I Walked Away Seven Years Too Late But Right on Time novel Chapter 174

The silence set Sophie on edge, but she couldn't just turn on her heel and leave Luke alone in the hospital room.

After a moment's thought, she held the ring out to him. "This is yours. Before your surgery, the nurse asked me to hold onto it for you."

Luke didn't take the ring. His eyes dropped to her hand. "Were you hurt badly?"

Sophie glanced at the back of her own hand. The bandages were off, leaving scabbed, purplish-red abrasions. She shook her head slightly. "I'm fine. Thank you."

"I don't remember how the accident happened."

Sophie was at a loss for words. Explaining this whole mess was going to be exhausting.

Seeing that he wasn't going to take the ring, she placed it squarely on his pillow.

"What happened after St. Moritz? You... never used to treat me like this."

"We broke up. I have a boyfriend now."

Luke just looked at her, saying nothing.

Sophie felt like she couldn't breathe. She hated the way he was looking at her. He was the one who had been ruthless, yet he was staring at her with such profound, devoted focus, as if she were the one in the wrong.

"Don't tell me you forgot that you and Eileen Harper grew up together and had an arranged marriage."

Luke remained silent. After a long pause, he said, "My mom said my engagement to her is off."

"That's between you two. By then, we had already broken up."

Luke slowly reached out, picking up the ring from his pillow. He held it up to the light. "You used to drop so many hints. You wanted me to give you a ring."

Sophie looked at the diamond, a bitter smile tugging at her lips. "Yes. That was before."

"Why? Sophie, what happened? Have you really fallen for someone else?"

"After we got back from St. Moritz, you went home. When you returned, you were busy every single day. In March, on my birthday, you went shopping with Eileen. We ran into each other on the street. I left the next day. Then you got engaged. I met someone else. This time, Eileen came after me, and you followed her. She shoved me into traffic, and you saved me. I'm very grateful for that."

Sophie kept it as brief as possible, summarizing over a year of history into a few crisp sentences.

"You got hurt, but I also gave you seven years of my youth, and..." The familiar lump rose in Sophie's throat. She really didn't want to remember the excruciating pain on that operating table.

"Now, we're completely even. I wasn't part of the memories you lost, so I can't help you."

Sophie stood up. She couldn't stay in this room a second longer.

The memories broke her heart, and Luke's gaze was just as agonizing. But she wasn't the one at fault here.

"I don't have an appetite." Luke closed his eyes, his fingers tightening around the ring as he retreated into silence.

Outside the hospital doors, Sophie took massive gulps of the stifling summer air. Heat waves rolled off the pavement, but even that was better than the suffocating atmosphere of that hospital room.

She pulled out her phone and called Gavin.

"I still have a little longer to go on my end. Find somewhere cool to wait for me."

Gavin's voice was hushed. She could hear someone reading off data in the background.

The sun outside was blindingly harsh, but Sophie didn't want to wait another second.

She hailed a cab and headed straight to Gavin's office building. Even if she couldn't go inside or see him, just being nearby brought her peace.

She stood in the corridor, leaning against the window, her eyes fixed on the entrance. That way, the moment Gavin walked out, she'd see him.

When Gavin emerged, he spotted Sophie leaning against the glass. She looked drained, but the second her eyes met his, a bright smile broke across her face—just like the very first time he had seen her back in college.

Gavin hurried over, pressing the back of his hand against her forehead. "Why did you come all the way here? Didn't I tell you to wait? It's burning up outside. What if you get heatstroke?"

"I missed you." Sophie wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head softly against his chest.