Page 53 of In Love with a Ruthless Man

How unfair he was to say that.

How painfully, beautifully, heartbreakingly unfair.

Anything, he said.

And the way Reid had spoken, Georgette knew that if she asked him to stay by her side forever, he would have done it. If she asked him to lie about loving her for all eternity, until the day they would walk down the aisle, he would have.

And she was tempted to do that.

She was tempted to use her age as an excuse, her trauma, her love for him—-

But in the end, she couldn’t.

Because if there was one thing she had learned in those three days she had danced with death—-

Life was too short.

Not a single second of it should be wasted, not for anything or anyone, and certainly not for chasing someone who could never love you.

“Georgie?”

Reid’s voice had Georgette wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. “S-sorry.” But then she felt his hands cup her face, and she started crying again. “N-no.” She pulled away from him, knowing that she had to say what she had to say now—-

Before she succumbed to her greatest weakness.

“Promise me...promise me you won’t ever blame yourself for this.”

Reid whitened.

“T-that’s all I want.”

Silence.

Finally, he managed to find his voice, and Reid said hoarsely, “You’re crazy.”

A teary giggle escaped her, and somehow it gave her the strength to meet his gaze. “P-please?”

His heart clenched.

And then he heard himself say, “I promise.”

They looked at each other.

More words could have been spoken. More words might have changed the future. But none were said because neither of them had ever expected it would be the last time they would see each other.

It was almost half a year later when Reid, together with five other men, walked in grim silence as one of Georgette’s pallbearers. Upon finding out that her ordeal had left her carrying one of her attackers’ child, Georgette had insisted on an abortion. And in so doing, the world had lost both her and her unborn baby.

Even now, a part of him was numb with shock, unable to believe that she was gone.

But she was.

When they made it to her burial plot and the coffin was laid to rest, her parents came forward, followed by others, showering her resting place with white roses.

He stared at the growing pile of flowers without really seeing them.

All he could see was Georgie.

She was smiling at him in the hazy distance of his mind.

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