The Hundred Missions Were Just Their Love Game Chapter 09

The Hundred Missions Were Just Their Love Game Chapter 09

I walked Gavin to the parking lot. I’d just turned to leave when a figure suddenly rushed toward us from

behind.

Joel.

The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up.

He crossed the distance in a few strides, shoved Gavin aside, and pulled me into his arms.

“Valery, are you okay?”

His grip hurt so much that I struggled free and slapped him across the face.

“Joel, stay away from me. I don’t want to see you again.”

Joel covered his cheek, standing there stunned, his eyes red.

“Valery, I know the truth now. Nina lied to me. I know I screwed up. Please forgive me.”

“I know you only married this man to make me jealous. I’ll wait. I’ll wait until you change your mind. Once you

divorce him, we’ll be together.”

I was so angry I almost laughed.

“Joel, I’ve made myself clear-we have nothing to do with each other. From now on, stay away from me.”

I grabbed Gavin’s hand. “Honey, let’s go.”

Gavin’s ears turned visibly red, and he couldn’t quite hide the smile tugging at his lips as he obediently

followed me.

Joel’s face went rigid. “What did you just call him?”

I looked back and answered each word clearly.

“What’s wrong with me calling my husband ‘Honey’? I wasn’t pretending. Grandma chose him for me, and we’d already been set up to meet.”

“I was blind before. I mistook the wrong man for something precious. Now I know what I want. Gavin is the man I want to spend my life with. I’m not getting divorced.”

“Take care of yourself, Joel.”

Joel completely broke down. He rushed forward and blocked our path, his voice trembling.

“Valery, we’ve been together for eight years. How can you be this heartless? Eight years meant nothing compared to some guy who came between us? How can you just walk away like that?”

“Joel, you had your chance.” I stopped and turned back one last time.

“At your wedding to Nina, I asked you to leave with me. You refused. Later, I waited for you outside the county clerk’s office all day. You never came. Then you actually transferred our house to Nina.”

“Nina caused my grandma’s death, and you didn’t even come to her funeral, just because you were too busy comforting Nina. Joel, even the deepest love can be worn away, little by little, by things like that.”

“For the rest of my life, I just want to live my own life in peace. I hope you can let go, too. Stop pestering me.”

Joel’s face turned pale with shock, and after his lips trembled a few times, he finally forced out a word.

“Sorry.”

Just then, a deafening engine roared behind us. Tires screamed against the pavement. Then a voice tore through the air, sharp and crazed, filled with the kind of hatred that wanted to take everyone down with it.

“You bitch! Go to hell!”

I spun around and saw a white car barreling straight toward me. Nina was behind the wheel, her face twisted

with hatred, madness burning in her eyes.

The moment the car came within striking distance, a powerful force shoved me aside. I stumbled and fell as

a pair of arms wrapped tightly around me, rolling us both out of the way.

It was Gavin.

He shielded me beneath his body, his back toward the oncoming car, and kept rolling until we were clear.

The tires tore past our ears. I heard him grunt in pain, but he kept his body over mine and refused to let go.

Nina missed us. Then she threw the car into reverse. The engine roared as the tires spun backward.

Her eyes were bloodshot as she slammed her foot on the gas and drove straight at us again.

Another figure suddenly rushed in from the side-it was Joel.

He spread his arms and stepped in front of us, taking the full force of the impact as the car slammed into him. His body was thrown into the air before crashing hard onto the pavement.

After the impact, the world went strangely quiet.

All I could hear was the wind sweeping through the distant end of the parking lot and the violent pounding of

my own heart.

“Joel!” I screamed his name, but my throat felt blocked, and only a broken gasp came out.

The front of Nina’s car was crushed inward, and the windshield was cracked like a spiderweb. She lay against the steering wheel, the airbag covering half her face.

All the strength seemed to drain from her as she stared blankly at the blood-red scene ahead of her. Then she began to shake.

The ambulance and police sirens arrived almost at the same time, red and blue lights spinning across the

dark parking lot.

At the hospital, the fluorescent lights in the hallway were painfully bright.

When Joel was rushed into surgery, I watched from a distance. There was almost no color left in his face.

I clutched Gavin’s sleeve while he stood beside me, one hand resting firmly on my shoulder, steady and

reassuring, grounding me with its weight.

Six hours later, the doctor came out and removed his mask.

“We saved his life, but the impact caused severe brain damage. There’s a very high chance he won’t wake up.”

He was left in a persistent unresponsive state.