My Love Until the Last Goodbye by Alut

Chapter 0679

Peter left the bedroom and headed to his study, where he’d been spending most of his time lately. He pretended to have a lot of work to avoid being around Celeste too much. Being with her only made him feel guilty.

He had to admit it–he’d made a reckless decision. In a moment of irresponsibility, he’d dragged Celeste into a situation she wasn’t even aware of.

A month earlier, he had secretly gone to Valentia to see Mary. That meeting made it painfully clear that he hadn’t forgotten her, and worse, he realized that she hadn’t forgotten him either. Yet he couldn’t be entirely sure–Mary wasn’t in a good place. She was struggling with postpartum depression, a cloud that could easily distort her thoughts. The woman he had spoken to needed help and might cling to anything, or anyone, within reach.

Peter sat back in his oversized chair and opened his computer. He logged into his cloud account and scrolled through the hundreds of photos he used to share with Mary These were from when they were both young–nights out with friends, performances at the bar where she worked, Mary with her pink hair, bar parties. As he scrolled, one photo caught his attention.

He opened it in full screen to get a closer look. It was a group photo of all the bar staff, including the owner. In the picture were Mary, Aurora, and even himself. But in the far corner, barely noticeable, was a familiar face.

“Celeste?” Peter said aloud.

He zoomed in, and sure enough, it was Celeste. Her face was youthful, almost childlike. She wore her hair tied back in a slightly messy ponytail, her figure thin and frail. She looked so small, clearly not even of legal age.

“What was she doing there?” Peter wondered.

The realization hit him hard. As memories began to flood back, he felt a pang of regret. He had always taken care of Celeste out of gratitude, but seeing Mary again had gradually dulled the interest he once felt for the young woman now living with him. He had deliberately avoided asking too many questions about her past, but fate had just delivered a brutal wake–up call.

She had been there all along. The two women in his life had met each other years ago. It suddenly made sense- why Celeste prepared the same coffee Mary loved. At some point in their lives, they had crossed paths.

As his thoughts swirled, Peter recalled the night he saw Mary in the hospital.

[Hospital in Valentia, one month earlier]

road in his son’s car. The rush exhilarated

seeing Mary again made him forget

slipped on a doctor’s coat and a

gave

“Mrs. Bartz” She was asleep when he entered. Quietly, he sat down and watched her, admiring

opened her eyes. She recognized him immediately. Her eyes filled with tears, unable to

you doing here?”

to see you. I heard you weren’t

staring up at the ceiling light.

everything going on, that’s an understatement.”

BONUS

Chapter 0670

you had two beautiful babies–a

told you that?”

forced it out of him. He didn’t

what’s best for me.”

mean

you? Why did you come?”

I was worried when heard you were back in the same place as before. I feel guilty, Mary. I should’ve taken you to all those therapy sessions. We never should’ve stopped

we did… and look at me

back up. I spoke with Dr. Hill. She’s agreed to