10 Year Gap Novels & Stories

The old man said. “You’re right, Mr. J. I’ve been a bit confused lately!” “It’s because the ten-year pact that the three of you made back then is coming to a close, right? The Lovewoods’ little girl is finally coming back after ten years.” “Mr. J, my brother and I used to be super close, but we ended up having a falling out because of a girl. I always wonder if I should’ve done things differently!”

he breathes, standing slowly. I don’t speak, neither need to. He pulls out the chair across from him, and I sit like it’s the most natural thing in the world. We stare at each other for a few seconds, maybe longer. He’s still beautiful. But not perfect. There’s a small scar by his temple now. More lines around his mouth. A sadness in his eyes that wasn’t there before. “Ten years,” I say finally. “I counted every one.” “You disappeared.” I said again, sharper now.

he says, looking entirely too pleased, “if she made it to the top, that’s a victory.” “She is not climbing higher next time.” “We’ll discuss,” he says lightly. I narrowed my eyes at him. “We will not.” He grins. Gavin shakes his head. Harley just tightens his arm around me slightly, his thumb brushing absent patterns against my side like he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it. The bond hums quietly. Steady. Warm. Complete. — Ten years. It’s been ten years since everything ended. Since everything began. And somehow…

I thought you could save yourself…" "You thought?" She cut him off with a mocking laugh. "So you sacrificed me without hesitation." "We were together for ten years," he said, eyes reddened. "You know what kind of man I am. How could I ever want you dead? Are you really going to erase everything between us over this one mistake?" Mabel looked at him with pity and ridicule. "Yes. Ten years. "It took me ten years to finally see clearly. "In your eyes, I was nothing more than a pawn you could sacrifice for the family's interests."

And tucked beside the bottle was a hand-painted card. My stomach dropped into my shoes. "Do you even know what today is?" she asked, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. I stared at the cake, the numbers 10 written in delicate gold icing. Ten years. Ten years since we had sat on her bedroom floor and promised to be each other's person forever. Ten years since she helped me hide my first secret, and I helped her launch her first design. "Zoey... I'm so sorry," I whispered, the words feeling pitifully small. "I... it's been so much. The company, the board, the—"

"I'm not sixty. Do I really look sixty?" "Fifty-five?" "No." "Fifty?" "Jesus Christ, woman." "Then tell me!" He groaned, shaking his head. "Fine. I'm forty-five." My mouth dropped open on impulse. "Forty... Forty five?" "Yeah." "Wow." I leaned back against the sink, processing that. "That's… that's a twenty-year gap." "I know." "Like, a really big gap." "I'm aware." I laughed, more out of disbelief than anything else. "And yet here we are, having a perfectly normal conversation."

I must be crazy to even think of this. Gus rolled his plan back and forth in his mind, trying to think of any other alternative. He hadn't spoken to his brother in ten years, and the last time had been far from friendly. Even now he couldn't believe they'd gotten into an actual fight right after their father's funeral. At the time he'd had so much rage built up inside him, anger at his father for divorcing his mother, anger at Rafe for stealing Gus' woman. Anger at the world. Now it all seemed too trivial, especially since Anya had come into his life. He couldn't even remember what he'd seen in Linda Grogan or why he'd distanced himself from what was left of his family.

On our wedding day, the officiant asked, "Do you agree to spend the rest of your life with the man standing before you?" Bianca, the woman I had loved for ten years, hesitated. In the end, she shook her head as she clutched her phone and said, "I don't." Then, she grabbed my younger brother, who had just slit his wrists, and ran out of the venue, tearing off her wedding gown as she fled. She never once spared a thought for my dignity the entire time. Heck, she didn't even look at me. Afterward, she simply said, "We'll just make new wedding arrangements. There was an emergency that day. Someone's life was on the line. I couldn't just ignore it, especially when he was your brother." Howe

Not class, or meetings, not even dates especially not this. I sit near the window and pretend to look at the menu but it’s not working. Every time the door opens, my head lifts and every time it isn’t him, disappointment follows. My fingers curl around my coffee cup. He’s forty-three, I’m twenty. The number keeps repeating inside my head. Twenty-three years, that’s not an age gap. That’s an entire lifetime, when I was learning multiplication tables, he was building companies. When I was in middle school, he was raising Austin. When I was applying to college, he was running a billion-dollar empire.

“To be honest, I’m not sure what I want to do yet. My plan for now is to complete my prerequisites and then figure out my next steps. My dad has always encouraged me to explore the world, as I’m someone who gets restless staying in one place for too long. However, things have changed since I turned fifteen. Lately, I’ve been considering the idea of becoming a music teacher or pursuing a similar career path. Teaching music is the only thing that ignites my passion. It would also provide me with the freedom to travel during the summers, which is something I value. Back in junior high and high school, I excelled in choir, and my SAT and CAT scores were exceptional. My GPA stands at 4.1, so I be