Returning the Ten Years I Stole Chapter 06
Gwyneth walked over, picked up the jewelry box, and opened it.
A pair of pearl earrings lay inside the box. It was a gift that Graham had given her on her 18th birthday. She stared at them for a few seconds before closing the box again
“You don’t want them anymore?” Graham asked.
She shook her head. “Nope.”
Then, she put the box back on the dressing table and turned to leave.
Graham stood at the door, staring at the box. For some reason, he felt that the box was staring back at him in the otherwise
empty room.
“Gram,” Gwyneth called from downstairs. “I’m leaving now.”
He went downstairs and saw her standing at the door with the sun behind her, casting a golden glow on her silhouette.
She was wearing a plain white T-shirt and blue jeans, and her long hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail, looking very tidy and put together.
“Thanks for taking care of me all this time, Gram,” she said with a smile. “Leanna hasn’t fully recovered yet, so you’re going to have to take extra good care of her.”
Graham stared at her, suddenly blurting, “I’ll come over when I’m free.”
“It’s fine. I’ve got it all settled. Just focus on your own things.”
Then, Gwyneth turned and left.
Graham stood at the door, watching as the truck pulled away and disappeared around the corner.
He stood there for a long time. Then, he went back inside the house and walked past Gwyneth’s room, which had been left ajar.
He walked in.
The room was completely emptied. The closet doors were left open, and there wasn’t a single thing left inside.
The curtains danced gently in the breeze.
The jewelry box was still there on the dressing table. He walked over and opened it up, seeing the pair of pearl earrings lying quietly inside the box, glowing softly under the light.
He picked up his phone and sent a text message to Gwyneth.
“You forgot your earrings.”
A few minutes later, she replied, “I don’t want it anymore. You can just throw it away.”
He stared at her reply for a long time, typing and deleting his response over and over again. Finally, he sent it out, but no reply
ever came.
It was September in Lanton, Angland.
Gwyneth dragged her suitcase behind her at the arrival hall of Angland International Airport, taking a deep breath.
The air was cold and damp, and smelled distinctively of a foreign country.
She took out her phone and sent a text to Leanna, telling her that she’d arrived. Leanna replied almost instantly.
“Glad to hear that! Remember to take good care of yourself!”
Right after that text message, Leanna sent her a couple more voice messages.
“Remember to dress warmly! And let me know right away if you don’t have enough to spend. Don’t skimp out on yourself just to save money, understand? And don’t forget to Facetime me on the weekend too! I miss you already.”
Gwyneth chuckled and listened to every voice message Leanna sent. Then, she texted back, “Got it. You take care of yourself too, Leanna.”
She got another reply. “Gram asked me to ask you if you landed safely.”
She was stunned for a moment. Then, she texted back, “I did. Tell him not to worry.”
Leanna replied with a smiling emoji.
“He’s not worried at all. He just brought it up casually. Oh, by the way, have you met up with your friend, that Dean Lucero guy? Is he with you now?”
“Yeah. He came along with me, but we ended up enrolling in different campuses. It’s not too far apart from mine, though.”
“That’s good to hear. At least there’s someone looking out for you there.”‘”
Gwyneth then put her phone away and flagged down a cab to campus.
The weather in Lanton was dark and gloomy, and the buildings on both sides of the street looked old and solemn.
She looked out of the window, her heart finally at peace.
In her past life, she had given up on all possibilities of a future just to stay by Graham’s side. But this time, she was finally living for herself.
Once she settled in, life returned to normal for her.
Her coursework was demanding, and she spent every day at the library, occasionally meeting up with Dean on the weekends for
meal or two.
Dean was a gentleman who knew about her situation, yet he never overstepped his boundaries. They were more like comrades at this point, supporting and encouraging each other at times of need.
Leanna didn’t forget to Facetime Gwyneth every weekend. At times, while Facetiming, Leanna would suddenly say, “You’ve gotten thinner again, Gwyn.”
“That can’t be. I’m eating my weight in food.”
“But you’ve really lost weight. Even Gram said…”
She then trailed off and didn’t complete her sentence. Gwyneth didn’t ask her to finish it either. She knew what Leanna was trying to tell her, but she just wasn’t interested in what Graham had to say.
December arrived in the blink of an eye, and Lanton had its first snowfall of the season.
Gwyneth snapped a photo of the snow and posted it on her Instagram, captioning it, “First snow.”
Leanna was the first to like the post. She commented, “It’s so pretty! Take care and stay warm!”
A few minutes later, Graham also liked her post, but he didn’t leave a comment.
Gwyneth just glanced at the notification before locking her phone.
Unbeknownst to her, Graham was staring at that photo for a very, very long time, back at home.
In the photo, Gwyneth was wearing a bright red coat and a gray scarf around her neck, smiling happily in the snow.
