The Wasted Ten Years Novels & Stories

Just thinking of that makes me feel warm inside again. Who would’ve have thought huh? After ten long years, I get to finally see you again. Or rather, finally get to say goodbye to you where I wasn’t able to do that time. Ten years without you. Ten years still blaming myself over what had happened. Ten years of missing you.

"Vivian, have you really forgotten our past? I don't believe it. We were together for so long, and you loved me so much." Logan's displeasure became increasingly obvious as he laughed coldly. "You were together for a month. You call that long? Longer than the time we've been married?" I knew Nathan was talking about our previous life when I stayed by his side for ten years. But even if I told Logan these things, he wouldn't believe me. I shook my head and interrupted Nathan. "I haven't forgotten. I've let go and stopped caring. In this life, since we both chose different paths, it proves that the past doesn't matter."

“I’m not a perfect person, Tessa. I haven’t been perfect, but the worst mistake I did was letting you go. My life had been a total mess since the day that you stepped out of it, and I haven’t been myself.” “I wasted four years. Four fucking years. I couldn’t even get close to any woman. I couldn’t even fall for any woman, and I couldn’t even let another woman touch me.” “Do you know how miserable I was? I loved you. I fucking did. I made sure that I wasted.” “You took out our kids, and I don’t blame you for that, but that child I saw right there is almost four years old, and that only means you moved on the moment you left me, and you got pregnant for another man.”

The lines of words on the screen were like poisonous needles that jabbed straight into my eyes, making them hurt. To think that I had been the homewrecker all this time and ruined someone else's relationship for ten whole years. Ten. The best ten years of my life—from when I was 17 until I was 27—had all been spent on Vincenzo. And, as it turned out, I never even got a formal title out of it. How pathetic. The pain from my hand and the suffocating feeling in my chest suddenly surged tenfold. I couldn't remain calm any longer.

It’s the only one I’ll allow. Ten years of lies and deception. The best years of my life, wasted on this man and a love that was never true. “Why?” I hate how weak my voice is. “If you’ve been so unhappy with me all this time, why not say something? Did you really think you could push everything this far, and I would never finally crack?”

For the past fifteen years, he had treated me like a queen. His care and affection were as warm and constant as the summer sun. I was sure that we were in love. I thought that if I could just overlook this one indiscretion, we could still grow old together. So, I chose to forgive him. However, a month later, Skylar committed suicide. She slashed her wrists in her house and sent Anton a haunting message. Skylar: [You didn't take responsibility for me, but I don't blame you.]

"Sasha, there's a limit to how much you can be jealous. Don't challenge my bottom line. Pick up that drink and apologize to Mr. Conley right now. This is an order." Aidan had the nerve to still talk about jealousy. With a mix of despair and rage, Sasha trembled as she forcefully pulled her hand away from Aidan's grasp. "You know what, Aidan? I've never hated myself more than I do right now. Every time I think about the seven years I spent with you, trying to please those clients, enduring their harassment, and bargaining with them, I feel so sick that I want to throw up. "Thank you for finally making me realize that my love for you these seven years was nothing but a joke."

It was a serene and perfect moment. The comments were filled with words of congratulations. I casually left a comment as well. [I wish you everlasting happiness.] To be honest, we didn't even have a handful of decent photos together after all these years. I had asked Theodore to come hiking with me more than once, too. But he always smiled and said he would go when work wasn't so busy. I had waited year after year, and he would simply wave it off if I asked him about it. "Hiking is so tiring, and I'm very busy with work. Can't you stop bothering me about something so trivial?"

The message ends everything. I stare at my phone. The screen does not change. The words stay where they are. I can’t do this anymore. I’m done. Ten years. Ten years of choosing him. Ten years of waiting. Ten years of believing love was enough. My fingers shake. I read it again. Then again. As if the meaning will soften. As if the words will apologize. They don’t. “This isn’t funny,” I whisper, though I know no one is joking.

When Adrian Hale chose Rosalie Quinn for the tenth time, I was hanging helplessly over the cliff’s edge. He clutched a rope in one hand, the web between his thumb and forefinger worn raw and bloody. Rosalie was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. “Adrian, I’m scared…” He hesitated for only a second before pulling out a dagger and cutting through the rope on my side. “Clara, hold on. I’ll come back for you after I save Rosalie.” The system counted down in my ear. [The tenth abandonment has been confirmed.] [Life countdown: zero.] Before I fell, I didn’t wait for him to turn around like I had the previous nine times. I only smiled at him. “Adrian Hale, we’re even now.”