I stood there, took a deep breath, and quietly stepped back over the threshold, gently closing the door, terrified they would discover my presence.
I feared my fiancé might simply cancel our engagement party. I always wanted to walk hand in hand with him down the wedding aisle and I had waited for nine years. With only fifteen days to go, I didn't want anything to go wrong.
Perhaps it was karma, but Brent Chapman suddenly came down with a high fever, and I took a week off work to stay by his side and care for him. I dragged him to the hospital for a check-up, got him some medication, and returned to Brent's home. After helping him lie down in bed, I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, only to find Brent already asleep.
Brent looked so handsome. Watching him sleep, I almost believed he was still that chaste boy from eight years ago.
Maybe what happened yesterday was just a spur-of-the-moment whim on his part? As long as he didn't fall for someone else, he was still mine.
When we first met in our freshman year of high school, I was deeply attracted to his face, and since then, no one else could catch my eye. But back then, Brent was nicknamed the "Ice Prince" by our classmates, always keeping cold expression. I never managed to get close to him.
Because of Brent, I looked forward to going to school every day, but that expectation abruptly ended the first day of my second year of high school. On that day, I sat in the classroom and looked around for Brent, but there was no one to be seen.
"Stop looking, Brent went abroad for high school," Rocco Smith, who sat behind me and was Brent's best friend in class, informed me.
"Who was looking for him?" I tried to act indifferent, but my heart felt like it had been pierced, painful and powerless.
Later, I secretly cried in the bathroom for a long time, something only I knew.
Afterward, Rocco would occasionally tell me about Brent's life in Goshoajan, mentioning he had met a girl who was stunningly beautiful, and they were inseparable, like a passionate whirlwind romance.
I thought our fate would stop here, but I didn't expect that after so many years, my boss, Emily Wells, unexpectedly wanted to introduce me to a handsome and wealthy overseas returnee as a boyfriend. He was her cousin, and I heard he was quite the catch.
I was reluctant at first, mainly because my focus was entirely on my career, and also because I had already met the boy I liked most, even if he wasn't mine.
However, I couldn't resist Emily's persistent invitations, so I went.
As I followed the waiter into the restaurant, I saw the boy who had lived in my heart for eight years.
He was still as clean and handsome as ever, and my heart suddenly raced with excitement.
"Sarah Miller?" After I introduced myself, he repeated my name, "Sounds like the name of a high school classmate of mine."
As he spoke, I quickly grabbed the glass of red wine on the table and took two big gulps.
If I didn't muster the courage to confess now, then when?
He snapped back to reality and was about to introduce himself, but, my love, I already knew everything about him, no need for him to say more!
"Brent, I'm your high school classmate, and I've liked you for eight years!"
I didn't remember what happened after that. I woke up at home, momentarily thinking that seeing Brent last night was just a dream.
But when I saw Emily's unread messages on my phone, I realized Brent had called her to take me home while I was completely drunk. I was quite embarrassed about being uncharacteristically bold last night, but then I noticed a new message in my contacts.
It was from Brent!
And so, our story began.