Goodbye to the Love I Lost Eight Years Ago Chapter 07
Liam did not know why, but the look in Claire’s eyes would not leave him.
That final look.
Love, pain, and goodbye, all tangled together.
Every time he remembered it, panic rose in him for no reason.
Even when the doctor told him Vanessa’s baby was fine, he felt no relief.
After Vanessa fell asleep, he stepped into the hallway and called Claire.
Again.
And again.
No answer.
His relationship with Vanessa had begun as an accident.
She had been a junior in his medical program overseas. For eight years, she had pursued him openly, stubbornly, without shame.
It was not until the sixth year that Vanessa deliberately got him drunk and dressed herself to look like Claire.
Only then did he sleep with her.
Afterward, when Liam learned what had really happened, he apologized to Vanessa, but he also told her plainly that he did not love her and never would.
Even if Claire no longer loved him.
Even if Claire had gone somewhere he could never reach.
He would only love Claire in this life.
At the time, Vanessa cried so hard her whole body shook.
Still, Liam forced himself to be cruel and rejected her.
But Vanessa did not give up.
She stayed by his side. She waited. She pursued him as if time itself would eventually wear him down.
Then, half a year later, his mother suddenly sent him a wedding invitation./
Claire’s wedding invitation.
Claire was getting married.
To the man she had betrayed him with.
That night, Liam cried alone in his apartment until dawn. He drank until his stomach bled and he ended up in the hospital.
Vanessa was the one who ran back and forth taking care of him.
That was when he finally softened.
He accepted her.
Half a year later, Vanessa became pregnant by accident. When she begged him to marry her, Liam felt nothing but a bitter weight in his chest.
Still, he agreed.
So he came home with her, ready to get married.
Now, standing in the hospital hallway with his phone pressed to his ear, Liam called Claire ten times.
She did not answer once.
With no other choice, he called Claire’s mother.
The call had barely connected when her voice came through, hoarse and trembling with anger.
“Why are you calling?”
Liam’s hand tightened around the phone.
It took all his courage to ask, “Did anything happen to Claire at the restaurant today?”
The other end went silent for a moment.
“Nothing happened. Don’t call again.”
Then she hung up.
Liam listened to the dead line, the unease in him growing heavier instead of fading.
Panicked and restless, he called his own mother.
The moment Margaret picked up, she began scolding him.
“Honestly, Liam, what were you thinking? How could you push Claire so hard that she fell? You know how much her mother loves her. I got yelled at in the hospital room for nearly an hour before she finally calmed down.”
Hearing that, Liam finally breathed again.
Only then did he ask, keeping his voice as steady as he could, “Is Claire badly hurt?”
“Nothing serious. Just a small cut on her forehead. It’s already been bandaged. Her fiancé came to pick her up. She’s staying at their new place now.”
Their new place.
Pain stabbed through him before he could stop it.
He exchanged a few casual words with Margaret, then hung up.
After that, time seemed to speed up.
Margaret not only moved the wedding date forward, but also urged him to get the marriage license with Vanessa ahead of schedule.
Liam wanted to resist.
But every time he passed Claire’s front door and saw it closed tight, he sank back into despair.
What was left to resist?
From beginning to end, Claire had been the one who did not want him.
Claire had been the one who threw him away.
Before the wedding, Liam tried contacting her several times.
Every message he sent disappeared into silence.
Claire never replied.
