81.82 % Chapter19 Chase Rylan walked into the bar near the cinema ; the lights were low and the music so loud it swallowed the room . He headed straight for the counter and set his phone down with a sharp thud . " Give me your strongest , " he told the bartender . " Keep it coming . " Glasses emptied one after another . The burn scorched his throat , but the ache in his chest refused to budge . The alcohol climbed fast , turning the room soft around the edges . And then the memories came - relentless , tidal . He remembered the first time he'd seen Lydia , back in freshman year . She'd been on the debate team , standing onstage in a white dress with sunlight in her hair , her eyes bright and fierce . She argued with grace and bite , never cruel , just brilliant . His heart had slammed against his ribs so hard it scared him . Love at first sight - he had finally understood the phrase . From that day on , he chased her like his life depended on it . When she had cramps , he cut class and biked across three neighborhoods to fetch brown sugar , then slipped a thermos of cocoa into her classroom . When he learned she loved the night sky , he stayed up three nights sanding plastic and soldering wire to build her a DIY star projector , filling her bedroom with constellations on her birthday . When he heard her family might move overseas , he waited behind Old Hall , eyes red , holding her like a lifeline and whispering , " If you leave , I'll come with you . " He had been terrified - terrified she'd vanish from his world . Somewhere along the way , everything warped . The awe dulled . He forgot how she made his pulse misfire . He let Sienna Quinn thread her fingers through his , let her press closer and closer until he couldn't tell where pity ended and betrayal began . And yet he had fought so hard for Lydia . He remembered the day a pack of punks cornered her after school , yanking her backpack and mouthing off . He hadn't thought ; he'd charged in . He took the punches , arm bruised from shoulder to wrist , but he never once stepped aside . After that , something in Lydia's gaze changed - less polite distance , more possibility . His heart had ricocheted around his chest . He found excuses to be near her , saved her a seat in the library , sat through Study Hall whenever she did . When she hit a wall on a problem set , he stayed up until two a.m. to write out the solution step by step , neat enough for a textbook . Lydia was slow to warm , but once her heart opened , it held on . She showed up at the gym with a pouch of Band - Aids and iodine swabs when he twisted his wrist in practice . When an exam went sideways , she handed him a steaming cup of hot cocoa and sat with him in the classroom until the sky outside turned black . She kept every silly little gift he gave her ; even his absentminded doodles ended up tucked into the front of her notebook . Back then , he had been sure . Lydia loved him . Lydia would never leave . They'd do everything they promised - Northbridge , graduation , from varsity jacket to wedding veil . Always . Now each bright memory felt like a blade , carving him up from the inside . He slid down the bar , his fingers clenching until his nails dug into his palms , and still felt only a hollow roar . Because after that , he had been the one to step off the path . The first time Sienna claimed her craving for touch , he had let her hold his hand . Chapter 19 86.36 % BILLIONAIRE CEO'S Dreame - Read Romance Stories 4.4 FREE Installed Open Book Title Cheers to Comeuppance After the concert , with the crowd surging , he'd watched Lydia stumble under a wave of bodies - and turned away when Sienna begged him to kiss her . Lydia had collapsed from a nut reaction and he'd still been tangled up with Sienna in Elaine and Robert Rivers's bedroom . When the car slammed through the guardrail and plunged into the Merriton River , he had swum for Sienna first . He could still see Lydia fighting the water , that flicker of despair in her eyes before the river swallowed her - a vision that would not leave him . Images flashed through his mind , cruel as any film reel . He had believed that the good he did for Lydia would balance out the ways he'd failed her . He had been wrong . " Another , " he rasped to the bartender . He lost count . His stomach knifed with pain , sharper each minute . He folded against the bar , sweat beading on his forehead . Someone nearby noticed and called for help . Sirens cut through the bassline , and as the ambulance doors swung open , he was still mumbling , " Lydia ... don't go . I was wrong ... " The hospital lights were too bright . A ceiling in stark white . It punched up another memory - sprained ankle after a game , Lydia perched at his bedside , eyes rimmed pink , asking over and over , Does it hurt ? Now he lay alone in St. Alban's General Hospital , the space at his side empty , the monitors steady and indifferent . The pain in his gut tightened like a fist . He shut his eyes as a hot tear slid down his cheek toward his ear . In the quiet , he finally understood . The person who had always stayed , who had saved him a hundred small ways , had learned to save herself instead . Chapter19