Chapter 23
It wasn’t that Colette regretted her past life choices. She still stood by her final words before disappearing.
“It’s not perfect, but I don’t regret my decision.”
There was one more thing she hadn’t voiced–if given another life, she would choose never to fall in love with James Zeller.
Back then, Colette believed she would vanish forever.
Knowing that James had sacrificed everything for her to have a new life, she resolved to leave him behind completely. She wanted this life to be hers alone, a life lived to the fullest for
herself.
Colette stirred awake the next day in the afternoon. She immediately knew her location when she picked up on the pungent disinfectant smell, saw the white ceilings above her, and felt the pain on the back of her hand from being hooked up to the IV solution.
She turned around and found James by her side. He lay flat by the bed while sleeping
uncomfortably. She bet he had a rough night sleeping there, judging from the stubble on his
chin.
Once, she might have felt sympathy for him–or even been charmed–but now, her feelings
were complicated.
The Grim Reaper had shared something else during their encounter: when James Zeller made his bargain, giving up all his future lives and wealth to share another life with her, both of them were supposed to lose their memories.
Yet James had circumvented this, keeping his memories and even crafting a love stone with both of their names, which explained their unexplainable pull toward each other, despite their
lack of memories.
It was this interference that prompted the Grim Reaper to reveal the truth and return Colette’s
memories.
Coming back to the present, Colette looked at James, realizing that, in both lives, he always imposed his will on their relationship. He had rejected her love in their past life only to pursue her now, after she had moved on. He gave up everything to remain by her side.
She raised her hand and gently brushed his cheek. “Uncle James,” she thought, “it wasn’t our age difference that kept us apart–it was you.”
Her touch stirred him awake, and he opened his eyes, surprised to see her awake. Concern flickered across his face, and he reached for the call button, but she stopped him.
Chapter 23
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“I’m fine. You don’t have to ask for the doctor.” She paused, her tone polite but distant, just like the first time they met, “I’ll pay you back the hospital fees later. Thanks for getting me to the hospital.”
The look of heartbreak in his eyes stung her, but she steeled herself, unwilling to offer him any hope. “James Vanderbilt, I won’t love you back. We’re incompatible.”
He looked stunned. “Incompatible? Colette, we’ve always gotten along well. Why don’t you like me?”
“Besides,” he thought, “you were so close to saying yes before you fainted.”
But he kept this to himself, afraid to face the truth of his unrequited love.
Seemingly oblivious to his anxiety and confusion, Colette addressed him harshly, “We get along well, but I still see you as a friend. I prefer older guys.”
Her gaze shifted to the IV bottle. It would still be a while before it was empty.
After a long pause, she turned to James and smiled at him.
Inwardly, she thought, “James Zeller, you denied your feelings for me because you said I was too young for you. You and your fiancée hurt my feelings. And I shall do the same to you.”
“James Vanderbilt, please leave,” she said to him.
She thought, “I did not make the deal with the Grim Reaper hoping you’d come after me. If you couldn’t love me in the past life, I don’t need your attention in any future ones.”
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