Silas Sutton returned to the small plaza, arms crossed as he leaned against a plane tree, his eyes locked on the entrance of the academic building.
Ryan Rhodes, Sean Crane, and Kyle stood a short distance away.
The three men, sharply dressed in tailored suits, stood out glaringly on the university campus, drawing sidelong glances from passing students.
“Mr.
Sutton has held that exact pose for over ten minutes,” Kyle said, lowering his voice.
“I’ve never seen him this nervous.”
Sean pushed up his gold-wire glasses.
“That’s the woman he loves to the bone.
If it hadn’t been for the incident three years ago, their kids would probably be running around by now.”
Ryan pulled out his phone to check the time.
“Class is almost over.” They had never met the future Mrs.
Sutton.
He turned to Kyle.
“You’ve seen her.
Hurry up and tell us what she looks like.”
The words had barely left Ryan’s mouth when Kyle’s eyes lit up.
“Here she comes!
The one in the white dress.”
The glass doors of the academic building swung open, and a steady stream of students poured out.
Silas leaned forward slightly, his gaze searching the crowd with desperate urgency.
His hands unconsciously curled into fists.
Three years of yearning surged in his chest like a stormy sea.
Then, he saw her.
Zoe Quinn walked out of the building, hugging a stack of art supplies and textbooks, chatting and laughing with a female classmate beside her.
The sunlight cascaded over her white dress, the hem swaying gently with her every step.
Unseen for three years, she had shed her high school innocence and blossomed into a stunning young woman.
Yet, her eyes remained as pure as ever, and the crescent curve of her eyes when she smiled hadn’t changed a bit.
Following his gaze, Sean couldn’t help but sigh softly.
“No wonder Mr.
Sutton couldn’t forget her.
This girl truly has an ethereal, otherworldly aura.”
“Wow!
Is this our future Mrs.
Sutton?
She’s an absolute natural beauty.” Marveling at her, Ryan then furrowed his brow.
“But is she even of age?
Why does she look like a high schooler?”
“She’s about to turn twenty-one!” Kyle shot him a sidelong glance and retorted.
“When Mr.
Sutton met her, she was just starting her senior year of high school.”
Silas didn’t hear a word of his brothers’ chatter.
His entire world had shrunk down to the approaching figure.
For three years—over a thousand days and nights behind bars—he had dreamt of this exact scene countless times: the sunlight, the white dress, and her walking toward him with a smile.
Reaching the bottom of the steps, Zoe stopped, seemingly looking for someone as well.
Her gaze swept across the small plaza, brushed past the plane tree, and froze.
The moment their eyes met, electric sparks seemed to crackle in the air.
Her lips parted slightly.
Astonishment and disbelief flashed through those clear eyes before they swiftly brimmed with tears.
“Sprout!” A wide grin quickly broke across Silas’s face as he called out the nickname that belonged solely to them, his voice trembling slightly.
He opened his arms and strode toward her.
His steps were fast and urgent, as if he wanted to cross the three-year gap in a single bound.
Zoe stood rooted to the spot, her body entirely stiff.
She blinked, as if unable to believe the person before her was real.
Then, with trembling lips, she murmured uncertainly, “Bad Boy…
is it really you?”
Those words acted like a key, unlocking the softest part of Silas’s heart.
His eyes grew hot, and he fought back the tears threatening to fall.
His Sprout still remembered him.
She still remembered their pet names.
“It’s me, Sprout.
I’m back,” Silas said.
He had already reached her, stopping less than a meter away.
Zoe’s tears finally rolled down her cheeks—tears of overwhelming joy from their long-awaited reunion.
Suddenly, she threw aside her art supplies and books, and threw herself into Silas’s arms.
She hugged his waist tightly, burying her face in his chest as her shoulders shook violently.
“Bad Boy…
Bad Boy…” she called out over and over, her voice choking with sobs.
Just as Silas was about to speak, her pale little fists began pummeling his chest.
The blows were light but rapid, as if she were venting all her three years of grievances, waiting, and disappointment.
“Where did you go?
Why are you only coming back now?
Why…
why wasn’t there a single word from you?” she cried as she hit him, her words breaking between sobs.
Silas’s heart ached fiercely at the sound of her crying.
He wrapped one arm tightly around her waist and used the other to gently stroke the top of her head, just like they used to embrace three years ago.
“I’m sorry, Sprout, I’m sorry…” he repeated over and over, knowing full well it wasn’t nearly enough.
“Three years ago, I had an extreme emergency to handle and had to leave.
I didn’t ignore you on purpose, I really didn’t…”
Lena Cole, Zoe’s classmate and best friend, was utterly dumbfounded by the sudden scene.
She and Zoe had been classmates since middle school.
In all the years she had known her, Lena had never seen Zoe lose her composure like this, let alone be so intimate with a man.
Taking a step forward, she tried to pull Zoe away.
“Zoe, are you okay?
Who is this…”
With quick reflexes, Ryan pulled Lena aside.
“Hey!
They haven’t seen each other in three years.”
Lena frowned, sizing up the three suited men before her.
“Who are you people?” she asked warily.
“And who is that guy?
Why is he hugging Zoe?”
Sean smiled.
“That is our Mr.
Sutton, Miss Quinn’s…
old friend.
Can’t you tell?
They’re lovers reuniting.”
“Lovers?” Lena’s mouth twitched before a sudden realization hit her.
“Wait, is he the one Zoe used to talk about…
the boyfriend who vanished without a trace?”
Ryan nodded.
“The very same.
And now he’s back.”
Lena’s expression grew complicated, and she blurted out, “He disappeared for three years and suddenly comes back now?
Zoe is getting married next week!
What, did he rush back just to give a wedding gift?”
“What nonsense are you spouting?” Ryan panicked.
He shot a nervous glance at Silas and hurriedly dragged Lena further away.
Lena hadn’t spoken loudly, but her words drifted perfectly into Silas’s ears.
His body went rigid, and the arms holding Zoe subconsciously tightened.
“Getting married?” He looked down at the woman in his arms, his eyes brimming with disbelief.
“Sprout, is what she said true?
You’re getting married?”
Zoe’s emotional sobs gradually subsided.
She lifted her head from Silas’s chest, looking up at him with tear-blurred eyes.
Sniffling, she gently pushed out of his embrace and took a small step back.
That single motion left Silas’s heart feeling hollow.
“It’s true.” Zoe wiped her tears, trying her best to steady her voice.
“Bad Boy, I’m getting married next weekend, on the twenty-sixth.”
Such a definitive answer felt like a basin of ice water pouring over Silas’s head, freezing the blood in his veins.
He had envisioned countless reunion scenarios.
He even imagined she might be furious, that she would hit him and curse at him.
But he had never, ever imagined this—that his Sprout was going to marry someone else.
“No…
impossible…” he stammered, shaking his head in a daze.
“You’re lying to me, aren’t you?
You’re just trying to make me mad, to punish me for not contacting you these past three years…”
Zoe looked at him, her eyes steeped in bitterness.
“Why would I lie to you?
Bad Boy, look at me.
I’m not that high schooler from three years ago anymore.
I’m a junior in college now, about to turn twenty-one.
Three years is enough time to change a lot of things.”