10 Year Gap Novels & Stories

"Suppress the gossip." Vincent nodded. "Yes, Mr. Thomas." Lucas gazed at Vincent for some time before he said, "Have you ever kept anyone in mind for ten years?" Vincent had no idea where Lucas was going. Vincent hedged a bit before he said, "Mr. Thomas, I may not be a one—woman guy. So, no, never." "Then do you think one would let go of someone they had been in love with for 10 years easily?" "Of course not. People like that are always stubborn. On the surface, they may say they have let go of the past, but they couldn't deep down."

Funeral held. A gap of seventeen years. And then a picture taken in upstate New York seventy-two hours ago. The gaps between those events were exactly the kind of gaps money created. The kind that only existed when someone had paid very carefully for the nothing in between. Clark was sitting across from me with two cups of coffee that had both gone cold while we worked. He looked at my notes and didn't say anything. He had figured out by now that when I was doing something important, the most useful thing another person could do was be quiet and let it happen.

Lying on the empty bed, Nathan slowly turned his head to gaze at the pillow beside him. His hand slipped out from under the blanket, reaching for the spot where Mila had been lying, but found it cold and devoid of her warmth. She had disappeared. Just as it had been ten years ago, they were now separated by two countries, lacking any means of communication, destined to never meet again. His heart felt as though it were being stabbed by thousands of needles, the pain so intense that it made breathing a challenge. Despite the agony, he couldn't help but curl his lips into a bitter smile.

Outside the lawyer's office, I looked across at the County Clerk's building, kinda dazed. Ten years ago, Jack and I stood there too—same gray sky, totally different mood. It wasn't Valentine's or some wannabe couple's day. We just got up early and lined up first. We had nothing—no rings, no cash, not even a proper photo. Just a blurry strip from a janky booth. Still thought love would carry us. Thought it was enough. I forgot a heart's just another organ. After ten years, ours had burned out. Once Jack and Jenny left, I left, too.

I scoffed with a roll of my eyes. They shared a glance at each other again. “It actually makes a difference. He said he wants a very long break from the crazy happenings around him, he wants a break from frustration so he might leave for 6 or 8 months or even a year or more.” My eyes widened. “A year?!” “Y–yes.” “Wow, just wow. Isn’t that just perfect for both of us?” I scoffed again, this time, it was due to the weird pain and anger that struck my heart.

“Hello!” I went to shake his hand and he stretched out his arms for a hug. We both retracted our gestures and just looked at each other. It has been ten years since I faced him and I couldn’t think of anything to say to him. So much has happened, I didn’t even know where to begin. “Well, this is awkward,” Eric said.

For a moment, I thought maybe Rudolf had done this just to give the Gray family an heir. But that didn't seem like it. It was clear that there was love between him and that woman—and he was the one who had pursued it. I lifted my head to stare at the wedding photo on the wall. My gaze shifted from pain to hollowness, from disappointment to despair. In the end, ten years of marriage were over. We had no children to keep us together, and the Gray family was a powerful household. As the president of Gray Group, how could Rudolf avoid having an heir?

--- Orion found him on Saturday afternoon, in the study, where Rhys had been reviewing quarterly projections with the specific low-grade distraction of a man who kept losing his place in the same paragraph. "I have something," Orion said, setting a tablet down on the desk between them. "Not much. Archer's background is mostly clean — teaching credentials, a clean rental history, nothing that raises flags in the usual places. But there's a gap. Five years ago, before the teaching career, before any of the records that actually exist for him now. About eighteen months where he doesn't show up anywhere. No employment record, no tax filing, no lease under his name. Then he resurfaces, gets his t

He had always carried himself with quiet confidence and taste, effortlessly charming to others. But back then, his eyes had only ever held me. No matter how many girls tried to flirt or tempt him, he never wavered. Until Lina. Now, all it took was her smile to make him forget every promise he'd made me. It wasn't that Lina was exceptional. It was that after all these years together, he'd grown tired. Even married couples face the seven-year itch—how could two people who were only dating escape it? Love, no matter how deep, can't always withstand the slow erosion of time.

It was understandable. I had booked this wedding planning service three years ago. My fiance, Jacob Locke, and I had finalized the plan twice and even gotten to the point of having rehearsals, yet things had fizzled out both times. To this day, the wedding had yet to happen. And there I was, there to cancel it. Anyone would've been curious to know what had gone down. But they didn't know, nor would they ever know, that it had only taken one night for me to change my mind. I'd gone from wanting to marry the man I'd loved for ten years to deciding the end the engagement.