Chapter 29
After a moment, Charles lowered his head again and murmured,
“Forget it. If erasing me means you’ll hurt less… maybe that’s better.”
“Just let me say one last sorry. If I could turn back time, I swear-I’d love you properly, just once.”
Vivian gave a quiet laugh.
“If I could turn back time, Charles-I’d choose never to have known you.”
She pushed his wheelchair out of the cemetery.
Not another word.
She didn’t even look at him as she turned and walked away.
Charles sat there, silently watching her figure fade from sight.
He didn’t dare blink, as if trying to burn her silhouette into his memory forever.
Only when she completely disappeared did he slowly turn his wheelchair around
-and rolled himself toward the police station.
A uniformed officer looked up, glanced at his lifeless legs, and asked,
“Sir, do you need any help?”
Charles’s expression was calm.
“I’m here… to surrender.”
“There was a murder. I covered for the killer, destroyed the evidence. I was an accomplice… and I’ll take whatever
sentence I deserve.”
Three years passed in a blur.
Charles Foster was finally released from prison.
“Don’t look back once you leave, alright? Make something of your life,”
the guard clapped him on the shoulder before turning to fetch his belongings.
As he opened the drawer, he froze in place.
“…Only one wedding ring?”
Charles gave a soft “Mm.”
Before turning himself in, he had sold off his entire company, donated every cent to a foundation for the disabled.
Every fortune he’d ever had meant nothing next to that one wedding ring-
the one that once belonged to Vivian.
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He rolled his wheelchair out of the prison gates and got into Mr. Chambers’ car.
“Thanks,” Charles said. “For still remembering an ex-con like me.”
Mr. Chambers shook his head.
“Don’t say that, sir. I worked for you for years… you were always good to me.”
The scenery outside the window flashed by, and Charles took a deep breath and asked,
“How’s… Vivian?”
Mr. Chambers glanced at him through the rearview mirror, cautiously.
“She’s doing great.”
“She got married.”
Charles froze.
“Her godmother helped her start a domestic services company.
It’s now the top agency in Ridgewood.”
“She and Northon dated for a year and got married last year.”
“Not long ago, I passed by her office and saw her-
She’s pregnant. Looks like she’s in her final trimester.”
Mr. Chambers suddenly paused.
“There-Mr. Foster, look. Isn’t that Miss Bennett?”
On the sidewalk outside the office tower,
Vivian came running out-straight into Northon’s arms.
He bent down and kissed the corner of her lips.
From the nearby car, her godmother stepped out, pushing a baby stroller.
Inside, a tiny baby sucked on a pacifier, waving its chubby arms-reaching for its mother.
Their faces were glowing with happiness.
Radiant. Blinding.
Charles watched like a thief-stealing one last glimpse of the life that should have been his.
The moment Vivian turned her gaze toward the car, he panicked and looked away.
“Drive”
Mr. Chambers hesitated.
“Mr. Foster… don’t you want to say hello?”
“No need.”
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Charles took one last, lingering look at the woman he’d loved for half his life, then forced himself to look away.
“She’s happy. That’s enough. I owe her too much… to ever step into her world again.”
Let those six years-the six years Vivian had once loved him-remain his secret.
His sins weren’t fully paid.
They never would be.
In the next life…
He hoped he’d meet a girl named Vivian Bennett again.
And next time-He’d love her the way she deserved.
