Returning the Ten Years I Stole

The night I sleep with Graham Rowland, he has just broken up with his girlfriend, Leanna Sandoval.

Out of responsibility, he marries me. Our marriage is calm and steady. I once believe this is forever.

But then, Leanna dies of illness.

When he goes to mourn her, he learns that Leanna discovered what happened between us that night. That is why she loses hope and leaves him.

At the same time, he discovers my secret diary of unrequited love. He becomes convinced that I deliberately destroyed their relationship and comes to hate me deeply.

He divorces me, leaves me with nothing, and makes my life difficult at every turn.

At the brink of death, I hear him say in an icy voice, "Your love disgusts me."

When I open my eyes again, I return to two hours before the fateful event that night—when he is about to get drunk after the breakup.

I grab my coat, rush out of the room, and knock on Leanna's door.

Gwyneth's POV

Leanna Sandoval was stunned when she saw me. Her eyes were red and puffy, and it was obvious that she'd been crying earlier.

"Gwyn? What are you—"

"Leanna," I said, trying to sound calm. "Can I come in and talk?"

The living room was a mess. There was also a half-eaten cake on the table.

I smiled at her and went straight to the point. "I'm here to apologize on behalf of Gram. He forgot your birthday, and that's entirely his fault."

Leanna bit her lip and said nothing.

"It's not that he doesn't love you; he just doesn't know how to show it. He's never been good at that. You broke up with him, and he's now drinking his sorrows away at the bar."

I paused for a second before saying, "Leanna, I think you should go after him."

In my previous life, Graham Rowland would also go drinking at the bar all night long on Leanna's birthday. He had never gotten over her.

Leanna looked at me and smiled all of a sudden. Yet, the tears in her eyes continued streaming down her face even more.

"How could such a cold, aloof person like Graham have such a kind and thoughtful person like you as his sister? I'll head to the bar now. Thanks, Gwyn."

After telling her which bar Graham was at, she changed out of her home clothes and went out the door.

I heaved a long sigh of relief as I stared at her back. That night wasn't going to happen again in this life.

I went home and dug out my old diary that I'd hidden in a deep corner of my wardrobe.

I was ten years old, homeless and wandering the streets at night when Graham—18 at the time—took me in. He was cold and aloof with everyone else, but he was very gentle with me. I knew that I had fallen in love with him when I was old enough to realize it.

However, it was a secret that I could never reveal to anyone else.

I grabbed the diary and tore it to pieces, shredding every page. Then, I threw the scraps into the toilet and flushed them down.

About half an hour later, the door opened. Leanna walked in with a very drunken Graham in her arms.

Graham was clutching her tightly in his arms as he kept calling out her name and mumbling, "Anna… Please don't leave me… Let's not break up… I was wrong… I'm sorry…"

Leanna just had a helpless look on her face as she said, "Alright, alright. We're not breaking up."

She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw me. "Can you get him a glass of warm water and some pills, Gwyn? I'm going to take him back into his room."

"Okay."

She then helped him into the bedroom.

I stayed in the kitchen, waiting for the water to boil on the stove, hearing the sounds coming from the room. Graham was talking to her like a baby, and she was chuckling the entire time.

In my previous life, I knew from the first moment Graham introduced Leanna to me that they were a perfect match.

Leanna was bright and easygoing, and she also came from a well-to-do family. She had impeccable manners, and she also treated me just like family.

In short, she was a very good person altogether.

She would never have died if it weren't for me. They would have ended up together, happily ever after.

This time, I was going to make it up to them entirely.

Leanna ended up taking care of Graham in the room for the entire night.

When I woke up the next morning and came downstairs, I saw Graham bustling about in the kitchen.

He made scrambled eggs, warmed up some milk, and cut the crusts off the sandwiches before arranging them neatly on the plate. Then, he brought them over to Leanna and said gently, "Here. Eat while it's still hot."

She grinned at him and teased him, asking, "Since when have you learned to take care of other people like this?"

He simply gazed at her for a while without saying anything, but the corners of his lips curved upward.

In my previous life, he used to cook a lot for me too. And when I was on my period, he would bring me ice cream and hot chocolate whenever I needed it.

I paused at the stairway, a little hesitant to interrupt their moment.

"Gwyn? Come here and have breakfast," Leanna said, waving at me.

Graham looked up at me expressionlessly.

I walked over to the dining table and sat down. He immediately got up and sat in the next seat, so there was an empty spot between us.