By The Time They Missed Me I Was Gone นิยาย & เรื่องราว

I said gently, “not while I’m this lost. It’ll just make things worse.” Jasper ran a hand through his hair, jaw tight. “I miss you, Barbie.” “I miss a lot of things too,” I said. “But missing something doesn’t mean it belongs to us anymore.” He didn’t respond. Just turned away. I walked out of the coffee shop alone. The wind bit at my cheeks. My heart pounded. And as I made my way down the boardwalk, away from Jasper, away from the kiss, away from the ghost of who we used to be—

It was such an irony that the one who indirectly caused my parents' deaths was now celebrating their love story. I saw a message from Bobby. He'd sent a private text: [Bella, Audrey and I have arrived in Cranburn. It's just as beautiful as the books say. It's a shame you didn't come.] But I was never part of his life to begin with. So what was there to regret? The next couple of weeks were marked by fierce fighting. Wounded people were everywhere. Several of my coworkers were bedridden with the spreading epidemic.

The only thing that stood out was that basket of bright red strawberries. A laugh slipped out of me, sudden and out of place, and the tears I had been holding back finally fell, pulling at the stitches that had just been sewn. The pain hit so hard that I curled up on the bed. After seven years with Charles, he had forgotten that I was allergic to strawberries, and as for the promise he made to come back, no one came, not even once, not until half a month later, when I was discharged. Meanwhile, Melissa's social media had been set to special notifications on my phone, and she updated almost every day, every post filled with photos of her traveling with Charles.

When I opened my eyes again, all I saw was the stark white wall of a hospital room. And in that instant, every memory from the past ten years came rushing back. So there had never been any transmigration at all. My mind had simply been unable to bear so much pain, so it forced me to temporarily forget those ten years. I had never become someone else. I had always been myself. Slowly, I pushed myself upright. Just as I reached for the cup beside me, Liam hurriedly grabbed a straw, placed it into the water, and held the cup out for me.

“Don’t worry, you’ll come home eventually. Once Gianna softens, I’ll arrange for you two to meet. Try to be friends. When you get along, she’ll accept you.” I never imagined coming home would require so many detours. That night was the first time in Sicily I missed my adoptive parents. And now, standing in that corridor, I had finally given up on ever being a Vittorio.

“Graham, how much do you think your dignity is worth?” That single sentence hit me so hard that my mind went blank. Now, staring at our chat, I stayed silent for a few seconds before sending that exact sentence back to her. I had no idea whether Lucy still remembers that incident, but for a long time after that, she didn’t contact me again.

He knew about Martin by now, and the knowledge sat between us with the particular discomfort of a truth that had arrived too late to prevent the damage it revealed. I told myself not to think about Cedrick. He was gone. He had said he was leaving, and I believed him, and the goodbye in the courthouse corridor was the last one, and I would never see him again. I repeated this to myself while I washed the tea cups and folded the laundry and checked Elan's homework and cooked dinner for my brother and my son, and each repetition was supposed to make it easier and didn't.

The storm hit just as our graduation gala ended. The lights went out. Rain swallowed the front steps. In the dark, I called my fiancé, my childhood best friend, and my brother. None of them answered. With seven percent left on my phone, I huddled against the auditorium wall. Then headlights swept across the windows, and I saw my twin sister. My fiancé was carrying her to the car. My best friend held the door while my brother kept her graduation cap and flowers dry beneath his jacket. All three of them had come for her. Not one had remembered me. They remembered the strawberry cream cake she loved, but never my dairy allergy. They helped her study while I figured things out alone. Even my fia

Once again, Alex Feinn, my partner, had work commitments on my birthday. Before he left, Alex gently kissed my cheek and tried to reassure me. "I'm sorry I have to miss your birthday again this year, but I'll make it up to you with a gift." I smiled and brushed it off. Once he was gone, I decided to surprise him and went looking for him. Instead, I saw a woman run into his arms. I recognized her. It was Quinn Bayer, his childhood friend, whom he had once told he was in love with. Quinn slipped her arm through his. "Cathy and I share a birthday, but you spend it with me every year. Aren't you worried she'll find out?" Alex took her purse to carry it for her, looking completely unconce

Lucius personally handed the vampires' only sacred mark of the First Embrace to his human secretary, Vivian. Every vampire in the room was waiting to see me humiliated. But I simply raised my glass and calmly wished her eternal life. Lucius's face darkened. He crushed the glass in his hand. Six years ago, the vampire council forced me to sign a contract: Bear an heir within two years: receive the First Embrace and three hundred million. Bear one within four years: receive fifty million. If no child after six years, I must allow my husband to take another partner. When Lucius found out, he demanded with bloodshot eyes whether I'd slept beside him for love, or for the vampires' immortality and