“There’s something urgent at the office that I need to handle. I might be late; why don’t you go ahead and sleep, okay?”
“Keiran, I want you here. Didn’t you say you wanted that too?”
Claudette looked into his eyes, eyes she once believed were the purest, most beautiful, now shadowed by the filth of lies.
Keiran hadn’t expected her to respond that way, but he quickly made his choice. “Then wait for me. I’ll be back soon. I promise to make it up to you, Claude.”
He brushed past her without a second thought, oblivious to the deep disappointment in her eyes. Claudette nodded, but just as he turned to leave, she called out to him, her voice soft but firm. “Keiran, no matter what happens, always be honest with the one you love most. Don’t wait until it’s too late, and all you’re left with is regret. Nothing stings more than that.”
Keiran almost turned back, his unease growing with her cryptic words. But the persistent ringing of his phone urged him to keep moving. With a quick nod, he rushed into the elevator.
Claudette watched him leave, her heart turning to stone. The door closed, marking the end of their world together.
“Mr. Collins, be here in thirty minutes!”
Knowing Corinne would call Keiran away, Claudette had already made arrangements for someone to retrieve her last belongings. Before she left, she snapped her SIM card in two and tossed it into the trash by the door.
Goodbye, Keiran.
Goodbye to seven years, and I’ll never get back.
On her 28th birthday, Claudette made a silent wish: “Keiran, I’ll never love you again.”
