Chapter 22
\nThree Years Later, He Came Back Begging novel Chapter 22<\/p>\n
Every single thing inside was a gift Lawrence had given Bonnie. Clothes, jewelry, bags, silly little gadgets. All those tokens of affection, plus the crafts they\u2019d made together and stacks of photos with just the two of them in the frame.<\/p>\n
Bonnie had simply tossed it all. She had thrown away every memory of them.<\/p>\n
With trembling hands, Lawrence picked up an old photo album, heavy with the past. The very first picture was of Bonnie at the edge of a bungee jump platform, eyes squeezed tight, looking absolutely terrified. It was her first time trying anything like that. She clung to his waist and flat out refused to let go, while he laughed and coaxed her. In the end, she did jump\u2014her scream echoing until her laughter took over. She ended up loving it and begged to go again.<\/p>\n
He kept flipping through the pages. Bonnie eating, staring off into space, reading, napping. Bonnie grinning, Bonnie pouting, Bonnie rolling her eyes at him. Photos of the two of them together\u2014Lawrence sneaking kisses, kissing her boldly for the camera, even lifting her onto his shoulders, both of them laughing.<\/p>\n
He found the shot of Bonnie\u2019s first swim. She crouched by the pool\u2019s edge in a simple swimsuit, nose crinkled in a cheeky smile just for him. There was one from that winter it snowed, when she lobbed a snowball at him, her eyes shining with laughter. In the library, Lawrence had managed to snap a secret photo of her, Bonnie pressing a finger to her lips and giving him an exasperated glare.<\/p>\n
There were wild, ridiculous memories. A kiss mid-skydive with the world spread out beneath them. In the ocean, surrounded by swarms of fish, Bonnie giggling while some underwater photographer made them pose with their hands in a clumsy little heart. One time on a cliff, he\u2019d caught a totally unflattering picture of Bonnie crying in fright just before she lost her nerve.<\/p>\n
He remembered when she just learned to drive and insisted on trying out his Koenigsegg One:1\u2014a hypercar so rare they only made six worldwide. Lawrence hadn\u2019t minded letting her, but he\u2019d gotten overly detailed about every little thing. Bonnie got annoyed and kicked him out of the car. But he\u2019d snapped a picture from outside the window\u2014Bonnie beaming from the driver\u2019s seat, nothing like the cool, distant version of herself everyone else saw. In that moment, she looked sunshine-bright, free, and fearless. She flashed a thumbs-up just for him.<\/p>\n
Later, Lawrence offered her the car as a gift. Bonnie just laughed and said she didn\u2019t want it\u2014she wanted Lawrence to be her chauffeur for life.<\/p>\n
Every photo felt like a blade cutting into Lawrence, his heart raw and aching with loss.<\/p>\n
When dinner was done, Hannah made a show of calling Lawrence right in front of her friends. She dialed a few times but got no answer. Putting on her best helpless smile, she turned to Nana and the others. \u201cHe probably got caught up at work again. Lawrence has been swamped since he took over the company, and there\u2019s still all that stuff with the US office. If I\u2019d known he\u2019d be this busy, I would\u2019ve just told the family driver to wait for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hannah thought about Bonnie. They\u2019d bumped into each other twice not long after she returned. Cabinda wasn\u2019t exactly big, but it wasn\u2019t tiny either. The kind of city where if fate wanted you to cross paths, you\u2019d keep running into the same people.<\/p>\n
Frankly, Hannah and Bonnie didn\u2019t actually have any kind of special connection. They only knew each other because of Lawrence. If anything, it was Lawrence and Bonnie who were tangled together in ways she couldn\u2019t untie.<\/p>\n
Back in high school, Lawrence had been the top senior, Bonnie the superstar freshman. That year, Hannah\u2019s mom, Odette, was principal of The Cabinda School. One night at dinner, she\u2019d talked about the incoming students, especially the girl who\u2019d spoken on stage\u2014Bonnie, daughter of the beloved teacher Shirley.<\/p>\n
Bonnie was that rare kind of student who\u2019d never ranked second in her life. Piano, violin, painting, dancing\u2014she did it all, and with the kind of beauty that made people stare. When she was little, a talent scout had even wanted her to act in movies. But Bonnie\u2019s mom wouldn\u2019t let her. She thought show business was too messy for a girl, and said Bonnie should focus on school if she wanted a real future.<\/p>\n
Odette always said the kid had poise and principles and was destined for great things. At the time, Hannah hadn\u2019t thought much of it. Cabinda School was packed with talented students, and her mom worked in education\u2014she was always talking about her favorites anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-690","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kampoengnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kampoengnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kampoengnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kampoengnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}