mouth with my water glass.That was the garden I had personally tended to for three years. It was filled with rare Bulgarian roses. It was my only sanctuary after work."No problem. Mia mentioned a couple of days ago that she wanted to learn oil painting, and the indoor lighting is too dim," Don Vincent agreed easily, not even looking up from his newspaper.Luca walked downstairs, smiling in agreement. "Once the studio is done, I’ll have someone import the best natural pigments. Mia deserves the best."Just because of Mia’s sudden whim, they erased three years of my hard work without a second thought.I sat in the armchair opposite them, quietly taking a sip of water.I didn't fight it. I didn't ask why.Because I knew any objection would just be seen as me being gre

Chapter 3

Ten days left.Today was my three-year anniversary with Julian.I put on a black silk dress, did my makeup lightly, and arrived at the three-star Michelin restaurant in the city center half an hour early.After much thought, I planned to tell him tonight that I was leaving North America and breaking off our engagement.It was time to put a full stop to this dead relationship.At exactly 7:00 PM, the restaurant's glass doors opened.Julian walked in wearing a sharp tailored suit. But right behind him, wearing that pink couture dress, was Mia."Why did you bring her?" I sat in my seat, watching them approach the table.Julian pulled out a chair—the one meant for me, with the best window view—and casually told Mia, "Sit here, you get a good view of the skyline."Then he finally looked at me. "Mia said she missed her dad today. I didn't want to leave her alone, so I brought her out to get her mind off things. You sit on the outside."He sat across from me as if bringing another woman to ou

Chapter 4

Today was a Sterling family gathering at an estate on the outskirts of the city.As usual, my parents took Luca and Julian around to socialize, listening to everyone praise their deeply bonded family of four.Meanwhile, I sat in a corner, quietly nursing a drink."Get down!"A piercing alarm tore through the peace of the estate. The mafia banquet instantly turned into a bloodbath.Rival cartel members kicked the doors in with submachine guns, spraying the hall with bullets.The moment the gunfire erupted, my eardrums screamed in pain.I hit the floor, instinctively looking up for a familiar face.Only to see Julian, who was much closer to me, sprinting toward Mia. He, along with my parents and brother, formed a human shield around her, protecting her completely.I was left completely exposed in the crossfire.Crash!A bullet shattered the floor-to-ceiling window next to me.Countless shards of sharp glass exploded like shrapnel, slicing deep into my right arm. A stray bullet grazed my

Chapter 5

"What new evidence?" Vincent frowned, his voice low and dangerous.The old Capo took a deep breath. "Mia’s father, the man who took a bullet for you... based on what I just found, he was no loyal hero."The words dropped like a bomb, exploding in everyone’s ears.Elena shot up, her perfectly maintained face twisting in shock. "What the hell are you talking about?! He gave his life for Don Vincent! He’s the savior of our entire family!"The Capo didn't argue. He just looked at them with pity and pulled out a stack of letters and bank statements."Don, we raided a rival cartel's underground safe house yesterday and found these in the safe."He spread the evidence across the expensive coffee table."Ten years ago, Mia's father was bought out by the enemy. He sold out your location, handed over the estate's security blind spots, and gave them the guards' shift schedules!"Dead silence filled the room. The only sound was heavy, ragged breathing.The Capo continued, every word a fatal blow.

Chapter 6

Don Vincent mobilized the Sterling family’s entire network across North America, pulling strings in the underworld and even using FBI informants, just to track down Willow.Julian went half-mad, spending days without sleep scouring surveillance footage from every airport and border control agency.Twelve hours later, they got a devastating answer."Don, the young lady definitely left the States," an Associate reported, sweating bullets in front of Vincent. "But... she used a special deployment channel. Her destination is classified at the highest level by an international medical organization. We have no jurisdiction to view it, and no way to track it."Vincent’s massive frame swayed, and he fell back into his chair.His proud power and status were reduced to garbage. He couldn't even find his own Principessa.That evening, Donna Elena and Vincent walked into Willow's bedroom in a daze.It was the first time in ten years they had actually set foot inside their biological daughter's roo

Chapter 7

Willow’s POVColombia, frontline trauma hospital.The roar of helicopter blades mixed with the distant rumble of artillery fire. That was my welcoming committee."Dr. Sterling, welcome to hell, and welcome to heaven," the Chief Surgeon, Gabriel, smiled and reached out a hand. He had the deep, intense eyes and warm smile typical of South American men. "The director practically spilled his coffee when he saw your resume. We desperately need a top-tier surgeon like you."I changed into my scrubs, glanced at my phone which had zero signal anyway, powered it down, and tossed it into the deepest drawer.In my heart, I felt a release I had never known before.The conditions here were worse than I imagined. No AC, no advanced equipment, and the constant threat of power outages.But here, there were people who truly needed me.In my third week, a massive car bombing struck near the camp.Casualties flooded the hospital like a tidal wave. Severed limbs and screams of agony were everywhere.Stand

Chapter 8

Julian’s POVThe days without Willow were pure torture for everyone in the Sterling family. Every minute was a punishment.In the first few months, Don Vincent used every extreme, ruthless method a mafia boss had at his disposal. He sent men to scour airports, ports, and even human smuggling rings globally.But no matter how many millions he burned, the answer was always the same: No trace.The once untouchable, god-like Don of the North American underworld visibly aged within months.Most of Vincent's hair had turned stark white.He often sat alone in his empty study, staring at a family photo where his daughter was pushed to the very edge, letting out ragged, raspy sighs.He held the power of life and death over thousands, yet tragically realized he was too powerless to even find his own daughter.Elena’s breakdown was the most complete.After Willow left, Elena moved into Willow's old room.Every night, she curled up on that hard twin bed, burying her face deep into Willow's pillow,

Chapter 9

Willow’s POVIn the fifth year, my tour in the Colombian war zone finally concluded.Due to my outstanding work on the front lines, I was awarded the highest medical cross from Doctors Without Borders. Headquarters ordered me back to the US for a week-long international medical summit in New York to give a debriefing.The day I left camp, Gabriel insisted on driving me to the airport himself.Along the way, the usually calm and decisive chief surgeon turned into a nagging mother hen."Make sure you bundle up in New York, the winters are brutal. Stop staying up late reading charts, your stomach is finally doing a little better..."Sitting in the passenger seat, watching his jaw move as he rambled, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Gabriel, since when did you become such a worrier?"His grip on the steering wheel tightened, and a brief silence fell over the car.As we neared the terminal, Gabriel parked the car.He turned to me, his intense dark eyes locked onto mine, a flicker of ner

Chapter 10

The next morning, the New York wind was biting cold.As I pushed open the hotel doors, my footsteps faltered at the sight before me.Elena stood in the freezing wind.She was skeletal, her once-proud elegance completely gone, replaced by deep dark circles and overwhelming exhaustion. Seeing me, she froze, then hesitantly walked toward me like a child who had done something wrong."Willow..." her voice was hoarse. Her trembling hand reached out to touch me but violently pulled back as tears flooded her eyes. "Please, just come home and see us? Just one look..."Looking at her, looking like she might shatter in the wind, I felt no thrill of revenge. Just a surreal sense of peace, as if looking at a stranger from another lifetime."Okay," I nodded faintly.The car pulled into the Sterling estate.The moment the doors opened, I saw Vincent and Luca.The Don who once ruled the North American underworld was now entirely white-haired, his back hunched. He leaned heavily on a cane, staring at

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