Chapter 214
\nThree Years Later, He Came Back Begging novel Chapter 214<\/p>\n
There was something about the way Aiken said \u201clet me in\u201d that made Bonnie feel oddly unsettled. He put extra emphasis on the words, and paired with that teasing smile at the corner of his mouth, it felt almost like he was messing with her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of gift did you get?\u201d she asked, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear.<\/p>\n
Aiken\u2019s smile lingered. \u201cAre you already thinking about how to return the favor? Relax, it\u2019s just a little present. Nothing fancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cI actually made it myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bonnie looked at him in genuine surprise. \u201cYou know how to make things by hand?\u201d<\/p>\n
Aiken just smiled, keeping the secret. No matter how many questions Bonnie threw at him, he refused to spill what the gift was. Eventually, she gave up, though he had definitely managed to get her curious. Now she couldn\u2019t help looking forward to it.<\/p>\n
By the time they reached her apartment building, the snow had started to fall much harder. Just as they arrived, Aiken got a call from the station. He needed to head back\u2014extreme weather always meant extra work for them.<\/p>\n
Bonnie didn’t let him walk her upstairs. She headed home by herself. It was already late, so she got cleaned up, did a quick review for class, and was about to crawl into bed when she saw the snow outside had turned into a real blizzard.<\/p>\n
White flakes danced and swirled outside her window, whipped into a frenzy by the piercing north wind. The ground was already hidden under a fresh coat of snow, clean and soft, quietly covering up all the dirt and mess from the world outside.<\/p>\n
She curled up on the bay window, sitting on her long, fuzzy rug, and watched the snow quietly before bed. The silence made everything feel peaceful.<\/p>\n
She thought for sure the snow would be done by morning, but, surprisingly, it just kept drifting down on and off, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, all the way until the eighth.<\/p>\n
That morning, Bonnie let herself lounge in bed for a change. She stayed snuggled under the covers, messaging Helen. Helen had already bought her a birthday gift in advance, but still sent over a birthday text first thing.<\/p>\n
Bonnie couldn’t say for sure. With Hannah\u2019s personality, Bonnie figured there was no way she\u2019d admit to anything, not even in her worst nightmares. If Lawrence had said anything publicly, he probably had his parents\u2019 backing.<\/p>\n
Images of Lawrence\u2019s parents flashed through her mind. Carl was always busy, running the whole company. He had this quiet authority about him, never needing to raise his voice.<\/p>\n
Still, Carl was a good man, devoted to his wife and kids. He was serious, but not overbearing. Sometimes, when Lawrence tried to reason things out with her, it reminded her a little of Carl.<\/p>\n
Her own father was nothing like him. He was old-fashioned, stubborn, the type who wouldn\u2019t explain a thing but still expected you to listen to every word.<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t know Carl well. She knew Odette a bit better. Odette was a great leader, a great teacher, and a wonderful mom. Bonnie had never seen her get mad, not even with students or her own children. Odette was always gentle, easy to talk to.<\/p>\n
Back in her days at The Cabinda School, nobody had a bad word to say about her. She was always fair and unbiased. Three years ago, after the incident with Bonnie, it was Hannah who wrote that article that sent gossip into overdrive online. Afterward, Odette made her delete it, and even came over herself to apologize in person.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-882","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kampoengnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/882","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=882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}