The Five Years He Missed Chapter 22

The Five Years He Missed Chapter 22

In the blink of an eye, another winter arrived.

“Oh my, Elena—is that Aidan picking you up again?” My coworker glanced at the car parked outside the company building and teased me.

I coughed, grabbed my bag. “Stop gossiping and get off work already!” My coworker burst out laughing, and we fell into playful banter together.

After that interview a year ago, I had successfully entered Ashford Group. In that year, I’d quickly mastered the business and performed excellently. Aidan’s older sister Charlotte had even sought me out specifically and frankly admitted that bringing me in had been a favor to her brother—but only now did she realize my abilities truly matched my position. After so many lost years, I could finally continue my professional path.

Aidan had also helped me contact several top-tier surgeons, and I’d undergone a series of skin graft procedures. My face was gradually recovering. Everything seemed to be getting better.

Coming downstairs, I looked at the swirling snow filling the sky and felt a swell of emotion.

“Elena—over here.” Aidan was leaning against the car, waving to me. His fine features looked even more dreamlike in the drifting snow.

I pattered over in quick steps. “Aidan, I told you—you don’t have to come pick me up…”

“Today I have real business.” Aidan’s expression was very serious. “Dominic has passed away.”

My whole body went rigid. It took a long moment before I could ask,
“Was it because of complications from that injury back then?”

“Not entirely.” Aidan opened the car door for me. “It was mainly his state of mind.”

“He left all his assets to you, and also left you a very capable manager.”

I fell silent. I got into the car and didn’t speak for a very long time.

Dominic—that name had carved too many marks into my life. Love so intense, hatred so bone-deep—and now, at last, it had all dissipated.

Aidan didn’t disturb me. He simply drove silently to the cemetery.
Today was Luca’s birthday—we needed to buy Luca a cake.

After getting out of the car, I began chattering away at the headstone while Aidan stood to the side, holding an umbrella.

Watching my profile, he felt a little dazed. He remembered the first time he had ever seen me. It was at the airport—I’d been wearing a mask, and when I reached a corner, a sudden heart palpitation struck, and I collapsed to the ground. A figure in a red hoodie had darted into his line of sight, frantically searching my pockets until at last finding my medication.

“That scared me to death.” The youth in the red hoodie let out a long breath and lectured me with surprising maturity. “You need to be more careful from now on.” Aidan had found this encounter curiously novel. After steadying himself, he found his voice. “Thank you. What’s your name?”

“What—you want to repay me? No need.” The youth brushed the dust off his clothes and said frankly, “I have to go now. If we’re fated, we’ll meet again.”

The next time he saw me was at a banquet held by the Ashford family. I was dressed to the nines, so beautiful I was dazzling. And Aidan, who despised noisy crowds, stood in a corner, staring at me in a daze. He was thinking—does meeting again like this count as fate? Just as he was about to walk over and ask for my contact information, Charlotte elbowed him.

“Stunned, are you? That’s rare. Too bad—that’s Dominic’s fiancée.”

Oh. So the person he’d fallen for at first sight already belonged to someone else. Aidan’s moral principles ran incredibly deep—he would never poach. He could only stand there, expressionless, gripping his glass until cracks spidered through it.

Several years passed in the blink of an eye. He never expected to see me again. Even though by then I had lost every trace of that former radiance—even though only hollow despair remained in my eyes—Aidan still recognized me instantly. Aidan’s mind went completely blank. How had I ended up like this? What on earth had Dominic done? By the time he came to his senses, he had already brought me to the hospital, arranging a full battery of tests.

Multiple bodily injuries, scars, depression… the results were horrifying. Aidan barely dared to speak to me above a whisper, and he was afraid to help me too directly, terrified of triggering me. He could only silently stand guard, secretly helping me find work, contacting the very best psychiatrists for me. Under his meticulous, painstaking care, my body gradually recovered—but my eyes remained barren and desolate. I wasn’t happy. Why?

Aidan couldn’t help himself. He investigated my situation—and then nearly drove his car straight through the gates of the Gambino family villa. Halfway there, he forced himself to calm down. No. He had to let me take my own revenge.

Aidan searched for a long, long time until he finally found the doctor who had performed that DNA test years ago. He used a few tactics to make the doctor go to Dominic and confess on his own. Where in this world is there so much sudden conscience? It was nothing more than Aidan applying pressure and offering incentives.

Aidan had once worried that my heart would soften—that I would return to Dominic’s side. But in the end, to his relief, I was firm. I never looked back.

His thoughts pulled back to the present. Aidan heard me call his name.

“I’m here.” Aidan gentled his voice. “What is it?”

I tilted my head up to look at him, my eyes bright. “You like me, don’t you?”

Aidan had absolutely never imagined that I—who had been avoiding this for so long—would be so direct. He stood frozen in place, his face burning hot.

I smiled, my brows and eyes curving like crescent moons. I said, “Then let’s give it a try, Aidan.”