No More Waiting, She Chooses Love

Chapter 35



"Girl." The voice on the other end of the phone was thick, familiar, yet distant.

A familiar face flashed before my eyes, and I called out, "Dustin."

I had thought changing my number would keep the Wagner family at bay, but I never expected Conrad's brother Dustin to track me down. Even more surprising was his decision to reach out.

"Looks like you saved my number. Didn't forget about me," Dustin teased.

He was only a few years older than Conrad. Before he went abroad, he always looked out for me, fondly calling me "little girl."

I was at a loss for words, detecting a hint of complaint in his tone. We'd occasionally talk during the first two years after he left, asking about each other's lives. Gradually, those calls faded. Dustin was never one to initiate, maintaining sparse contact even with his family, let alone with me.

call must be about my broken engagement with Conrad. Despite Dustin's sporadic

number?" I'm straightforward by nature, preferring

me once to pay your phone bill." Dustin's memory impressed

too embarrassed to ask his parents for money, so I turned to Dustin. Concerned

he called,

that's right," he played

he was joking, but I followed his lead. "Then I'll transfer it to

"Felicia," Dustin interrupted.

my phone

silent. After a pause, Dustin continued pleasantly, "My parents are worried about you. They can't find you and are

hadn't anticipated how severe their reaction would be. Guilt and concern tightened my breath. "Is she

some high blood pressure because of all the

this question again.

massaged my temples, "Didn't you ask