The Years Between Signing and Seeing novel Chapter 419

Suzie was speechless.

Had he been spending his free time reading internet memes?!

Besides, fifty bucks for a designer gala gown? Back in the day, she couldn't even buy a cheap clearance dress off a street rack for fifty dollars...

Whatever. If he wanted to play stupid games, she'd play along. She would just treat it like a standard retail transaction.

Suzie raised her phone, scanned the code, and authorized the payment without a second thought.

Then, she shifted her body, turning slightly so her back was to him.

She prayed the clothes would arrive soon. But suddenly, a painfully familiar voice broke the silence...

Suzie's head whipped around. The sound was coming from Jamie's phone. It was Richard!

"Still haven't found Suzie? You're so sure she didn't jump into the ocean... so she must have run far away. Does that girl hate this old man now? I'm already at this age... will I ever get to see my Suzie again in this lifetime?"

In the video, Richard was sitting up in a hospital bed, clutching a phone and talking quietly to himself.

When was he hospitalized again? She had asked around recently and heard that ever since his last discharge, his health had been quite stable...

Suzie forced her racing heart to calm down. It didn't take a genius to realize this was just another one of Jamie's traps.

He knew exactly how much she loved Richard. After disappearing for years, he knew she had to be missing him terribly.

Was he really trying to use an old man to manipulate her?

But things were different now. No matter how much she missed Richard, she would never compromise with Jamie to see him.

That jerk really had changed his tactics. Stella was right.

He had swapped out his tyrannical control for a gentlemanly approach.

Why would a man who never loved her go to such insane lengths to mess with her life? What did he want? Was he trying to settle some imaginary debt from the past?

It was a shade of pink, but much softer than blush. It was sheer, ethereal, and caught the light with a flawless, pearlescent glow.

It was, without a doubt, her absolute favorite color!

Combined with the luxurious texture of the fabric, she was instantly in love with it.

In the past, because she knew Jamie absolutely loathed the color pink—no matter how subtle or elegant—she had banned it from her life.

She never bought pink clothes, pink accessories, or even anything bordering on red.

Over time, avoiding it simply became a habit. Or perhaps she felt she had outgrown those soft, romantic shades.

Even after she had built a successful career and gained financial independence, she had never bought a dress like this.

As those memories flashed through her mind, Suzie decisively let go of the champagne dress she had originally reached for and pulled the pink gown off the rack.