A Toast To A Love That Never Was Chapter 18
On the other end, Melanie was blissfully unaware of Dustin’s plans.
Holding their wedding back in Captorn was a suggestion made by Zachary’s father, Lawrence Carter. Lawrence had migrated overseas, but Zachary’s grandparents were still living in their home country, Wystoria.
It had been a while since Zachary last saw his grandparents. And as both Melanie’s and his
friends all resided in Wystoria, they ultimately decided to hold their wedding there.
Wedding preparations were extremely troublesome and time–consuming. The wedding date had been set in a rush. In the meantime, there were a lot of things Zachary and Melanie needed to get done. Melanie had so much on her plate that she didn’t have any time to think about Dustin or anything else.
Much to her surprise, she might have forgotten about Dustin, but the latter hadn’t forgotten about her. In fact, he even showed up right in front of her.
When he approached her at the entrance to a bathroom once again, Melanie felt exasperated.
She’d never gone out without Zachary until today. She couldn’t believe that Dustin jumped at the opportunity to approach her the minute she was alone. So, for the remainder of her time at Captorn, she decided not to head outside on her own unless it was absolutely necessary.
“Can I help you?” she asked after a moment of silence.
Dustin didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he was simply staring at her with a longing expression on his face.
He was staring at her in such a fixated manner that she couldn’t help but frown. She was just about to say something when she saw him raise his hand. Then, before she knew it, she had blacked out.
When she regained consciousness, she found herself in a familiar room. She sat up groggily.
Afterward, she instinctively reached for her phone, only to find that it wasn’t there. Before she could figure out what was going on, she heard a knock on the door.
She didn’t say a word, but the person on the other side didn’t seem like they were planning on waiting for her to respond. After knocking, they opened the door and entered the room.
When she saw Dustin walk in, she didn’t feel surprised at all.
“Do you want some food, Mel?”
Noticing that she’d woken up, Dustin didn’t bring up the fact that she hadn’t answered him earlier. Instead, he smiled tenderly at her and placed the food he’d brought in on the table next to him.
“I had a feeling you were going to be awake. Since you haven’t had anything to eat for such a long time, I figured that you must be hungry. So, I brought you something to eat.”
Melanie shot him a couple of glances, not expecting him to do something like this.
He was right–she was feeling slightly hungry. Hence, she didn’t argue with him and immediately started to eat.
Dustin didn’t think that she’d be so compliant. When she started to eat without saying a single word, he froze. A brief moment later, he broke into a smile once again.
“I see that you’re settling in quite well. I guess the time I spent gathering your old belongings and recreating your old room was worth the effort,” he said.
Upon hearing this, she froze. Once she scanned her surroundings, she realized that she was in the same room she’d stayed in three years ago, and she felt extremely emotional.
After a moment of silence, she turned to look at him and asked, “Why?”
Why was he doing all of this? Why did he bring her here? Why did he put so much effort into turning the room back to its original appearance?
Dustin, who was seated a small distance away from her, was still smiling.
When he heard her question, he instinctively pursed his lips. A while later, he took out the ring box he always carried around with him.
“Because I like you, Mel,” he replied. “I can’t just let you walk away from me like this.”
Then, he removed the ring from the box and pushed it toward her.
In a soft yet tender voice, he continued, “Please don’t marry him, Mel. When I was at rock bottom, you were the only one who stayed by my side, no matter what. You were the one who encouraged me to get better.
“I used to think that I didn’t care about you. But after you left, I realized that I can’t live without you. So, please don’t leave me, Mel. Please don’t cast me aside…”
By the time he finished talking, he looked slightly anxious.
Melanie had never thought that she’d be able to see Dustin look so uneasy before. Despite her surprise, she furrowed her brows ever so slightly at what he’d just said.
He liked her. Why was he only confessing his feelings now?
She believed that it was impossible to hide your affection for someone. Even if you weren’t aware of your feelings, you’d still instinctively care for them and look out for them.
