I Agreed To Another Man After He Chose Her In The Collapse Chapter 04

I Agreed To Another Man After He Chose Her In The Collapse Chapter 04

Tessa got to me first, pulling the splintered wood off and checking if I was hurt.

Nolan reached for me a beat too late. I pulled away before he could touch me.

“Celia, I didn’t mean for that to happen. It happened so fast, and Vivian freezes up. She doesn’t know how to handle that kind of thing.”

“You grew up on the compound. I figured you could handle yourself!”

I almost laughed. Somehow, not dodging a falling canopy frame was my fault now.

I got up without a word. Tessa tried to help. So did the others. I shook them all off and walked out alone.

I didn’t make it far before Nolan’s voice echoed after me.

“Drop the little princess act, Celia!”

“I’m done chasing after you!”

I kept walking. I didn’t look back.

Halfway home, I stopped. The time capsule. The one Nolan and I had buried under the old oak tree years ago.

When I’d first brought it up, he’d rolled his eyes at the whole idea.

Said I was being childish.

“I’d told him back then, ‘When we’re old, we’ll dig it up and remember what it felt like to be young and in love. Isn’t that romantic?'”

I clawed at the dirt with my bare hands until my nails bled.

I had to see it for myself.

The black metal box was right where we’d left it.

Our things were still inside. Mine and his.

He’d made me turn around when he put his stuff in. Told me not to peek.

I pulled back the waterproof lining, and my chest caved in.

All of Nolan’s photos spilled out.

A few were of us. The rest, every single one, were of Vivian. Moments he’d saved from before she left.

So that’s what I was. A joke from start to finish. I let out a laugh—the kind that fractures into a sob and doesn’t stop.

I don’t know how long I sat there before I finally got up.

The walk home took forever. Long enough to bury five years.

The second Dad opened the door, I fell apart.

My vision blurred. Right before my legs gave out, I pushed my phone into his hands and gasped.

“Dad, tell Mom,” I forced out. “That guy she wanted to set me up with? I’ll meet him.”

“Set it up now. Don’t wait till next week.”

Then the world faded to black.

I woke up in the hospital.

Nolan was standing at the foot of the bed. Vivian was right beside him.

When my eyes opened, Nolan smiled.

Then he caught himself and forced a scowl back onto his face, like he’d remembered he was supposed to be angry.

“Celia, yesterday was my fault. If I hadn’t been standing right there, Nolan would’ve saved you for sure.”

She was standing in front of Nolan like she owned him. The look in her eyes was pure victory.

I almost felt sorry for him. This was the woman he’d carried a torch for all these years.

“It’s fine. I hope you two are really happy together.”

Nolan’s face went hard.

“Are you seriously still on this? Can you just grow up?”

Vivian whispered, “Sorry,” and ran out of the room in tears.

“I stared at him, my voice dead flat. What, you’re not going after her?”

“You’re unbelievable! Don’t expect me to come crawling back, Celia!”

That night, I packed my bags.

Word had gotten out about Nolan and me. Everyone on the compound knew. When Dad went out, people whispered behind his back.

But he took one look at me and couldn’t bring himself to say a word.

“Take care of yourself out there. Call me when you arrive, okay?”

I couldn’t hold it together anymore. I turned and stepped onto the southbound train before he could see me break.

I didn’t have Nolan anymore. But I still had a family that loved me. That had to be enough.