He Promised Me Every Flight, Gave Her Every One Chapter 09

He Promised Me Every Flight, Gave Her Every One Chapter 09

Julian eventually retrieved the pearl that had rolled to Grant’s feet.

He knew an old restoration studio that could repair the headpiece.

When we took it in, the master restorer examined the break and shook his head.

“I can repair it, but it’ll never look exactly as it did.”

I nodded.

Some things could be put back together.

But the cracks would still remain.

Three days before the wedding, Grant started showing up again and again.

He sent flowers, desserts, my replacement documents in a new passport wallet, and a new scarf.

I returned everything unopened.

On his fourth attempt, he waited outside the old townhouse.

It was raining that day.

He carried no umbrella.

His uniform jacket was soaked, and water dripped from his hair.

The headlights washed over his pale face. “Eleanor, we need to talk.”

I stood on the steps beneath my umbrella. “My lawyer is talking to you.”

Grant stepped closer. “I don’t want to talk to a lawyer.”

Rainwater ran down his jaw.

He’d always hated getting dirty.

Even a speck of dust on his uniform used to make him frown.

Now, he stood in the rain with frighteningly red eyes.

“I already yelled at Lydia about the headpiece.”

I said nothing.

His voice grew urgent. “She didn’t mean to break it.”

“Ellie, I know it mattered to you. I’ll replace it with something better.”

Rain hammered against the umbrella.

“You can’t replace it.”

Grant swallowed. “Then what do you want me to do?”

He’d asked me that question many times.

Before, it had always carried hidden impatience.

This time, he seemed genuinely lost.

But it was too late.

I walked around him toward the building.

Grant suddenly wrapped his arms around me from behind.

The umbrella fell.

Rain soaked my shoulders at once.

His arms tightened around me.

His voice came out raw. “Don’t leave, Eleanor.”

My body went rigid.

I stiffened in disgust.

I pried his arms away. “Grant, don’t touch me.”

He froze.

Rain slid from his lashes.

“You weren’t like this before.”

“Neither were you.”

The words silenced him.

The hallway light flickered behind us.

His phone rang.

It was Lydia.

Grant glanced at the screen and declined the call.

She called again seconds later.

He rejected it a second time.

When the phone rang a third time, I looked at him.

“Answer it.”

His jaw tightened. “I’m not answering.”

I reminded him calmly, “She’s fragile. She can’t handle emotional stress.”

Those were the same words he’d once used on me.

His face paled.

The phone kept ringing.

Finally, he answered.

Lydia sobbed through the speaker. “Grant, I’m at the hospital. The doctor says I may need to be admitted for observation.”

“Can you come stay with me? I’m scared here alone.”

Grant looked at me without answering.

Her sobs grew louder. “Are you with Ms. Miller? Then I won’t interrupt you.”

She hung up.

Grant gripped his phone.

The veins stood out across the back of his hand.

I picked up the umbrella and held it toward him.

“Go.”

He didn’t take it. “I’m not going.”

“You will.”

Humiliation flashed in his eyes. “Eleanor, do you have to push me like this?”

The rain fell harder.

Watching him, I suddenly found the scene familiar.

Countless times, I’d begged him to stay.

He’d always told me not to pressure him.

Now, he was the one left standing there.

At last, he knew what it felt like to be the one someone chose to leave behind.

A car pulled up beside the curb.

Julian stepped out beneath an umbrella and walked toward me. “The restorer called. He needs you to confirm one detail on the headpiece.”

Grant’s gaze dropped to Julian’s hand.

The umbrella was tilted almost entirely over me.

He gave a cold laugh. “So he’s why you’re rushing to call off the wedding?”

I looked up at him. “Not everyone is like you.”

Grant’s face darkened.

He reached for Julian’s collar.

Julian stepped aside.

His voice stayed cold. “Mr. Sterling, this behavior won’t help your position in the negotiations.”

Grant glared at him. “Stay away from her.”

Julian didn’t back down.

“You’re the one who needs to stay away.”

Grant’s phone rang again.

This time, it was Emily.

He answered, and her panicked voice came through.

“Grant, get to the hospital now! Lydia says she wants to transfer to another hospital. She’s crying and refusing to cooperate with the tests!”

Grant stood in the rain with his eyes locked on me.

Julian and I walked into the building together.

A second before the elevator doors closed, Grant spun around and ran toward the car waiting in the rain.