His Childhood Sweetheart Erased Our Wedding-So I Married Someone Else Chapter 03

His Childhood Sweetheart Erased Our Wedding-So I Married Someone Else Chapter 03

Gavin left.

That morning, he kissed my forehead and said, “Just wait for me, okay?”

His tone made it clear he believed I would stay exactly where he had left me until he came back.

For the first three days, he texted every few hours, as if he wanted to reassure me.

On the fourth day, the messages dropped to one a day.

By the seventh, there was nothing.

I only learned they had reached a small town deep in the mountains after checking Lila’s social media.

She posted every day.

The first photo showed Gavin helping her use an oxygen canister at a scenic overlook thirteen thousand feet above sea level.

The second showed them wrapped in the same blanket, watching the stars.

I stared at the third for a long time.

Gavin had draped his down jacket over her shoulders. The caption read, “He said the mountain nights were too cold to let me freeze. Ten years later, and he still takes care of me exactly the same way.”

Ten years ago, I had not known him. Back then, Lila had been his entire world, and apparently, she still was.

I unfollowed her.

But over the next few days, I kept opening her profile anyway. I knew I should stop, but I still could not stop myself from looking.

On the tenth night, my stomach pain flared again.

The pain left me curled up on the floor. I fumbled for my phone and called Gavin.

The first three calls went unanswered.

On the fourth, he finally answered. Wind roared through the speaker, mixed with Lila’s laughter.

“Erin? What’s wrong?” he asked, sounding rushed.

“My stomach hurts.” My voice shook.

“Again? Did you take your medicine? Your stomach meds are in the cabinet. Take two.”

Lila called from the background, “Gavin, hurry! You can see the Milky Way now!”

He paused, then said, “Erin, take the medicine and lie down. The signal’s bad here, so I may be unreachable for a while. If it still hurts, ask your mom to stay with you, okay?”

Then he hung up.

I stayed curled on the floor for another ten minutes before forcing myself up to take the medicine.

I wanted to call my mother, but it was already two in the morning. She had high blood pressure, and I did not want to alarm her in the middle of the night.

I opened my chat with Noah, typed a few words, then deleted them all.

Before I could close the screen, a message from him appeared.

“I finished revising the project proposal and sent it to your email. Look at it tomorrow. Don’t stay up too late.”

Two seconds later, another message came through: “Still awake?”

I replied, “My stomach hurts.” Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang.

Noah stood outside holding chicken noodle soup and a portable heating pad.

He did not ask where Gavin was. He did not say anything unnecessary.

He warmed the soup, poured it into a mug, handed me the heating pad, and said only, “Eat first. I’ll leave when you’re finished.”

I lowered my head to drink, and tears fell into the cup.

Noah stood beside me without moving.

After a while, he said quietly, “Erin, you deserve better.”

After he left, I stared at the ceiling for the rest of the night.

The next morning, I went to the hospital for an endoscopy. The doctor diagnosed a stomach ulcer and admitted me for three days of observation.

I did not tell Gavin.

He did not ask.