My Secret Lover of 10 Years Had a Heart Rate of 70 for Me—But It Hit 175 for His Ex Chapter 05

My Secret Lover of 10 Years Had a Heart Rate of 70 for Me—But It Hit 175 for His Ex Chapter 05

The phone hit the ground hard.

Gabriel stared at the broken screen. For several long seconds, his mind went completely blank.

The groomsmen exchanged nervous looks. No one dared speak.

“Gabe… maybe try calling again?”

Gabriel bent down and picked up the phone.

The screen was cracked like a spiderweb, yet it still lit up.

He swiped at it a few times, but the touch screen had stopped responding completely.

No matter what he did, he couldn’t open the contacts list.

“Give me your phone.” Gabriel said, holding out his hand. The irritation in his voice was obvious.

One of the groomsmen hurriedly handed his over.

Gabriel stared blankly at the string of numbers on the screen.

That was when it hit him-after ten years with Audrey, he still didn’t know her phone number by heart.

Because she had always been the one to reach out.

Gabriel tossed the phone back.

He leaned against the wedding car. His hands were trembling-just slightly. Why was he shaking?

Where could Audrey possibly go?

She’d been by his side for ten years. Her world was small.

Her parents’ place, her best friends’ places, their own place-it was always the same handful of spots.

There was no way she would just leave for somewhere far away all by herself.

Gabriel pulled a cigarette pack from his pocket.

It took lighting one and taking a long drag before the nicotine barely settled the churning in his chest.

Not long after, Audrey’s parents arrived.

The second her mother heard Audrey was missing, she burst into tears.

“I was wrong… we shouldn’t have pressured her!”

“Audrey… Audrey, where did you go?!”

Gabriel crushed the cigarette beneath his shoe.

Borrowing her mother’s phone, he tried calling Audrey again.

This time, it didn’t even ring. Just went straight to voicemail.

There was only one short message in the text thread.

[Mom, I’ve gone away for a few days to clear my head. Don’t worry.]

“Gabriel, did you two have a fight?” Audrey’s father asked anxiously.

“No. Just something small.” Gabriel flipped through the contact list.

“Then where is she?”

“She probably went to stay with a friend. I’ll keep asking around.”

Gabriel started calling Audrey’s friends one after another.

“Audrey? No, I haven’t talked to her in forever.”

“She didn’t come to me. What happened?”

“Wait-Gabriel’s Audrey’s boyfriend?! And you two were getting married today? Damn, you guys hid that well.”

Gabriel had no energy to explain anything. He hung up and called the next person.

After going through everyone he could think of, he still found nothing. Nobody had seen her.

“Cancel the wedding for now.”

Gabriel returned home.

He looked at the empty house. A strange sense of loss crept into his chest.

She had actually left. She had really been willing to walk away.

He entered the master bedroom, sat down at the computer, and opened Ins.

He remembered Audrey had a private account once. Maybe there would be some clue there.

He scrolled through them, post by post.

[Made him braised ribs today. He ate a lot. So happy!]

Attached was a picture of Audrey smiling brightly beside an empty plate.

[He seemed upset today and barely talked to me. What should I do?]

[Five years together and he still hates taking pictures, but I snapped a secret one of him sleeping.]

50.00%

[He looks sooo handsome. I really wanna post it, but he won’t let me go public with us!]

[Seven years. I asked him if he’d ever marry me. He keeps telling me to wait. Does he even love me?]

[Gabriel bought me a flower on his way home from work. I forgive him.]

[Ten years together. Wedding countdown.]

The last post had been made on the night of their fight. Just few words.

[I think it’s time to leave.]

It was just some insignificant little private account with barely any followers. A pile of tiny everyday

moments.

Yet it carried the entirety of a woman’s youth. Ten years of sincere, heavy, wholehearted love.

Suddenly, Gabriel remembered something Audrey once told him.

“I agreed to keep us a secret, but that wasn’t me backing down or compromising.”

“I did it because I loved you. And because I loved you, I was willing to do anything.”

“But if one day I realize you don’t love me anymore, even a little bit, Gabriel… I’ll leave.”

At the time, he was watching the news and barely paying attention. He just gave a quick “Yeah.”

Whatever she’d said, he’d never really taken it seriously.

Now, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t even remember the look on her face when she’d said it.

In his memories, Audrey had always been someone strong and resilient.

He could barely remember seeing her cry.

He remembered the first time she nervously stopped him to confess her feelings.

After that, she spent weeks chasing after him just to prove she was serious.

Then came the years when she stayed beside him while he struggled to build his career from the ground up.

Audrey had gone out alone to bring in business for him.

She’d drink with clients for him, push herself until she was throwing up blood, her stomach bleeding.

She’d fall, again and again, and every time she’d drag herself back up.

Life had once been so hard that even Gabriel himself wanted to give up.

But Audrey was always cheerful and full of energy. She loved holding onto his arm and staying close to him.

“Hey, don’t tell me you can’t even handle this.”

“Poor Gabriel, so delicate. Want me to take care of you? You can live off me.”

Those days felt impossibly far away now.

Gabriel slumped back in his chair as regret crashed over him.

He suddenly regretted contacting Lila again.

Audrey and Lila were never the same person.

When he was with Audrey, he almost never thought about Lila.

Sometimes, when he got drunk and looked at that vaguely familiar face, he would think about the feelings he

never fully let go of all those years ago.

Gabriel dragged a hand down his face.

For the first time, he couldn’t deny it anymore. He couldn’t live without Audrey.