Goodbye to the Love I Lost Eight Years Ago

Eight years ago, when I had just been diagnosed with cancer, the thing I wanted most was for Liam to forget me and move on.

But now, hearing him speak so calmly about what had happened back then, hearing him mention me as if I were nothing more than an old mistake, I still felt something twist quietly under my ribs.

He had told his fiancée everything about us.

He had not hidden a single thing.

That should have meant he had truly let go.

My mother, meanwhile, could no longer bear listening to Vanessa bring up my “cheating” over and over again. Every word sounded polite on the surface, but each one carried a hidden blade.

Mom’s eyes turned red with rage. Her lips trembled several times before she finally snapped at Liam.

“You and your mother really are the same. Shameless, both of you.”

My heart tightened.

I forced myself upright against the pillows and called toward the door, “Mom, come help me into the wheelchair. I’ll talk to Liam myself.”

Mom came into the bedroom. When she saw me trying to sit up, her face was still dark with anger.

I simply reached for her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

“Mom,” I whispered, “please. Think of it as helping me settle one last regret.”

Her eyes reddened instantly.

Still, because she had always loved me more than anything, she went to the vanity, brought me lipstick and my wig, and helped me into my down coat.

The moment she wheeled me out, Liam frowned.

“What’s wrong with you? You were spoiled when we were kids, and now you’re still acting like this as an adult. It’s just a broken leg. Your mother is getting older, and you’re still making her wait on you hand and foot?”

I looked at the disgust on his face and smiled faintly.

“The doctor said the fracture is serious. I’m not supposed to put weight on it for a while.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Vanessa, standing beside Liam, gave me an apologetic smile.

“Claire, don’t take it personally. Liam has just gotten used to being blunt after living overseas for so long.”

Then she tilted her head toward him, her tone sweet.

“He’s like this with everyone except me.”

I lowered my eyes for a second.

Liam was cold to everyone. That much was true.

But he had never been cold to me.

Not before.

I pressed that thought down before it could show on my face and looked calmly at Vanessa.

“You really want me to go with you to choose a wedding planner?

“If you need me there, I’ll go.”

Vanessa nodded at once.

“Of course. We really do.”

After that, I exchanged a few polite words with them before seeing them out.

That night, Liam called me.

He said I should go with them to meet the wedding planner the next day.

My fingers tightened around the phone.

Part of me was greedy for the sound of his voice.

Another part of me was almost afraid of it.

After all, it had been eight years since I had heard him like this, alone, on the other end of the line.

Eight years ago, I used to hide under the covers every night and fall asleep listening to his low, warm voice.

But just as I slipped into the memory, a woman’s voice sounded on his end.

“Liam, come dry my hair for me…”

I snapped back to myself.

“Okay,” I murmured quickly.

The moment Liam heard my answer, he hung up.

I listened to the empty beeps until they ended. Only then did the tears come.

I had known this would happen.

I had prepared myself for it.

But seeing it, hearing it, knowing with absolute clarity that Liam belonged to someone else now still hurt more than I could admit.

Liam had told me to meet him at ten the next morning.

Because I was nervous, I asked Mom to take me downstairs at nine thirty.

But I waited until noon, and Liam never came.

When I called him, he hung up.

Mom asked me several times to go home.

I refused.