Calista had known for a long time that Noah was in love with Patricia.
She had felt it from the very first moment
It began the day he broke company protocol to hire Patricia, despite her being completely unqualified for the position. Her interview had been a mess rambling responses, hall–formed thoughts, and no relevant credentials. Yet he hired her anyway.
That alone made it obvious Patricia was different
As time passed, his favoritism only grew more blatant.
There was nothing professional about the way Noah looked at Patricia. His gaze held a softness, a quiet indulgence no boss should ever show an employee.
There was always a faint, sweet citrus scent clinging to him. It was a fragrance Calista had only ever smelled on Patricia
But given how little time they had spent together and always at a polite, professional distance, there was no way the scent could have lingered on him strongly by accident.
Then there was the brown, slightly curled strand of hair she once found clinging to the shoulder of Noch’s suit jacket.
The way he constantly insisted that Calista promote Patricia within the company, making excuses to help her gain a footing. Even when Patricia repeatedly made mistakes on the job, Noah never once considered firing her.
pa pretty
ty face around the office.
Instead, he reassigned her to a quiet receptionist role–something easy, low–pressure, just enough to keep a
Anyone who had ever so much as implied that Patricia got her job through connections didn’t last long at Skeldon Group. Noch always found a reason to fire them
Even when Calista asked a simple question about Patricia, Nosh reacted like she had crossed a line. He accused her of being paranoid, jealous, and Irrational. He said she was imagining things, stirring up drama for no reason.
But the final blow came the day she accidentally saw a message from Patricia on Noah’s phone
Patricia’s tone was soft and coy as she told him that now that he had proposed, he needed to treat her better. The wedding had to be perfect. After all, she wanted to be the most beautiful bride
That was the moment Callsta realized the woman Noah intended to marry wasn’t her. It was Patricia
The promise she had waited 12 years for was handed to Patricia as effortlessly as if it had never mattered at all. She had waited for nothing.
She couldn’t even bring herself to remember how she felt back then.
The despair, the grief. It was as if her entire world had collapsed.
But she never let it show. On the surface, she stayed composed, pretending she knew nothing
She swallowed the pain again and again, until the damage can so deep there was nothing left to hold onto, so she walked away for good.
The truth was, Calista had given Noah chance after chance. She gave him opportunities to choose her so many that even she had lost count.
But every time, he let her down.
Disappointment piled up until it was enough to break her completely. And when that happened, she just walked away and never looked back
Now, bearing Theodore say that Calista had known all along he was going to marry Patricia, Noah’s face was streaked with tears. His voice cracked as he asked, “When did you find out?”
He couldn’t begin to imagine the pain Calista must have felt as she watched him fall in love with someone else, standing silently on the sidelines, completely alone in her heartbreak:
“It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s in the past,” Calista said softly as she leased into Theodore’s chest, unwilling to get caught up in the past with Noah
She was happy now, and she had no desire to look back.
Sensing Calista’s shift in mood, Theodore pulled her closer, as if trying to offer comfort and strength through the warmth of his embrace.
He whispered, “It’s over, Call, I’m here now. You don’t have to carry any of it alone.”
Theodore’s gaze grow even colder as it landed on Noah. “The only thing you should be doing right now is staying as far away from Cali as possible. You’ve seen it yourself. She doesn’t want to see you ever again.”
Watching Calista curled up in Theodore’s arms, unwilling to spare him even a glance, Noah finally realized that what he had done was beyond forgiveness.
not asking for her forgiveness anymore. I know I don’t deserve it. I just want to do whatever little I can… to make
With a bitter smile, he murmured, “I’m not a it up to her.”
“Make it up to her?” Theodore’s tone turned sharp, his eyes narrowing. “With what? Your shallow, pathetic version of love? Or the crumbling shell of Sheldon Group?
“Let’s be honest. This isn’t about her. This is about you. You’re trying to ease your guilt, Noah
- Chapter
“You want to feel better about yourself, even if it means forcing her to relive all the pain. You’re nothing but a selfish, pathetic man.”
Theodore’s words hit Noah like a hammer to the chest. It was hard, final, and impossible to ignore. And this time, he had nothing left to say,
He staggered out of the estate in a daze, each step heavy and aimless. He boarded a red–eye flight back to Everton, alone and shattered, like a stray dog. with nowhere left to go.
After returning to Everton, Noah couldn’t bring himself to care about Sheldon Group Meetings went unattended, and documents piled up unsigned.
He spent each day drowning in alcohol and every night wide awake, unable to find rest. Theodore’s words echoed through his mind–relentless and sharp
-while Calista’s name slipped from his lips again and again.
He moved through life like a shell of a man, breathing, but barely alive.
Then, one night, it happened.
Noah was walking back to his apartment when a woman lunged out from the shadows. Her hair was tangled, her body covered in bruises, her eyes wild with fury.
It was Patricia.
Without warning, she drove a knife straight into his chest.
She laughed–high–pitched, manic as she stabbed him over and over.
As blood poured from Noah’s wounds, staining the pavement, she looked down at him with twisted satisfaction. “Go to hell, Noah! This is what you Ideserve.”
As the world blurred and the pain numbed, Noah’s final thought came quietly, almost peacefully. “This is it. This is what I deserve for breaking a heart that once loved me without question.”
Noah was never afraid of death. He had no one left, nothing to lose, and nothing worth holding onto. His life was already in ruins.
But he missed Calista. He missed her so much it ached.
In the haze between pain and unconsciousness, he thought he saw Calista. She was 18 years old, smiling at him with that same bright, shy expression. She had said, “Noah, if you’re applying to the National Defense Academy, I’ll apply too. I mean… it’s not like I have to go to Stathford College,” But this time, Noah didn’t brush off her feelings. He didn’t smirk or scoff like the foolish boy he had been.
Instead, he reached for her hand and smiled gently. “Sure, Cali. But we don’t have to go to the National Defense Academy. If you want Stathford College, I’ll go with you there too.”
When news of Noah’s death reached Calista, she didn’t return to Everton. There was nothing left between them not love, nor even a trace of obligation. Years passed
Calista built a quiet, peaceful life with Theodore. They had two children, and their home was filled with warmth, laughter, and a peace she never thought she would find.
Somewhere along the way, Calista forgot what it felt like to cry over a man named Noah. The 12 years she had given him faded like an old dream.
She was content now. Life still stretched long and full before her, and she would walk it hand in hand with Theodore. Happily, until the very end.
