Home / You Chose Her, and I Walked Away / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of You Chose Her, and I Walked Away: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

The ambient noise of the theater hummed around me, but I felt as though I were trapped in a soundproof vacuum.It wasn't until my best friend, Thea Leblanc, nudged my shoulder that the sounds around me suddenly came rushing back."What's wrong, Violet?" she asked cautiously.The green glow from the screen flickered across my face, making my skin look almost ghostly. I shook my head, handing her phone and bag back to her."I'm going to step out to the restroom," I said.Thea immediately caught my wrist, anxiety flashing across her face. "Do you want me to come with you?"The irony was almost laughable compared with the warmth I used to feel toward her. I forced a faint, bitter smile, saying, "It's just a quick trip to the restroom. You really can't trust me alone for five minutes?"A flicker of guilt crossed her eyes. She gave me an awkward little smile before finally letting go. "All right. Make it quick."I nodded, slipped out of the theater, and flagged down a cab. By the tim

Chapter 2

I gave the cab driver an address, then scrolled through my contacts until I found a number I hadn't called in years.When the line went through, I said, "Three years ago, you asked me to move abroad and join your team. Does that offer still stand?"After receiving a firm confirmation, I squeezed my eyes shut. "Great. But I need you to help me fake my death."The moment I hung up, calls from Donovan and everyone else started flooding my phone. I ignored every one of them, but then their text messages began pouring in one after another.Thea: [Violet, where are you? Donovan is going out of his mind looking for you.]A message from my brother, Neil Sanford, appeared right after hers. It was a video file. The moment I tapped it open, my fingers curled into tight fists.In the video, Donovan had a long, ugly scrape running up his forearm. He was limping badly, his clothes caked with dirt and grime, leaving him looking completely disheveled.Neil: [Donovan got hit by a car while searc

Chapter 3

With those words, all the blood in my veins ran cold.Trembling, I turned toward my parents and asked again, "Why?"They met my tear-filled gaze, but neither of them spoke. Neil walked in right behind them, his brows drawn together in disapproval."Violet, face it. The baby is already gone. Keeping a prayer candle for them isn't going to change anything. While you were in a coma for three years, Cheryl stepped up and took care of Mom and Dad as though they were her own parents. Is it really such a big deal that we set up a prayer candle and wished her well?"He paused, and his voice turned colder. "She did everything you would have done as a daughter for three whole years. Instead of being grateful, you want to destroy the blessing we gave her? Don't you think you're taking this too far?"His words hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest. I stared at the younger brother I had spoiled and cherished since childhood, seeing him as a stranger for the first time.I forced the words th

Chapter 4

The moment the words left his mouth, a quiet sob came from nearby.Cheryl stood in the doorway with both hands covering her mouth, tears welling in her eyes. Donovan's grip on my wrist tightened, and his body instinctively shifted toward her.But after stealing a glance at me, he quickly looked away and pressed his lips into a thin line. Thea's brow furrowed at the sight, and she immediately stepped forward to defend Cheryl."Violet, why are you pushing him like that? Does putting him on the spot just to prove you matter more make you feel better about yourself?"My fingers slowly curled into tight fists.Before I could respond, Neil chimed in, his voice sharp and full of accusation, "Cheryl is only asking to stay by Donovan's side. She never tried to compete with you for anything. Why are you being so vindictive?"My parents stood behind Cheryl like an impenetrable wall of support. They declared, "As long as we're alive, no one is sending her away."Their words hit me one after

Chapter 5

The news hit Donovan like a clap of thunder. It felt as though an invisible hand had instantly closed around his heart and squeezed it in a crushing grip."What did you just say?" he blurted out.There was a pause before the caller repeated himself with detached professionalism. "Miss Violet Sanford was involved in a car accident on Skyline Drive. We need you to come to the scene and identify the body."Donovan's face darkened. Hearing the commotion, the others crowded around him, demanding to know what had happened.His hand trembled slightly as he switched the call to speakerphone."Say that again," Donovan growled, his voice turning dangerously cold. "What happened to Violet?"The caller's patience began to wear thin as the issue had been doubted again and again."I've already explained. Miss Violet Sanford was involved in a fatal car accident on Skyline Drive. You're listed as her emergency contact, so please come to the scene and identify the body."Everyone stopped breath

Chapter 6

On the way there, Donovan drove with his foot pressed to the gas, nearly losing control more than once as he raced toward the crash site.Long before they reached the scene, the acrid smell of burning metal and rubber filled the air. The moment they stepped out of the car, they all froze.Until then, they had convinced themselves it was some kind of scam or sick prank. But there, only a short distance away, the charred, twisted frame of a sedan lay crushed against a rock wall, silent proof that a violent crash had happened only moments earlier.Donovan's eyes widened in horror as memories of my accident three years ago came flooding back. It was a nightmare that had haunted him every day since.I had been covered in blood. He had never seen so much blood in his life, and that wreck had left me trapped in a hospital bed for three long years.Every time those memories resurfaced, his chest would tighten until he could barely breathe. Now, standing before an eerily similar scene, he

Chapter 7

Donovan hadn't left his bedroom for three days.Cheryl had pounded on the door again and again, shouting his name, but he never responded. Panic gnawed at her constantly.After my first accident, Donovan's therapist had warned everyone that he was deeply traumatized. If anything ever happened to me again, he might not survive the emotional fallout.Having my parents, Neil, and Thea keep such a close watch on me had not simply been a convenient way to give him space to see Cheryl in secret. He had genuinely been terrified of losing me.Ever since I woke up, someone had been with me every minute of every day. Except this time. The one time no one was watching me, tragedy had struck again."Donovan!"Cheryl pounded on the door once more, but only silence answered her.Right then, the front door clicked and rattled. She rushed toward it like someone clinging to a lifeline and flung it open. "Thank God, you're here! Donovan hasn't come out of his room for three days."Neil and Thea

Chapter 8

After two straight all-nighters, I finally finished crunching the latest batch of experimental data. Exhaustion weighed heavily on me as I pinched the bridge of my nose."That wraps it up," Tristan Mercer said, placing an ice-cold can of soda on my desk. "We can finally take a break for the next few months."I let out a long breath and popped the tab. The cold drink jolted my foggy mind back into focus."I need to sleep for three days straight," I groaned. "I haven't had a decent night's sleep since I moved here. If I'd known joining your lab would be this brutal, I never would have agreed."Tristan raised an eyebrow. "As if you could walk away from a breakthrough physics project like this."I took a deep breath and slumped farther into my chair. "Fine. You got me.""You should have come three years ago," he said. "If you had, you wouldn't have been in that wreck. You lost three years of your life, and your health took a beating on top of it."My thoughts drifted back to the pas

Chapter 9

Because I'd already prepared myself for it, I wasn't surprised when I stepped outside my building and found Donovan waiting there.The day he arrived, the first snowfall of the season had blanketed the city. I stepped back inside to wrap a thick scarf around my neck before heading downstairs.Donovan had grown gaunt, far thinner than he had been when I woke up from my three-year coma. His hair hung messily over his forehead, and his eyes looked hollow and exhausted.I walked toward him, my breath turning white in the crisp winter air. The moment his eyes landed on me, tears welled up."Violet...""Call me Ms. Sanford."He paused, then reached up and pulled the silver cross from around his neck. One corner was chipped, and faint red streaks had seeped deep into the cracks, making them look almost like broken veins.When I noticed the raw wound across his palm, I understood immediately what those red threads were. Dried blood.His hand trembled as he held the cross out to me. "Ta

Chapter 10

I froze for a split second, then my expression settled back into stillness."And?" I said.Thea looked at me with sorrow in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Violet. Cheryl was behind everything, yet we kept protecting her. But she's getting what she deserves now."I nodded, feeling nothing stir inside me. "I see. If that's all you came to say, you can leave."Neither Neil nor Thea tried to persuade me to return home. But just before stepping outside, Neil turned and gave me one last look."Mom and Dad are taking this really hard," he murmured. "If you can, maybe give them a call?""Just pass a message along for me," I said flatly. "Tell them I'm doing fine."His lips parted as though he wanted to say more, but in the end, he only let out a weary sigh.After they left, I turned my attention to Donovan. "When are you leaving?"He looked up at me. That one look carried the crushing weight of everything he couldn't bring himself to say. Just as my patience was beginning to run out, he fin

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