Chapter 9
Pax and I parted on bad terms.
Four days before I left the country, she was hospitalized. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any more ridiculous, Nina tried to kill herself.
“She’s got serious depressive tendencies.”
“It’s just an apology.”
Pax stood before me, fingers pressed to his forehead, as if the weight of this conversation had exhausted him. The dim hospital lights cast deep shadows under his eyes–evidence of a sleepless night.
I wondered if he had spent the night here, at her bedside.
He exhaled slowly, his patience fading by the second. “Wouldn’t you?”
I stared at him, my lips curling in amusement.
An apology?
I almost laughed.
“Of course,” I said, my assent easy, almost nonchalant.
Then I walked into her room.
The place smelled sterile and artificial, like disinfectant, with a hint of metal. The monitors beeped at slow, rhythmic intervals, the only sound to break the silence.
Nina sat on the bed, her skin pale under the fluorescent light. Her hair was combed to one side, framing her delicate features and making her look almost ethereal–like a fragile thing that was almost broken.
When she saw me, her lips parted slightly.
I took a step closer and locked eyes with her.
Then, very clearly, I said,
“Apologize, asshole.”
The silence that followed was sharp, suffocating.
Nina blinked, stunned, as if she really expected me to come here, lower my head, and beg for her forgiveness.
Then, as if remembering her role, she quickly recovered–her expression changed like a curtain being drawn.
Her lip trembled. Her dark eyes shone, glassy with tears. Her fingers clenched the hospital blanket, the knuckles
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Seven Years of Love, Seven Minutes
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white, as if my words hurt her.
Thad to admire her.
She was really good at this.
As expected–like a script he’d rehearsed a thousand times before–Parks was already in action.
His hand rested on her shoulder, and his voice softened, tender.
“Nina don’t-”
I didn’t stay to listen Then I reached for my passport, my fingers curled around the familiar edge. Without another word. 1 turned and walked away.But just as I reached the door, his voice broke the silence.
“Cecilia, if you walk out that door today, we’re really done.”
I paused
His words fell between us, heavy and firm, overwhelming
turned slightly and looked back at him.
He was watching me, waiting, expecting-
Waiting for what?
-Waiting for me to hesitate? Am I going to buckle under the pressure of everything we’ve been through, everything
we’ve shared?
I let out a slow breath.
And then I smiled.
“Deal.”
Isn’t that what I’ve always wanted?
Not long ago, we had shared a cramped little bed in a dingy apartment, whispering about love, eternity, the life we thought we could build together.
Seven hundred days and nights.
I had dreamed of a better life.
1 had dreamed of marrying him, too.
But then, one day, my old college mentor reached out to me, offering me something I had once thought impossible–a research opportunity, a project position that could change everything.
The only problem?
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Seven Years of Love, Seven Mi
Chapter 9
The lab was in Germany.
I had spent too many years in the real world to believe that love could survive the ocean between us.
I didn’t believe in long distance relationships.
I didn’t believe in tis
So, I had planned to break up with Pax.
But for some reason, I still feel heartbroken and reluctant.
Now, he had done the work for me.
Now, the air was clear.
Now, I was free.
