The Billionaire Who Faked A Split To Keep His Affair Chapter 09

The Billionaire Who Faked A Split To Keep His Affair Chapter 09

At the hospital, Stellan suddenly spoke.

“Marlowe.”

I looked at him.

“Kellan was right about one thing.”

His voice was hoarse.

“I liked you in high school.”

I froze.

“Sophomore year. You sat near the window in the front row. I was a few seats behind you.”

He looked down at the bandage around his hand and gave a humorless smile.

“I spent years hiding in the background, watching you.”

His fingers curled beneath the gauze.

“If you smiled, I was in a good mood all day. If you looked upset, I’d lie awake wondering if I’d

somehow done something wrong.”

He lifted his eyes to mine.

“I never stepped closer because I was afraid I’d make you uncomfortable.”

His voice softened.

“And because I didn’t think I was good enough for you.”

His gaze held mine.

“But Kellan lost you.”

Something in his expression sharpened.

“You’re too good to be treated the way he treated you.”

He took a slow breath.

“I don’t want to hide anymore.”

“I want to stand beside you openly. I don’t want to keep everything to myself anymore. I want to finally tell you how I feel.”

His voice dropped.

“I love you.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

“I was planning to take this to my grave,” he admitted.

Then he looked down.

“But that day at lunch, when Kellan showed up and you looked him straight in the eye and said it

was over…”

A faint smile touched his lips.

“I thought maybe, if you’ve really let him go, I could finally take one step forward.”

He met my eyes again.

“Marlowe, I want to be the person beside you.”

His voice was quiet.

“Will you give me a chance?”

My throat tightened.

Over the past few weeks, he’d stayed late with me to sort through data.

He’d stepped in when the senior lab member embarrassed me,

Whenever something went wrong, he was there.

And whenever I was quiet or upset, he never demanded an explanation.

He simply stayed nearby until I was ready to breathe again.

His affection had never been overwhelming.

It was quiet.

Patient.

Steady.

And I didn’t dislike it.

I opened my mouth to answer.

The exam room door flew open.

Kellan stormed inside.

His eyes narrowed the second he saw us.

“Marlowe, don’t fall for this.”

He strode toward me, his voice echoing through the hallway.

“Do you remember what we promised each other when we were seventeen?”

He shoved a notebook toward me.

It was the bucket list Kellan and I had written together in high school.

Watch the sunset at the beach.

Ride a Ferris wheel.

Try every food stand along the boardwalk.

Eat ice cream in the middle of a snowstorm.

“You always said there was so much we still hadn’t done.”

His voice turned pleading.

“I’ve remembered every single thing on that list these past two weeks.”

“We can go now. I’ll do all of it with you. One by one.”

I bent down and picked up the notebook.

I flipped through several pages.

My fingertips brushed the yellowing paper.

I felt nothing.

“Kellan.”

I closed the notebook.

“I don’t need you to go with me anymore.”

His expression froze.

“I’ve already done every one of them.”

I looked at him calmly.

“Every single one.”

Then I added, “The love lock was nice.”

His face went white.

“You carved the letters pretty deep too.”

I smiled faintly.

“Forever.”

I paused.

“Too bad it wasn’t my name.“‘

Kellan stood there helplessly, like every ounce of strength had drained out of him.

I took out my phone.

“If you don’t leave, I’m calling the police.”

He turned and stumbled away.

Stellan ended up staying in the hospital for two days of observation.

I took time off from the institute and visited him every day, bringing oatmeal and fruit.

His right hand was wrapped and difficult to use, so I held the bowl and fed him one spoonful at a

time.

At first, he looked embarrassed.

The tips of his ears turned red.

Eventually, he stopped fighting it.

He’d simply open his mouth when I lifted the spoon, smiling as he watched me.

When he was discharged, he stood in front of me and looked down.

“Marlowe.”

His voice was soft.

“Do you still want to give us a chance?”

I looked up at him.

And suddenly, I remembered that winter in junior year.

A those quiet moments hidden in the spaces between days.

The attention I’d never known was there.

I smiled.

“Yes.”

When I returned to Cedarstrand, life suddenly felt simple.

Bright.

Classes kept me busy, but now someone was beside me.

At lunch, Stellan would stop by my desk and ask me to grab lunch with him.

When an experiment failed, he’d hand me a cup of hot cocoa.

When I stared at my data for too long, he’d roll his chair beside mine.

“Let me take a look.”

The research project I’d applied for was approved.

My advisor praised my progress during our lab meeting.

Even the senior lab member who used to criticize me stopped giving me a hard time.

Sometimes, he even came over to ask what I thought about an experiment.

Everything was good.

And this time, I thought I’d finally chosen the right person.