Chapter 17 You Got It All Wrong
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After a long, heavy silence, Hunter slowly sank to the floor like a balloon deflating. With his head bowed, he finally said, his voice low and rough, “Yeah… I admit it. I was selfish. Every time I thought about how close I came to dying and how you were off living your best life overseas without even checking in to see if I was still breathing… I couldn’t help it–I felt angry. Bitter. Resentful.
“I just didn’t get it,” he said quietly. “I treated you well. We always said we loved each other. But when everything fell apart–when I needed you the most–you weren’t there. And I couldn’t stop wondering… Was any of it ever real?
“That’s why, after I was discharged, I chose to stay with Celine. Every time I saw that look in your eyes–how much it hurt you to see me with her–it felt like proof. Proof that you still loved me. And for a while, that was the only thing that made me feel like I mattered.
“So when Celine suggested messing with you to help trigger her memory, I agreed. Because deep down, I saw it as an excuse–a chance to get revenge. To test your love one more time. To convince myself that I still mattered to you.
“But Dana, I swear–I really did love you. Every time you got hurt, it tore me apart. But I couldn’t stop myself. I got obsessed with making you prove your love, over and over again. I was spiraling, and by the time I realized how far I’d fallen, it was too late.”
My eyes were red as I stared at him in silence.
Those words he just uttered were three years of her suffering.
Jamie had heard enough.
He couldn’t hold back any longer. With a furious punch, he knocked Hunter to the ground, climbed on top of him, and threw punch after punch.
“You call this taking care of Dana?” Jamie shouted, his voice shaking with fury. “What is she to you–a toy? How dare you build your twisted happiness on her suffering!
“You talk about love like it actually means something? What kind of person hurts the one they claim to love? You think that makes you some kind of devoted partner? No–you’re pathetic. It’s disgusting.”
Hunter didn’t fight back. He let every blow land on his face and body.
Bloodied and bruised, he looked up at Dana, his voice barely more than a whisper. “I was wrong. I hurt you. If you want to scream at me, hit me, or hate me–I won’t stop you. I deserve it.
His voice cracked as he went on, desperation leaking through every word. “But Dana, please. I’m begging you. Don’t walk away. Don’t be so cruel. Just give me one more chance.”
Dana scoffed. “Cruel? You called me cruel? For three years, you lied to me and hurt me, but I still stayed by your side. You had so many chances to stop, and you never did.
“Even that day at the hospital–when I found out it was the medication that made me deaf–I still wanted to give you another chance. I begged you, I asked if I could stop taking it and pleaded with you to let it go. And how did you respond?
“I gave you way too many chances, Hunter. And every time, you chose wrong.”
Hunter’s thoughts drifted back to that day in the hospital.
Dana had looked at him with desperate hope, pleading over and over for him not to take the pill.
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Chapter 17 You Got It All Wrong
But he kept pushing, kept coaxing, and even grew impatient with her begging.
What a jerk he had been.
Was that the moment she finally gave up on him?
Every word Dana spoke, he could feel the distance between them growing wider–irreversible.
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Hunter shoved Jamie off, crawled toward Dana, grabbed her arm, and sobbed. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Everything was my fault, but I can’t live without you. I really can’t.
“You have no idea what it’s been like for me,” he said, voice raw. “I called Adrian every single day, asking if there was any news about you. And every time he said no, it felt like something inside me broke all over again.
He drew a shaky breath. “I drank myself into oblivion every night, just hoping I’d pass out and see you in my dreams. Because that was the only place I could still find you. Dana, I finally understood how much you meant to me. And I swear–I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make it right. Just come back with me. Please.”
Dana smiled and gently helped him up. Hunter’s heart leapt–he thought she was forgiving him.
Overjoyed, Hunter attempted to embrace Dana. But the very next second, what greeted him was a sharp slap across the face.
Dana had thrown all her strength into that slap, and Hunter’s head snapped to the side from the force.
She shook out her stinging hand and said coldly, “When I was there, you did everything you could to push me away. Now that I’m gone, you’re crying and begging me to come back? Hunter, you’re the perfect example of someone who only realizes what they had after it’s already gone.”
Hunter lowered his eyes. “It’s my fault. I admit it. But I meant every word I just said. Dana, I really can’t live without you.”
Dana let out a cold, bitter laugh. “Your love is dirt cheap. The world doesn’t stop turning just because someone walks away. No one is truly irreplaceable.
“And besides,” Dana added with a trace of sarcasm, “don’t you still have Celine?”
Hunter shook his head, his voice low with regret. “How could she ever compare to you? That woman–she’s manipulative, cruel. Nothing like you. I just wish I’d seen through her sooner. I can’t believe I let her fool me for so long.”
“Oh?” Dana tilted her head. “So you know all the good deeds she’s done now?”
“I do. I know everything.”
Dana narrowed her eyes, giving him a once–over. “That’s rich. If you really know what she did, then why is she still walking free? Since when did you grow a conscience, Hunter?”
She tilted her head slightly, her voice sharp with bitterness. “Or is your cruelty only meant for me?”
Hunter panicked. “No, that’s not it! I know what she did is unforgivable. I want to kill her too, but she saved my life once. I can’t just kill her.”
Dana laughed. So Hunter didn’t know everything after all.
That explained it. He still seemed wild and desperate–but not truly broken.
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Chapter 17 You Got It All Wrong
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Well then, it was time she gave him the whole truth. She wanted to watch him fall deeper and deeper into the abyss, never to climb out again.
Dana wanted to make sure he spent the rest of his life drowning in regret and pain.
Dana’s smile faded. She locked eyes with Hunter and said quietly, “Hunter, the one who saved your life back then… was me. I gave 1,200 cc of blood and passed out because of it. I told everyone not to say anything–because I didn’t want you to worry.”
Her voice tightened. “You always said a life–saving grace should be repaid with your life. But you thanked the wrong person, and you hated the wrong one too.”
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