A Rainy Night Reunion at My Noodle Cart Chapter 02

A Rainy Night Reunion at My Noodle Cart Chapter 02

Cameron fell silent and focused on the road.

I closed my eyes, and the past came back in jagged, broken pieces.

The Whitmans and the Caldwells went back generations, and our businesses were tied together for as long as anyone could remember.

Cameron and I grew up together as childhood best friends, always in each other’s orbit.

He was quiet and guarded, while I was loud, spoiled, and impossible to miss.

We were nothing alike, yet somehow we fit.

When we first started catching feelings, we admitted it to each other, awkward and shy, cheeks burning.

Right after high school graduation, I shamelessly clung to the adults on both sides of our families and begged them to let Cameron and me get engaged.

My mom, who never wanted me pushed into a strategic match, worriedly told me to think it through.

I just grinned, grabbed her hand, and said, “Mom, we love each other, and Cameron will treat me right for the rest of my life.”

After a long stretch of pleading and wearing everyone down, I finally got the engagement I wanted.

Back then, I truly believed the future was only going to get better.

Two months later, a sudden accident shattered everything.

My mom died in a car crash.

Two weeks after the funeral, my dad brought home a girl only about two weeks younger than me, Lila Hart.

From that moment on, my life collapsed fast.

My bedroom became Lila’s room.

Even my pet started following her around like she’d always been the owner.

Even the jewelry my mom left behind ended up on Lila.

I fought like I’d lost my mind, and all I got in return was my father’s harsh rebuke.

The man who used to treat me like a princess turned into someone I didn’t recognize.

I didn’t understand why until I saw the paternity test proving she was my dad’s child.

Lila stomped on my mom’s memorial photo right in front of me and laughed like she’d won.

“So you’re finally realizing I’m Dad’s real daughter?” she said, grinning in triumph. “If it weren’t for the Whitmans’ money, Dad wouldn’t have bothered playing family with you.”

“Dad’s always loved my mom most, and the daughter he loves most is me.”

“Everything you have, I’m taking it all,” she said. I lost it, cursed her as the daughter of a homewrecker, and slapped her hard across the face.

My dad came charging in and kicked me away.

The bodyguards swarmed, dragged me outside, and forced me to kneel in the yard in the pouring rain.

My body hurt, my chest hurt, and I couldn’t breathe through any of it.

A fever hit me fast.

Right before I passed out, the last thing I saw was Cameron’s face as he ran in—tight with panic and pain.

When I woke up, I stared at the ceiling and cried until my eyes burned.

Cameron helped me drink some water, then pulled me into his arms with red-rimmed eyes and promised against my ear, “Ava, don’t be afraid. You still have me, and I’ll always be on your side.”

I moved into the Caldwell house.

Cameron did everything he could think of to make me smile again.

He spent a small fortune on tickets to a famous pianist’s concert.

He filled the garden with the roses I loved.

He even cooked for me himself, making one thoughtful meal after another.

The boy who used to barely speak had grown into a man I could lean on.

While we were in college, he openly acknowledged our relationship, giving me the kind of security I’d never had before.

That was when Lila started going after him.

At first, she kept sending him love letters.

Cameron didn’t even open them, just tossed them straight into the trash.

After that, she started working her way into his circle, manufacturing “accidental” run-ins and confessing anytime, anywhere she could.

Our friends joked about how devoted she was.

Cameron only smiled, ruffled my hair in that indulgent way, and said, “I belong to Ava, and besides, she stole Ava’s things, so how could I ever like her.”

I was overwhelmed with gratitude, and I didn’t notice how his eyes and voice kept softening whenever Lila came up.

On Cameron’s birthday, I baked a cake with my own hands.

Lila showed up at the Caldwell house holding a gift and stood in the pouring rain for an entire afternoon just to see him once.

Cameron impatiently told the house manager to send her away.

Even so, he kept glancing out the window, restless as he watched the sky.

When the butler reported that Lila had fainted in the rain, Cameron finally couldn’t sit still.

He ran out into the storm and carried her back inside.

I stared at him in shock and knocked the cake over.

That was the moment I understood.

Somewhere along the way, Cameron’s feelings had shifted, and from that night on, we started drifting farther and farther apart.