He Took Her To The Island We Planned To Marry Chapter 04

He Took Her To The Island We Planned To Marry Chapter 04

Her voice carried clearly through the quiet apartment.

The bathroom door opened.

Rowan stepped out wearing only a towel around his waist, water still dripping from his hair.

He had obviously heard the conversation. The smile disappeared from his face instantly, replaced by restrained irritation.

Frowning, he walked straight toward me.

“Seraphine, why are you always this childish?”

I ended the call and looked up at him.

“You think marriage is something one person can decide alone?” His voice sharpened. “Have you ever stopped to think about how I feel?”

I answered softly, “But I don’t want to break my promise.”

Rowan stared at me as though he couldn’t believe I was still insisting on this.

Finally, he shook his head and said coldly, “You’re impossible.”

“I’ve spent years giving in to you. That’s why you’ve become this spoiled.”

“I don’t have time for some island wedding. And if you don’t want to embarrass yourself, go return the dress tomorrow.”

The next morning, Rowan told me he was leaving for Alder City.

A month-long medical summit.

Several visiting specialist surgeries while he was there.

But I knew the truth.

He was running away from me.

One month later, Gideon and Odessa’s wedding would take place on Evershore Island.

By the time Rowan came back, everything would already be over.

Honestly, none of that surprised me anymore.

What I hadn’t expected was that just to avoid marrying me, he would even skip his best friend’s wedding.

I drove him to the airport in silence.

At security, Brielle was already waiting with two oversized suitcases beside her.

The second she saw me, she smiled brightly.

“Don’t worry, Seraphine,” she said with a smile. “I’ll make sure Chief survives the next month in one piece.”

I smiled politely and nodded.

“Then I’ll leave him in your hands.”

Rowan turned and started walking toward security.

And for some reason, I suddenly called out to him.

“Rowan!”

He stopped.

Across the crowded terminal, he turned to look at me.

Sunlight streamed through the massive glass ceiling above us, breaking across his face in shifting pieces of gold and shadow.

It was still the same face.

The same boy I had loved for eight years. So when exactly had he drifted so far away from me?

My eyes burned.

I forced a smile anyway and whispered softly:

“Goodbye forever.”

The airport was deafening.

Announcements echoed overhead. Suitcases rolled across the floor. Somewhere nearby, a child started crying.

Rowan clearly didn’t hear me.

He waved with a confused frown.

“What?”

I didn’t repeat myself.

I only waved back harder.

For one brief second, something flickered across his face.

Hesitation.

Like instinct was warning him something was wrong.

He even half-turned, as if he wanted to come back.

But Brielle grabbed his arm from behind and whined playfully, “Chief, hurry! We’re gonna miss boarding.”

So he turned away again.

Walking forward.

Still glancing back at me over and over.

I stood there smiling until I couldn’t see them anymore.

After leaving the airport, I went alone to an amusement park.

The carousel was still spinning endlessly beneath the lights.

That carousel had been the first ride Rowan ever took me on—one of the few attractions we could actually afford back then, yet somehow we’d been ridiculously happy anyway.

He had picked two horses side by side—one white, one brown.

When the music started and the carousel began to turn, he reached over between the rise and fall of the ride and grabbed my hand.

“Seraphine.”

“I like this feeling.”

“Running side by side with someone.”

He smiled at me beneath the carnival lights.

“As long as I turn around and still see you there…”

“That’s all the happiness I need.”

Ding—

The music stopped.

The carousel slowly came to a halt.

I sat alone on the white horse now. The brown one beside me was empty.

I stepped outside the fence and turned back for one last look.

After seven or eight circles, everything had still ended exactly where it started.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

A message from Odessa.

[We’re flying to the island tomorrow to finalize the venue and wedding schedule. Have you really made up your mind?]

I looked up.

The gray clouds above had split open just enough to reveal a small patch of clear blue sky.

Tomorrow—

I was finally going to see the ocean.