Chapter 211
Chapter 211:
Colton stood motionless, watching as she vanished into the distance, an ache settling quietly in his chest.
He turned his attention to the rock, his expression darkening. No clear reason came to mind for why he had wandered here in the first place. He only knew that the sight of Kristine with Vance had left him unsettled, and that restless feeling had pushed him to abandon the crowd and drift through campus, lost in memories of their university days.
Eventually, his steps had brought him to the peach trees.
He remembered how Kristine used to dart to this very spot, always acting as if she had a secret to protect, slipping in and out as though she didn’t want to be seen.
Colton knelt and turned over the rock — the one Kristine had obviously shifted. He was caught off guard by the sight of a stack of tiny folded notes inside.
He picked one up and slowly opened it.
The handwriting was hurried, but the emotions spilled across the page were unmistakable. “I miss Colton every day. Is there any hope that I’ll ever win him over p>
He reached for another, unfolding it with the eagerness of someone uncovering hidden treasure. “Colton. Colton. Colton. Colton p>
W𝘩at 𝗲𝘷е𝘳𝘺o𝗻e i𝘴 𝗿𝖾𝗮𝖽𝘪n𝗴 о𝗇
On the next slip, he read: “I’ve come so far. Exhaustion is setting in, and quitting sounds so easy. But Kristine, can you really just let go p>
By the time he reached the final notes, his hands trembled.
He stared at the thick pile resting in the hollow, his pulse racing. The dates and the words told a clear story: Kristine had written these confessions over the three long years she spent chasing after him. It was undeniable. She had loved him all along — not a feeling that grew after they became a couple, but one that had been there from the very beginning.
A sense of disbelief swirled through his thoughts.
Seven years ago, Kristine had burst into his world like a sudden flash of light. And the truth was, her persistence had never annoyed him. If anything, he had found it strangely satisfying.
Then one afternoon, during a basketball game with Devin, he had caught part of a phone call echoing through the locker room.
“Are you sure Kristine only got close to Colton because he’s a Yates? I always wondered why she went after him so hard. Turns out, she just wanted to safeguard her father’s heirloom. She didn’t hold back at all p>
Those words had iced over his heart instantly. Even after he realized later that Kristine’s love was genuine, the memory of that accusation had stayed with him, impossible to forget. That was why he recoiled every time Kristine was around antiques — each one a painful reminder that he had once believed he was nothing more than a means to an end in her life.
Reading those notes, Colton realized just how mistaken he had been all this time.