Love After Leaving: No Regret (Agnes and Raymond) novel Chapter 59

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Chapter 59 The Silent Rivalry

‘Seriously–I don’t like her already. She doesn’t hold a candle to Hillary. What does she have that Hillary doesn’t?”

“Exactly. Hillary literally risked her life to save Raymond and wrecked her own health doing it

“Men are garbage. All those promises, and then they turn around and betray you.”

“Well, to be fair, Raymond does still take care of Hillary. Look at her Instagram–half of it’s about him.

“A billion dollars isn’t pocket change. You don’t just drop that kind of money on someone if there are no feelings involved.

“Maybe the feelings are gone, but the man’s still responsible.”

“Whatever. That Agnes woman just rubs me the wrong way. She and Raymond don’t match. She looks like a homewrecker.”

“Enough, enough. It’s a reunion. Their business is their business.”

Agnes hadn’t said a word. She was still processing Raymond’s stunt.

First, he’d strong–armed her into attending. Then he’d announced, in front of Hillary and God and everyone, that she was his wife.

They were on the verge of divorce. What game was he playing?

Was it because of Neal? Some pathological need to stake a claim in front of another man?

Agnes studied Hillary’s face–cycling through purple, green, and a shade of grey she hadn’t known skin could produce–and decided that tonight’s reunion was actually kind of entertaining.

When they sat down for dinner, Agnes and Raymond were placed together. Hillary muscled her way into the seat on Raymond’s other side.

Neal, without fanfare, settled into the chair on Agnes’s opposite side. The four of them ended up seated together as if by design.

Over dinner, classmates reminisced about the good old days.

Hillary seized every opportunity to invoke her and Raymond’s shared history. The others played along enthusiastically.

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Chapter oy The Silent Kivalry

Agnes tuned it all out. She focused on eating. Neal continued to quietly slide appetizers and small plates her way.

Neal said, “Agnes, you seem hungry.”

Agnes laughed. “It’s just incredibly boring. I didn’t go to St. Austen, so I can’t contribute to any of these conversations. Eating is my only option.”

The corner of Neal’s mouth lifted. He found her utterly charming like this.

“But you

have been to St. Austen. Twice, in fact,” he said.

Agnes’s fork froze in midair. She turned, staring at him. “How do you know that?”

Neal held her gaze. “You really don’t remember me? Agnes, we’ve met before.”

Agnes tried, “Was it at my wedding? Were you there?”

“Not that time. Your wedding was actually the third time I saw you.

“We crossed paths at St. Austen twice before that. To be precise–I saw you twice, but you only

saw me once.”

Agnes whispered, “I’m sorry. I don’t remember.”

A flicker of something crossed Neal’s face, but he smiled through it. “It’s fine. They were brief encounters. It’d be strange if you did remember.

“The first time, I saw you save Raymond. You shoved him out of the way of a falling air- conditioning unit.

“Your arm got hurt. I’m the one who brought you to the campus infirmary. A classmate pulled me away for a moment, and when I came back, you were already gone.

“The second time–also at St. Austen–I saw you leaving in tears. I called out to you, but you were walking so fast, and you seemed so upset, that you didn’t notice me.”

Agnes’s pupils contracted. She was stunned into silence, as though a secret she’d buried for years had just been unearthed.

Neal’s words unlocked the memory. Her first visit to St. Austen, looking for Raymond. They’d grown up together, but in high school, Raymond and his mother had moved away.

Agnes’s own mother had started relocating frequently around the same time, and Agnes lost track of Raymond entirely.

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Chapter 59 The Silent Rivalry

Then one day, she learned he was at St. Austen. She grabbed the diary they’d written in together as kids and raced to campus, heart soaring.

On the way in, she’d spotted an air–conditioning unit about to fall from an upper floor–and a boy walking directly underneath.

She hadn’t thought. She’d just sprinted forward and shoved him clear. Another student, a girl, happened to be passing on his other side.

Agnes remembered the two of them tumbling down the steps together, and the unit smashing into her arm. Blood everywhere.

She’d gritted through the pain and called for help. People swarmed in–shouting for teachers, dialing 911.

The ambulance came. It didn’t seem like anyone needed her anymore, so she’d started to leave.

That was when a tall, thin boy had walked over, taken one look at her bleeding arm, and- without a word–guided her to the campus infirmary. A nurse bandaged her up.

She’d wanted to thank him, but by the time the nurse finished bandaging her arm, the boy was gone. So, she’d asked the nurse to pass along her thanks and left.

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