Belated Moonlight: He Regretted Only After I Left Novels & Stories

"How touching! Take her and go. Don't mess up my wedding." ... "Ms. Brown, I didn't mean to bother you," Lauren coughed. "They disappeared, and I thought I was abandoned again. I'm so insecure. You get it, right?" The rims of her eyes were red, and her face was pale. Her frail act was Oscar-worthy. No wonder she had the Quinn brothers hooked. I couldn't pull that off, nor did I want to compete with her. It was pointless.

I whispered to the empty sky. “I need you... I really need you now...” The words tore out of me, burning my throat. “I know I didn't treat you well and I regret it. I should have been a better man, I never should've pushed you away, I should have been better, I should've been a man, the man I promised you. I'm sorry... I'm really sorry Selene, please come back.” I meant it as a scream, but it came out broken and ragged, swallowed by the height and the city noise.

Thinking of all the hurt I had suffered, she yanked the curtains closed. Vincenzo spent the night out in the snow, constantly replaying our past. We had such good times in the past, renovating our home together and dreaming of the future. Yet all of that was destroyed by Claudia. Thinking of Claudia stoked a fire in him. By the end, his body felt like it was on fire, almost as if he were standing under the blazing sun. He knew he was hallucinating from the cold. He kept telling himself to hold on. If he held on, I would go back to him.

The realization bothered him enough that he stood and walked toward the window. The city stretched endlessly beneath him. Lights glowing against the darkness. Cars moving like tiny streams of gold. Eight years. Eight years had passed since Katelyn left. The thought arrived unexpectedly. As it often did. Damon's jaw tightened. Some wounds never fully healed. Some memories never truly disappeared. He had spent years convincing himself otherwise. Years telling himself he had moved on. Years building a life so full of work that there was no room left for anything else. And yet. Certain nights still felt unbearably empty.

I opened the car door and got in. As the car drove away, the lonely, slightly hunched figure gradually disappeared from view. Snowflakes fell on the car window, blurring my vision. In my daze, I saw our home again. A snowy Full Moon Festival, all five of us gathered around the dinner table. Mother took out glasses, Father poured wine. Under the warm lights, five glasses clinked together, followed by the family's joyful wishes. May we always be together in happiness in the years to come.

Her voice was so small. Like it came from somewhere very, very deep. I held her hand. "I will." Sunlight streamed through the window, falling on the floor in a patch of gold. Just like that morning so many years ago. Back then, I thought I would never be okay again. But here I am. Treating others the way I once so desperately wanted to be treated. A soft voice cut through my thoughts. "Can you tell me what I should do next?"

"I don't care. But make sure of one thing. Never regret your decisions right now. Because the way you're doing this might end up with something that will only hurt the both of us." Callum turned around. And left. Elise stood frozen in place. She watched her husband's back disappear down the hallway, then smiled bitterly. "Elise Voss," Elise whispered softly. "It seems I can finally accept that name now... after hearing it from you."

Damon and Harper knew they’ll forever be bound and haunted by what they did. It wasn’t the hunt either of them hoped for. In opposition, it wasn’t what’s supposed to happen in any of the hunt. But the regret would always be late. Now panting and clinging on each other’s body as they both lay on the flat brimstone, they couldn’t help but regret. “This is a mistake…”- Harper murmured. Like she said, he thinks it was too. Now that it has been an hour past midnight, the remorse has dawned. Like the coming of the sunrise.

"Love, I made you suffer before. I gave you the life you don't deserve. I regretted everything. That night, I chased after you. I wanted to take back everything I've said and make you stay but all I did was to drown myself in alcohol." "I'm gonna delete this later, before you wake up. I'm not ready to for your reaction. I'm not ready to face the Athijha who I broke. Give more time, my love. Just give me sometime." I wanted to throw my phone away as I lean on the tree, beside the rock covered with moss. I looked up to the moon. I must be crazy if I say I can hear her laugh and her stories about the moon from the distant past. "Are the legends true about you?" I asked.

She said she wasn't coming back. She was sorry they couldn't have a proper goodbye. Her eyes were red—because he had hurt her, so she left. No blame. No resentment. That gentle "I wish you happiness" was a soft knife, buried deep in his heart. The pain never went away. Years of bad sleep and family stress had wrecked his body. That night, he woke from another dream. The cold moon outside. He remembered watching the moon with Valentina. It felt like a past life.