Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Douglas was released.
The investigation proved he truly hadn’t known anything. He was just… hopelessly naïve.
Afterward, he came to see me once. Right outside the hospital where I worked.
That day, Bradley was picking me up after my shift. We had just stepped out the front doors when we saw him.
He stood beneath a tree, looking thinner and older than the last time. His hair had started to turn gray.
Douglas watched us-watched Bradley holding my hand. His lips parted, as if he wanted to say something.
Bradley instinctively pulled me a little behind him.
“Can we help you?” he asked.
Douglas’s eyes moved past Bradley, settling on me.
“Maddie, I…”
He only managed two words before his voice broke. Tears rolled down his cheeks.
A man, nearly 30 years old, was crying in front of me like a child.
“I’m so sorry…
“I ruined everything…
“I lost you, too…”
He stammered through the words.
I looked at him, feeling nothing but calm. No hate, no pity. It felt like watching a stranger, someone I no longer knew.
“Douglas,” I said quietly, “it’s all in the past.”
He broke down even harder.
“It’s not in the past… Maddie, I can’t move on. Every night I dream about our engagement day. If I hadn’t left, maybe
we…”
“There’s no ‘maybe,” I interrupted.
“Even without Gilbert, without Sarah, there’s no going back for us.
“Because in your heart, there were always things more important than me.
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“Your brotherhood, your guilt, your need to play the hero…
“But I, Madeline Rexford, I only ever wanted to be my partner’s first choice. The only, unquestionable first choice.”
Bradley squeezed my hand.
Douglas stared at our entwined fingers, his eyes finally losing all hope.
He knew, in that moment, he’d lost me for good.
He didn’t say anything else. He turned away, leaning on his cane, limping off into the distance. His shadow was long and lonely under the setting sun.
Bradley took me to the riverbank. We watched the water, letting the evening breeze wash over us.
“Do you still love him?” he asked suddenly.
I thought for a long time.
“Maybe… I loved the boy who ran ten laps around the track at 18 just to win me over; the young pilot at 20 who hugged me after his first flight and promised he’d protect me forever.
“But not the Douglas crushed by so-called duty, unable to tell right from wrong.
“That person died the day of our engagement party.”
Bradley pulled me into his arms.
“Yeah, he’s gone. The person by your side now is me.”
I leaned against his shoulder, watching the sun sink beyond the horizon.
I knew my new life had begun.
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