She Begged for Me Back After I Left novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Nothing Left to Take

The recording kept playing, and nobody in the hall moved to stop it.

"I had a groundskeeper for two years," Dalton's voice said from the speakers. "A driver for two more. Then Nolan. The third."

A woman near the front put her napkin over her mouth.

On the floor, Dalton clawed at the marble.

"Turn it off," he said. "Turn it off! It's a fake, it's a fabrication, it's..."

"You can't eat," Camille said.

Her voice was clear and steady, and it went across the hall without a microphone.

She had risen from the table.

I rose with her, and she did not let go of my hand.

"Fifteen years," she said. "I never saw you swallow. I told myself you were delicate."

"Cam..."

"Say my name again, and tell the room what I was to you."

His lips parted.

For one long moment I saw him weigh it, and I watched him decide that the truth would cost him less than the lie.

"Your first fiancé," Dalton said hoarsely. "Six years ago, in a garden. I was the host before Nolan."

A shock went through the room.

"And you have forgotten me." His eyes were wild now. "Every one of you. Every person in this hall. I was a man, and you forgot me. So don't tell me I'm a liar. I'm the only one who remembers."

"I don't know you," Camille said.

"You did."

"I don't know you."

The panel in my eye changed.

A third line opened under the sisters' two bars, one I had never seen filled.

"Host-class signature Reeve, D.," the System said. "Reserve: exhausted."

Dalton's face went slack.

He looked down at his own hand on the marble.

I watched the fingers go thin, and then clear.

He gave a thin, high cry and tried to push himself up.

"Alana!" he shouted. "Alana, where are you? You were always the soft one, Alana, come out, come here and hold me!"

← Chapter 21 · All chapters · Chapter 23 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend