My Fiancé Delayed Our Marriage for His Girl Best Friend, So I Walked Away Chapter 09

My Fiancé Delayed Our Marriage for His Girl Best Friend, So I Walked Away Chapter 09

Three days after they took Gavin away, a letter arrived from the county lockup.

His handwriting on the envelope-careful, deliberate, every stroke pressed into the was afraid I wouldn’t be able to read it.

paper

like he

I didn’t open it.

Day four, a second letter.

Day five, a third.

I locked them all in the desk drawer in the study, along with every gift he’d ever given me.

His lawyer came by twice, saying Gavin’s case wasn’t looking good.

“Miss Carter, if you’d be willing to submit a victim impact statement in his favor, Mr. Nelson’s

sentence could be significantly reduced-”

“No.”

I cut him off. My voice was so calm it surprised even me.

The lawyer blinked, then sighed and left without another word.

After Rebecca was sent overseas, things were quiet for a while.

But some people never accept their exit from the stage.

It was pouring that day.

I’d just come back from the cemetery-I’d finally laid my parents to rest.

Gavin hadn’t lied. Their bodies had been preserved with the best technology available, nearly

untouched.

But every time I looked at their peaceful faces and remembered that the man I’d shared a bed with

was the one who’d taken them from me, the nausea came roaring back.

A black sedan blocked my path at the cemetery gates.

The window rolled down, revealing a face I hadn’t expected.

“Long time no see, Samantha.”

Rebecca pulled off her sunglasses and flashed me a dazzling smile.

I stepped back instinctively, my grip tightening on the umbrella handle.

“Relax. I’m not here to start anything.”

She pushed the door open and stepped out. Rain soaked the hem of her expensive dress, but she didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m here to share some good news.”

“Gavin got seven years. Did you know that?”

Of course I knew.

When the lawyer told me, I barely felt anything.

Seven years behind bars for two lives.

No matter how you did the math, it wasn’t fair.

“Is that all you came to say?”

I stared at her coldly, unwilling to drag this out.

Rebecca smiled. Wide and reckless.

“Of course not.”

She pulled a photograph from her bag and held it in front of my face.

It was a picture of a document. The text was perfectly legible:

[Analysis confirms: No alcohol or controlled substances detected in the driver’s blood. Cause of

accident determined to be brake system failure.]

My hands started to shake.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying “Rebecca leaned in close, her voice dropping to barely above a whisper, “-that

crash was never intentional.”

“He was speeding, yes. But his brakes failed. He couldn’t stop. That’s why he hit your car.”

“You should be thanking him. If he hadn’t yanked the wheel at the last second, your whole family- all three of you-would be dead.”

My mind detonated.

“That’s impossible You’re lying…”

“Why would I lie?” Rebecca shrugged. “This report took me a lot of effort to dig up. Gavin buried it for years.”

“He never told you because he believed it didn’t matter whether it was intentional or not. Your parents died because of him. Period.”

“He’d rather you hate him than carry the burden of knowing the person who killed them was

innocent.”

My fingers clenched around the photograph until the edge sliced into my skin.

“Why are you telling me this? What do you want?”

The smile faded from Rebecca’s face.

“Because I finally realized I’ve been fighting for nothing.”

“Gavin doesn’t love me. He loves you.”

“From the very beginning, it was always you.”

Rain slid down my cheeks. I couldn’t tell if it was tears or water.

“So what? You think I’ll forgive him, wait for him to get out, and we’ll ride off into the sunset

together?”

Rebecca said nothing. She just watched me.

I took a deep breath, tore the photograph into pieces, and dropped them into the trash can beside

“Even if it wasn’t intentional, my parents are still dead because of him.”

“Even if he saved my life, that doesn’t change what happened.”

“I won’t forgive him. And I won’t hate him either.”

“We’re done.”

I turned and walked into the rain without looking back.

Behind me, Rebecca’s voice carried through the downpour:

“Samantha, you’re colder than I ever was.”

“At least I had the guts to admit I loved him. You can’t even do that.”

My steps faltered for half a second.

Then I kept walking.

Three months later.

I left the city and moved to a small town where nobody knew my name.

I opened a little tailor shop. Took the occasional custom suit order.

Life was quiet. Peaceful.

One afternoon, I was adjusting the waistline on a gown when the door chime rang.

“Welcome-”

The word died in my throat.

A man stood in the doorway. Prison-issue clothes. Buzzed head. Much thinner than before. But

those eyes-still deep, still intense.

Gavin.

He smiled at me. Relief, exhaustion, and the faintest trace of cautious hope all tangled together in

that smile.

“Samantha.”

“Good behavior. Reduced sentence.”

“Four years.”

I didn’t say anything. I just looked at him.

He didn’t come closer. He stayed in the doorway, sunlight falling across his shoulders.

“I’m not asking you to forgive me. I’m not asking you to wait for me.”

“I just wanted to tell you -”

He paused. His voice cracked.

“Thank you. For teaching me what love actually means.”

“Even if I figured it out too late.”

I lowered my head and went back to my stitching.

I didn’t look at him again.

He turned and walked away.