I Walked Away Seven Years Too Late But Right on Time novel Chapter 201

After work, Gwen Grayson swung by her old place. She packed up two large suitcases of clothes and gathered the rest of her daily essentials.

Lugging a heavy backpack and rolling a suitcase in each hand, she arrived at her front door. Just as she reached out to knock, it swung open from the inside.

Jason Jenkins stood in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?"

"What's all this?"

They blurted out their questions in unison.

Before either could answer, Mia darted out and stopped right in front of them. She tilted her little head up and beamed. "Gwen! I haven't seen you in days. I missed you!"

Jason smoothly took the heavy suitcases from Gwen's grip and slipped the cumbersome backpack off her shoulders.

Gwen crouched down to meet Mia's eyes. "My dad is sick right now, sweetie. I have to stay home and take care of him, so I won't have much free time to play for a little while."

"Then Dad and I can come play with you here! I just sang a song for Mr. Grayson, and he said he really loved it."

Mia shared her excitement with pure joy. Her voice was as sweet as a little songbird, and her eyes crinkled into happy little crescents.

"Thank you, Mia," Gwen said, gently ruffling the little girl's hair.

"Dad said he's going to bring Mr. Grayson downstairs tomorrow," Mia continued. "I can practice my rollerblading while he practices walking. We can all hang out together!"

The mere mention of playtime sent Mia into a fit of adorable giggles.

Gwen looked at the girl with a twinge of envy. It was amazing how effortlessly happy children could be.

"Where do you want these bags?" Jason asked.

"I can unpack them myself," Gwen said, attempting a polite dismissal. "It's getting late. You should probably get Mia home."

She was subtly trying to kick him out again.

Jason completely ignored the hint, rolling her luggage straight into the bedroom.

Gwen had no choice but to trail after him. Stopping just inside the doorway, she crossed her arms. "Didn't we agree you were going to give me time to think?"

"I took Mia to the park to rollerblade. She said she missed you, so we came up to say hi," Jason replied evenly. "Giving you time to think doesn't mean we can't see each other at all. I'm not forcing an answer out of you today."

Setting the suitcases aside, Jason closed the distance between them and wrapped his hands possessively around her waist.

The last time he had been here, right before leaving, he had dropped a bombshell: "Gwen, let's just get married. You and your dad can move into my place, and we can take care of each other."

A marriage proposal out of absolutely nowhere.

Gwen's brain had completely short-circuited in that moment.

She had looked away, desperate to block out his reasoning. She couldn't look into his eyes or listen to another word. She had carefully planned out this breakup, yet he had completely dismantled her resolve with just a few sentences.

"Alright. Take all the time you need to think it over."

After Jason left that night, he didn't come by for the next two days. He simply maintained his routine of calling and texting her.

She ignored all of his messages, but still answered his calls, terrified of missing an emergency.

She purposely kept him in the dark about her plan to rent out her old apartment.

His proposal was tempting—dangerously so. But she wanted to stand beside him as an equal, strong and independent. She had stayed out of his drama with his ex-wife, letting him handle his own baggage, and she expected the same autonomy to manage her own family crisis.

But Jason was the sly mastermind. He didn't even need to unzip her suitcases to know exactly what she had packed and what she was plotting.

"Planning to rent the old place out?" Gwen nodded silently, realizing she never really stood a chance of hiding it from him.

"You really are Ms. Independence, aren't you?" Jason chuckled softly, ruffling her hair exactly the way she had done to Mia moments ago.

"That's fine. It just means we get to enjoy the dating phase a little longer. If this setup makes you more comfortable, we'll do it your way."

It wasn't until Jason finally took Mia home that Gwen realized she had been totally played.

Gwen had to admit the man was a master manipulator. They were supposed to be discussing whether or not they were breaking up. Instead, he had somehow narrowed her options down to either marrying him or continuing to date him.