Chapter 14

Dylan walked out of the art studio in Ivalis, his friend beside him showing him some gossip about Violet on his phone. “Dylan, check this out.”

With his art supplies in hand, Dylan barely glanced at the screen and let out a casual, “Oh.”

“Is that all you’ve got?” His friend gave him a confused look.

Dylan simply shrugged. “What did you expect me to say?”

Everyone in their small circle knew Dylan’s story. Violet had created quite a drama back then, getting into an accident for love and marrying someone else. They knew what Dylan had done, too, but their reactions were totally different from how people reacted around Violet. Violet never appreciated Dylan for the good guy he was and kept bothering Archer, who was already married. She had no shame at all.

“If I were you, I would’ve slapped her by now!” Dylan’s friend exclaimed, throwing his arms up in exaggerated frustration.

Dylan chuckled. Ever since he moved abroad, he’d tuned out everything happening back home.

Dylan was wrapping up his last painting in the calm of the night when a loud, jarring ringtone broke the silence. It was a call from his classmate who had just returned to the country. He picked up the phone, and an excited voice shot through. “Dylan! Dylan, you’ve got to hear this! Violet’s gone mad!”

Dylan frowned, puzzled. He then discovered that after he divorced Violet and left the country, Archer had returned to Marion with Holly. Since then, Violet had sunk into a deep slump, wasting away and drowning her sorrows at home. Back in the day, Dylan would’ve been ready with a hangover remedy before she even had to ask.

Now that he wasn’t around to look out for her, the memories of how sweet Dylan had been to her began to gnaw at her. And all the talk about how great he used to be just fueled her drive to find him.

Unfortunately, Dylan didn’t end up going to the country Mandy had planned for him. Violet had no idea where he could be. Her desperation to find him caused her to neglect Paleoup. She even went after everyone who had hurt Dylan in the past, taking them down one by one. She even forced Valeile, who had never liked Dylan, to Altoria. She wouldn’t be doing any of this if she hadn’t lost her mind.

From the time he kicked off his repayments to the Paddens, he viewed his relationship with Violet as nothing but an obligation. All he cared about was getting the repayment done quickly and leaving. On the day he headed abroad, he intended to go to the country Mandy had chosen, but after giving it some thought, he changed his mind as soon as he landed and booked a new flight to Ivalis. Since then, Dylan had immersed himself in his career, completely ignoring Violet’s life.

When he heard she was trying to find him, all he could think about was that love that came too late didn’t mean a thing. Plus, he didn’t really love her. So why would her regrets matter to him?

Like always, Dylan picked up his drawing board and made his way to the art studio. He stepped outside and noticed his buddy, Nigel Walker, waiting for him. Dylan grabbed the bread from Nigel and handed him the gift he had ready for Nigel’s birthday. They laughed and chatted as they headed to the art studio.

When they arrived, they found out that today’s class was canceled since a famous artist was giving a lecture at their college. So, they packed up their drawing boards and headed to the campus instead.

The lecture hall was jam-packed. Dylan and Nigel fought their way through the crowd and managed to snag the last two seats in the back.

The sound of knocking broke through the chatter, and everyone hushed. When the guest speaker finally walked in, everyone was spellbound. The guy was just captivating. They’d seen plenty of attractive people in the art world, but no one held a candle to the stunning figure standing before them now.

Dylan gasped when he got a good look at the guy. He recognized this person.

“It’s been a while, Dylan.”