I Loved Him Until He Was Too Late

I Loved Him Until He Was Too Late

Author: Patricia Johnston

Chapter 4: The Gift He Refused

On Christmas Eve, I finally worked up the courage to give him a gift. I waited outside the library, hands shaking, and handed it over. “It’s nothing fancy. Just… Merry Christmas.”

My breath fogged in the cold air. I’d wrapped the little box in red paper, tying it with a gold ribbon. It felt like I was handing him my heart, wrapped up and hopeful. My stomach twisted as I waited for his reaction. He looked at the gift, turning it over in his hands, conflicted. “Sorry, Mia. I can’t take it.”

I felt my heart drop. He wasn’t just turning down the gift—he was turning down my feelings.

The silence was brutal.

I tried to smile, but my cheeks felt numb. For a second, I thought about laughing it off, but I couldn’t find the words. Then Caleb appeared, swooping in to save me from embarrassment. “If he doesn’t want it, I’ll take it!”

Ethan’s jaw clenched, but he walked away. Caleb handed the gift back to me, soft and kind. I shot him a grateful look. “His loss, Mia. Let’s get you home.”

Caleb draped his arm around my shoulders as we walked, cracking jokes to distract me. I knew he was trying to make me feel better, and I was grateful.

Even if my heart ached the whole way back.

After that, I lost the nerve to chase Ethan. A month later, on my birthday, a tiny box showed up in my mailbox—a delicate origami lily, hand-folded. Ethan must’ve seen my Instagram post about loving lilies. I didn’t know what to think. If he didn’t like me, why remember my birthday? If he did, why turn me down? It made no sense.

I stared at the little flower for ages, turning it over in my hands, searching for answers that never came.

A bittersweet reminder of everything I couldn’t have.

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