My Sister’s ‘Secret Boyfriend’ Was My Fiance Chapter 10
Reid raised an eyebrow, then greeted Graham first.
Graham swallowed before nodding back.
I took Reid’s hand. “We should get going. Goodbye.”
With that, Reid and I turned and walked away.
Graham did not move as he watched their car pull away.
He stood there for a long time before finally leaving.
He had believed he still had a chance. He had already planned how he would explain everything to Nora—how nothing between him and Lila had ever been real and how Nora had always been the one he loved.
But he no longer had that chance.
There was already someone else beside Nora.
Back then, he had told himself that Nora was merely angry and that everything would return to normal once she calmed down.
It never did.
Nora left him.
When Graham returned home, he stood in the entryway for a long moment before reaching for the light switch.
The lights came on, revealing a home that had not changed at all.
It felt as though Nora might walk out of the bedroom at any moment, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and asking why he had been drinking
—
again.
Whenever Graham drank, he would see Nora.
He would find himself believing she was still there, still in their home.
But every time he woke up, she was gone.
All that remained was the cold, empty condo.
Nothing about the place had changed. It looked exactly as it had before Nora left.
The framed photo of them that had once sat on the table had disappeared, so he had another copy printed and put it back.
He told himself that Nora would see it when she came home.
Graham’s eyes gradually reddened.
They had been so close—so incredibly close—to getting married.
And he had destroyed it all.
A year ago, his company had sent him on an overseas assignment. Before leaving, he had proposed to Nora and promised that once the assignment ended, he would come home and marry her.
He had not been lying to her. He had truly intended to marry her.
He really had meant it.
Graham staggered over to the couch and sat down. He picked up the photograph from the table.
It was the first photo they had ever taken together, not long after they
—
started dating.
Nora loved that picture, so they had always kept it on display.
He pressed the frame against his chest and murmured, “I’m sorry, Nora. I’m so sorry. I was wrong.”
No one answered.
A long time passed before Graham placed the frame back on the table.
He opened a drawer and took out a bottle of sleeping pills.
He had suffered from insomnia ever since Nora left.
He missed her.
He missed her smile and every kindness she had shown him.
Whenever he remembered her promise to wait for him, it felt as though an invisible hand were crushing his heart, making every breath hurt.
They had been so close.
They had been so incredibly close.
Graham gave a quiet, bitter laugh. “If only I had never agreed to be with Lila…”
During that year, he had counted down the days too.
But as the months passed, Lila kept forcing her way into his life.
No matter how many times he turned her down, she refused to leave.
—
In the end, he gave in and made the mistake too.
Graham shook two sleeping pills into his palm and swallowed them.
Then he lay down on the couch and closed his eyes.
He thought he would dream of Nora again.
He hoped the dream would last a little longer this time.
At least long enough to let it play out to the end.