All Chapters of Fifteen Days to Goodbye: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Marielle felt as though she'd been struck by lightning.The possibility she'd been avoiding was written plainly in front of her. Dorian really wanted to end their relationship.But why?Today was supposed to be their wedding day. She'd known him for twenty years. Marriage had been his dream for as long as she could remember. How could he abandon it?She pictured his face the previous evening: unnaturally calm, even as she announced she was leaving to see Elias again. He'd seemed about to tell her something, but she'd been in too much of a hurry to listen.The last glimpse she'd had of him was of a man sitting quietly on the couch. No excitement about the ceremony. No anger that his bride was running off to the hospital. Nothing.Had he been trying to tell her they were finished?Marielle sank onto the sofa, her thoughts in chaos.Her phone kept ringing. Her parents and friends were calling, but she couldn't face them.The hotel employee had said Dorian canceled fifteen days ea

Dorian took a breath and opened the door.Five years had passed. There was gray in Professor Whitcomb's hair now, and the sight filled Dorian with shame. He'd ignored the man's repeated invitations to pursue research, all because he'd wanted to follow Marielle.Whitcomb studied the student he'd had the highest hopes for and most regretted losing to another career.After a long silence, he sighed."This time, I expect you to stay and do the work."Dorian nodded firmly, emotion catching in his throat.Whitcomb waved away anything more and told Sylvie to show him to his room.Once inside the staff residence, Dorian dropped his bag and collapsed onto the bed. He'd barely slept since the previous night, apart from a short nap on the plane. Exhaustion pulled him under before he'd even unpacked.A ringing phone dragged him awake.Half asleep, he found it by touch and answered."Dorian! Where are you?"Marielle's furious voice snapped him fully awake.He checked the time. He'd only

Griffin couldn't believe she'd forgotten something so important."You really don't remember New Year's night six years ago?" he demanded. "You never even thanked him. And now you've treated him like this."Anger spilled out of him. He told her about Dorian's years of quiet sacrifices and about that terrifying night six years earlier. Then he showed her photographs of Dorian lying in a hospital bed, badly injured.Marielle barely remembered leaving Griffin's house.Her world felt suddenly dark and unsteady.For six years, she'd believed Elias had saved her. How could it have been Dorian?If Griffin was telling the truth, she'd spent years thanking the wrong person. Worse, she was carrying a child conceived in the name of a debt she never owed.Her trembling hand settled on her stomach.She hailed a cab to the hospital. She needed answers.On the way, she forced herself to recall that New Year's night. She'd been walking back to her dorm when a man began following her. He grabbe

Marielle arranged to terminate the pregnancy that same day.When Elias's family found out, they stormed the hospital, accusing its staff of killing the last child Elias would ever have. But Marielle had given informed consent and signed the paperwork. Hospital security called the police when the family disrupted the ward, and officers escorted them away.Marielle wanted nothing more to do with the Bruckners.She returned to Griffin's home and demanded to know where Dorian had gone. When he refused, she waited outside again the next day. And the next.After several days, Griffin was sick of seeing her. He finally admitted Dorian had left Ellerton to join a research laboratory, but he refused to identify it.Marielle remembered that she and Dorian had attended the same university. She contacted former classmates, who told her Professor Whitcomb had recently established a research center outside New Carden.She couldn't prove Dorian was there, but her instincts told her to go.She

Before approaching the private dining room, Marielle stopped in the restroom to fix her makeup.She hadn't expected to see Dorian today. She'd simply come out to eat, but once she knew where he was, she couldn't bear to wait for another opportunity.As she stood outside the door, she imagined how he might react. Perhaps he was still angry. Perhaps he'd moved on enough to treat her like an old acquaintance.She could accept either. As long as she saw him again, she believed she could rekindle his feelings.What she hadn't imagined was that he'd found someone else.And was about to marry her.The word "fiancée" chilled Marielle from head to toe. She prayed Dorian would laugh and admit it was a joke, that Sylvie was just a younger colleague.Instead, his friends began fighting over who would stand beside him at the altar and who might someday be godparent to his children.Marielle couldn't stand another second."If she's your fiancée, then what am I?"She pushed the door open. H