Too Late, Mr. Cooper: Your Bride Ran with Your Baby novel Chapter 188

He looked like a piece of driftwood in the ocean, about to be swallowed by the next wave.

Liliana looked down at the engagement ring clutched in her palm, and her own eyes couldn't help but redden.

Her soft lips trembled, and she bit down on them before looking up, a question she had asked herself countless times rising to the surface, a genuine confusion in her voice. “Linton, if you really love me as much as you say you do... then where were you before?”

Liliana didn't understand. She truly didn't. Who could? Why? Why didn’t he say it sooner? Why didn’t he do it sooner? Why did he have to wait until things were completely beyond repair before feeling regret?

She just didn’t understand.

Fighting back the stinging in her eyes, she took a step closer to him, her voice trembling. “Linton... if you had just been one step earlier? Not even a year, or a month, or a day. Just one minute. One second. But you weren’t. If only...”

Liliana stopped abruptly.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and gently closed her eyes. Deep down, she realized, she still resented him. She thought she had moved on. But when faced with the reality of him, she discovered she was far from indifferent.

It made sense.

They had grown up together, a bond forged over two decades of devotion and persistence. It wasn't something she could just let go of overnight. She needed time to heal and forget, and that time was not now.

But resentment didn’t mean she was still attached. And her temporary inability to let go didn’t mean she was going to forgive him.

Liliana slowly opened her eyes. Her vision, once clouded with emotion, was clear and bright again. She pulled at the corner of her lips and suddenly smiled. “Linton... unfortunately, there are no ‘if onlys’.”

She looked up, her gaze fixed on him, and asked suddenly, “Who called you when you were at the hospital? What did they say? You’ve been like a different person ever since you took that call.”

Linton’s deep gaze darkened. A strange, inscrutable expression crossed his face. He wasn't surprised by her perceptiveness.

Just as he knew her, she knew him.

He could spot the slightest change in her; she couldn't fool him. And she could sense the smallest inconsistency in him; he couldn't hide from her.

Whether Liliana wanted to admit it or not, she couldn't deny the truth. They were the two people in the world who knew each other's souls most intimately.

Seeing his silence, Liliana stepped closer. “Linton, tell me the truth. What in the world is going on out there?”