Loved You Once But He's My Forever

Chapter 461 Let's End Here

I had finally returned to my hometown. The trip to Jaford hadn't taken long-barely a month.

A lot had happened in that time. When I got back to Snowville, it felt like a completely different world.

Snowville had just transitioned from the long winter into the warmth of spring. The streets were lined with cherry blossoms, their vibrant pink petals in full bloom. As the wind blew, the petals danced through the air, creating a soft, romantic atmosphere in the city. Carter was driving, slowing the car as I rolled down the window to soak in the gentle sunlight. It felt like the sadness and bloodshed I'd experienced were being washed away by the cherry blossoms' soft rain.

Carter had come with me to the Sander residence, where the Sanders had arrived a day before. When I got there, Whitney was sitting under the swing in the yard, deep in thought.

The house had been renovated, but the main structure was still the same. I walked up behind Whitney and asked, "Do you remember this place?"

She nodded. "I don't recall much from before I was three, but I remember this yard. You used to push me on the swing, and our brothers would fly kites with me. Jake was always so naughty, climbing the cherry tree to shower me with petals. One time, the branch broke, and he fell. He had to wear a cast for three months."

Whitney smiled through her tears. "These memories have kept me going. I wanted to hold on to them, but as time passed, I started forgetting.

"I couldn't even remember your faces anymore. The only thing that stayed with me was this yard, the swing, and the tree. They appeared in my dreams countless times. Now that I'm back, it feels like those 20 years were just a dream."

I pulled her onto the swing. "Let me push you again."

"Okay."

The sky was clear, and the spring breeze gently brushed through Whitney's hair. Still, the sadness in her eyes remained, and her white skirt fluttered in the wind, reminiscent of when she was a carefree child. But that child would never return.

I came back to say my final goodbye to Grandma. Since the Sanders were worried about Dominic finding out, they didn't have a funeral for her. Instead, they quietly moved her to the family tomb.

When they heard I was coming, the Sanders prepared a big dinner. It was also the first time I returned as Chloe since my rebirth.

I went back to my room, which held so many memories of Luke and me.

The room felt unchanged, as if frozen in the moment when I loved Luke the most. Our photo sat on the desk, from a time when I was young and smiling beside him.

for the things about him I'd left behind, I might not have realized how deeply I cared for him back

more composed than she had on the island, but I could tell she could never go back to

glanced at me cautiously. "Chloe, your dad and I talked. We've

"Really? Are you sure you want to let it

still have some savings, the profits from the Sander Group are decent. Selling it will give us enough money

not forcing him. He can do whatever he chooses. Your dad and I bought a piece of land in the countryside. We plan to retire there as a simple couple. The doctor says your dad can get a prosthetic for his leg,

she wants to join us in the countryside or chase her dreams, we'll support her. With you in

alive. But the one thing I wasn't ready to part with was

Grandma's life's work,"

were as kids. You were naughty but so full of

wrapped her arms around her.

and I glanced at

I prepared

of fulfilling a

apart," I replied. "There's no

at my sleeve, her voice soft. "Chloe, it's just one meal. Dad and Mom will

things harder for her, I gave

at the empty chairs. A mix of

absence of Grandma and others who had passed was

all

With her eyes

more subdued than

empty plate and shrimp on Jake's as if they were still sitting there. She hadn't forgotten their

crying, but I didn't push the food away. "Chloe, it's been so long since

plate and

didn't refuse, she served a piece to

you to take care