Perhaps this was fate. Just like that phone call on the night of the thank-you banquet all those years ago. A missed connection meant it wasn''t meant to be.


    Noreen sighed softly and was about to put her phone away when it rang again. It was Seth, calling her back.


    This time, Noreen was caught off guard. She hadn''t expected him to call back so quickly; he must have hit redial the second the call dropped.


    She answered but didn''t know what to say. The man on the other end was silent too. His heavy breathing, uneven and rushed, traveled through the receiver.


    "Let''s meet," Noreen finally said, breaking the silence.


    A couple of seconds passed before Seth replied, "Okay." Then he asked, "Where?"


    "I''m outside your house. Juste out."


    Seth''s grip on his phone tightened. The line was already dead.


    He came out wearing only a dress shirt. He didn''t even think to go back for a jacket as he pushed open the courtyard gate and walked out.


    Noreen was standing about fifty yards from the gate, under a streetlight. The warm, yellow glow stretched her shadow long across the pavement.


    Seth stopped five yards away from her. The entire scene felt as unreal as a dream. He had never imagined a day like this woulde, a day he could stand before her in the open. After their parting five years ago, he had thought there would be no future for them.


    Their eyes met. Neither of them spoke.


    In her eyes, Seth saw only one thing: peace. The kind of profound tranquility thates after enduring too much.


    It was Noreen who finally broke the silence.


    Her voice was cold in the wind.


    "Stop doing these meaningless things." She was referring to the shelled crab meat, and to the time he had prostrated himself in the rain, step by step to pray for for a blessing, for her.


    She had made low-cost gestures of devotion before, too. In the end, they had only moved her, and no one else.


    Seth''s throat was dry; he couldn''t make a sound.


    "You should know that I''m engaged," Noreen continued. "You know him, it''s Castle."


    "I have my own life now, my own circle of friends. My days are full, and I''m content."


    In short, she hadpletely erased Seth from her world.


    Every word, every syble, was like a fine needle piercing the most vulnerable parts


    of his heart. They were only a few yards apart, but she felt a world away.


    "Since you''re out and unharmed, you should live your own life,” Noreen said, ncing toward the Harcourt estate. Mr. Harcourt is getting older. You should take the weight off his shoulders and let him enjoy his fater years."


    "And... I won''t being here anymore. Please apologize to Evelyn and Mr. Harcourt for me."


    Noreen had said everything she needed to say. This was a final, clean break.


    ?


    Seth felt as if someone had just stabbed him in the chest, repeatedly, until his heart was torn to shreds. He was in too much pain to speak, unable to move for a long moment.


    A cold gust of wind blew past, and Noreen looked away. It was time for her to go.


    Just as she turned, Seth called out urgently, "Noreen.”


    He said her name.


    Noreen paused and looked at him again. Her gaze drifted from his eyes to the faint


    scar above his brow. For a moment, her expression was nk.


    "Did you... ever love me?" Seth asked, the words tearing from his throat.