Ex-husband's Sweet Trap novel Chapter 45

She had taken a deliberate look around the parking lot before she came up just now, and Declan's car wasn't parked there, but it turns out he was waiting for her.

"I see. Thank you, Linda."

No matter who she was, Linda's attitude toward her had not changed.

"You're welcome."

Linda turned around and walked out of the office with a smile.

She should have gone downstairs to meet Declan right now, but when she glanced at the office next to her, she felt a little reluctant.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, the blinds in the other office were pulled down, blocking her view.

Luz breathed a sigh of relief and stood up from the chair. She went downstairs quickly, but unbeknownst to her, the man in the office beside hers was stood in front of the windows, glaring down coldly. The anger in his eyes clearly showed his displeasure.

Downstairs, Declan wasn't driving. He hadn't slept a wink the entire night last night. His eyes were red, and he was dishevelled. 

"Declan, you're looking for me?"

Luz found it hard to meet his eyes when she stood in front of him. Not only because of her rejection a few days ago, but also because of her past history with Henry.

"Why, why didn't you tell me that the person you married before was Henry?"

Declan's tone was full of hurt and anxiety. He grabbed her shoulders and interrogated her frantically. Even though he already had his guesses before, he was still hopeful that it might just be an illusion. Luz did not know Henry Maynard. He wasn't the kind to have a business marriage either.

However, yesterday's press conference completely dashed his hopes. Luz had married Henry eight years ago!

"Luz, tell me, why did you marry Henry?"

He had had a crush on Luz since they were children. He had planned to confess his feelings to her in college, but then he didn't because he thought she was still young and he could still wait until she graduated. When he finally mustered up the courage to meet her parents, they told her that she had already married.

He didn't even know when she got married, nor did he know who she married.

He had been sad for a long time. It was not until the big fire at the Boone family mansion that took the lives of the two elderly Boones that he came out of that depression, only for Luz to disappear from North City soon after.

When he found her again, she was already divorced and roughing it aboard as a single mother with a child.

There were countless times when he wanted to ask who the child's father was and who was the man who abandoned her, but he never did, because he didn't want to reopen her closed wounds. He was also confident in his abilities to woo her back.

Even if she was married before, even if she still loved her ex, it didn't matter because she was divorced. He was confident that he could make her forget about her unhappy past and the man that contributed to her suffering.

But he never expected that man to be Henry Maynard.

He was the one man who could hamper his confidence.

Luz didn't want to answer such a question, but the hand on her shoulder was very tight, forcing her to give an answer.

Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly because of the pain. "Because of love, because I fell in love with Henry, that's why I married him."

She fell in love with Henry at that party ten years ago, so she had been secretly paying attention to him. Later, she even took the initiative to propose a business marriage with the Maynard Family to her father because she wanted to marry the man she loved.

Because she was stupid enough to think that the man she loved would also love her. She believed that she would get her happy ending, even if it took them some time to get there.

But reality crushed her fantasy-filled heart.

Henry Maynard would never give a second glance to a woman he did not love, not even if she loved him to the grave.

Declan was very upset when he heard her say the word "love". She admitted that she loved Henry!

"Declan, I'm sorry. It's not that I hid my past from you, it's just that I thought time would make these feelings fade away, until somw people became strangers."

"What about now?"

Declan knew that there was more to her sentence. He knew that the rest of that sentence would hurt him, but still he asked her to continue.

"Now, I realized that time does not fade anything. Some people are like seeds in your heart. They will grow as long as there is warmth and moisture, and they'll be there until you die."

Just like Henry, she still couldn't forget him even after seven years. Every time she saw him, she would still lose control of her heart rate.

Declan's hand on her shoulder fell off weakly. He seemed to have lost all strength in his body as he lowered his head, lips trembling.

"Luz, you are so cruel to me."

"You know I couldn't let you lose all hope."

A pained voice slipped out of his trembling lips. He scoffed derisively at himself. She had already said what she needed to say. There's nothing more he could do. He couldn't bring himself to hurt her, no matter how much he wanted to pull out that seed in her heart. He could only watch as it grew into a full garden. 

Without any space for him.

"I'm sorry."

Apart from saying sorry, Luz really didn't know what else to say. She was destined to hurt Declan. She only hoped that after today, he could understand that she could never give him the happiness he wanted.

Declan raised his head. His eyes were much redder than before. There seemed to be tears in his eyes, but they did not fall down. "Don't say sorry to me. I fell in love with you. It has nothing to do with you."

He had fallen in love with a girl named Luz Boone a long time ago.

He knew that she was married, but he still couldn't forget her even though she already had a child.

He had been standing by her silently, supporting her, stubbornly hoping that she would see him.

He did not respond to his feelings, nor did he make a promise. Everything was his own choice.

Luz would rather Declan got mad at her than to hear such words, because he made her feel even more uncomfortable and guilty.

"Declan, we'll just be strangers in the future."

She couldn't hurt Declan anymore, nor could she be selfish enough to keep him as a friend. Perhaps only when she cut him off cleanly could he find happiness that belonged to him.

"Luz, you know how love is. Tell me, could you treat Henry as a stranger?"

The corners of Declan's lips curled into a bitter smile. Even if he was hypnotized himself every day, he still couldn't stop himself from loving her. How could he treat her like a stranger?

Her face turned pale at the question and bit her lips. She really couldn't treat Henry as a stranger.

"Don't worry. Since you don't want to see me, I won't show up in front of you again." This was the way he loved her.

Luz was stunned and didn't know how to comfort him. She could only let Declan leave with heavy steps. She looked down at her shadow and couldn't help but smile bitterly.