Noticing that she was awake, Sophia asked if it was time to head back.

Noreen thought for a moment. “Take me to Southlake. I just want to sit by the water for a minute.”

“Right away.”

Sophia wasn’t surprised.

It was one of Noreen’s regular sanctuaries.

She expertly navigated the car into the surface parking lot near the entrance.

Noreen stepped out alone, telling Sophia to wait in the car and that she’d be back shortly.

Autumn in Rivercrest City was beautiful. It lacked the restless energy of spring, the oppressive heat of summer, and the bitter bite of winter.

The crisp autumn breeze was perfect for sweeping away chaotic thoughts.

Noreen strolled quietly along the embankment, letting the cool air strip away the final, lingering traces of her buzz.

By the time she stopped walking, she suddenly realized she had unconsciously gravitated to the exact spot where she had thrown the ring away all those years ago.

She had convinced herself that, with so much time having passed, she had long forgotten the agony of that night.

Yet standing here, surrounded by the same shadows and the same rippling water, the memories came rushing back with suffocating clarity.

Acting on instinct, she wandered down the stone steps until she reached the water’s edge.

She crouched down, reaching out to graze the surface of the lake.

The autumn water was biting, sending a sharp, icy shock racing up her fingertips. Noreen quickly pulled her hand back.

Just as she was about to stand, the water barely three feet away from her olently erupted as a figure breached the surface.

The sudden, explosive splash sent her stumbling backward in shock.

If it hadn’t been for the bright glow of the streetlamps illuminating the scene, she would have undoubtedly screamed.

But as she fought to steady her racing heart, her eyes locked onto an undeniably familiar face.

Caught entirely off guard, their eyes met. Both of them froze.

Seth stared at her, utterly paralyzed. The dead, stagnant waters of his heart suddenly churned wildly, violent ripples of emotion crashing against his ribs.

But in the very next heartbeat, Claire’s vicious warning echoed in his mind.

[I want you to vanish from her world. Forever, forever, forever!]

The man’s face hovered above the dark water, heavy droplets sliding from his saturated hair.

Everything below his chest was completely submerged in the freezing lake.

Yet he stared at Noreen as if none of

edat

it mattered, his predatory gaze

completely fixed on her. Finally, he

spoke, his voice were coming.

a slow, raspy draw!.

didnt know you

What do we do now? Should you close your eyes and give me a minute to sink back to the bottom?”

Noreen’s brow knitted in sheer

dimitted in sheer

the hell are you

in a freezing lake

the middle of the night?

“Swimming,” Seth lied effortlessly.

Noreen stared at him, genuinely speechless, completely failing to comprehend the erratic workings of this man’s brain.

Who comes to a public lake for a midnight swim?

Was this the ‘true emergency’ that forced him to sprint away from the dinner party?

She stood up, casting one final glance at the dark, rippling water.

The biting cold of the lake still lingered on her fingertips.

Turning on her heel, she tossed a single, parting remark over her shoulder. “Try not to drown.”

Noreen walked away at a brisk, frantic pace, looking dangerously close to fleeing a crime scene.

Seth slowly pulled himself out of the

water, stepping onto the muddy bank. He muttered softly to the

empty night. She’s already gone,

huh?”

FindNovel.net

A chance encounter like this felt like a desperate, unearned reward.

But he knew these rewards were incredibly rare.

He had no idea how long it would be until the next one.

He simply sat alone on the cold bank, staring blankly as the disturbed water slowly

settled back into an undisturbed mirror.

It was as if nothing had ever happened.

As if his brief, desperate glimpse of her had been nothing more than a hallucination.

And the heart that had just been shocked back to life slowly, inevitably froze over again in the bitter autumn wind.

By the time Noreen arrived home, Rosalind Gilmore had already gone to bed.

Claire was still wide awake, curled up on the living room sofa, mindlessly scrolling on her phone.

“Didn’t your flight land at seven? Why are you back so late?”

“I had to go to a dinner.”

“A dinner doesn’t take four hours.”

“I stopped by Southlake on the way back to get some air and sober up.”

“Oh,” Claire murmured, shooting her a highly suspicious look. “Why do you look so spooked?”

Noreen poured herself a glass of water, taking several long gulps before she finally answered. “I ran into Seth at the lake.”