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Novel Catalog
Chapter 63
Gary’s mind was in turmoil as he stood frozen, watching Nicole walk away with an expression that he couldn’t quite interpret.
The smile she had given him—brief and beautiful—lingered in his memory, but it had faded so quickly, replaced by a cool indifference that cut through him more deeply than he expected.
His heart raced with a mixture of confusion and frustration.
He had tried, hadn’t he? To offer his help, to show that he cared, but all he had received in return was rejection, and now this strange, cold smile.
He wanted to scream at himself for being so easily caught up in her, but there was nothing he could do.
He had put himself out there, and she had turned away, making it clear that he was no one to her.
As Nicole disappeared down the hallway, Gary’s thoughts grew even more muddled.
He had no idea why her words, or the way she carried herself, affected him so much.
He had always prided himself on being in control of his emotions.
But Nicole’s indifference shattered that control, and for a moment, he wondered what he had done wrong.
Had he overstepped? Was he simply a fool for thinking that he could change anything about her? His heart pounded in his chest as he stood there, feeling as if he had just lost something precious, though he couldn’t quite figure out what it was.
Raine, watching from a distance, allowed herself a small, victorious smirk as she saw the aftermath of the confrontation.
She had seen the way Gary had stared at Nicole as if she were the center of his universe, and she had watched the way Nicole dismissed him with just a few cold words.
Raine felt a sense of satisfaction from seeing Gary falter, from seeing him unsure of himself for once.
It wasn’t often that Gary didn’t get what he wanted, but today, it seemed that Nicole had won.
Despite the satisfaction, there was still a gnawing feeling in Raine’s chest.
She knew that Gary would never fully be hers until he let go of whatever strange obsession he had with Nicole.
It bothered her that he hadn’t been paying attention to her, and that even after everything, he still looked at Nicole as if she were some kind of enigma to be solved.
But Raine was patient.
She knew Gary, and she knew that eventually, he would come around.
He always did.
He just needed to realize that she was the one who truly cared for him, not some girl who played by her own rules.
As Raine set her gaze back on Gary, she tried to push the lingering doubt out of her mind.
Nicole was a problem, a distraction, and she couldn’t allow herself to be threatened by someone like her.
Gary’s attention, Raine believed, was just a matter of time.
All she had to do was wait and make sure that Gary knew who truly had his best interests at heart.
Meanwhile, Gary finally tore his eyes away from where Nicole had been standing.
He stood there, his fists clenched, still processing everything that had just happened.
Mind your own business, she had told him.
It echoed in his mind like a warning.
He had tried to help her, tried to fix something he thought was broken, but in the end, she had made it clear that he wasn’t the one to do it.
His heart sank as he replayed her words over and over in his head, but a part of him couldn’t let go of the feeling that perhaps there was more to this than he realized.
Why had he reacted so strongly to her rejection? Why had it bothered him so much when she had simply shrugged him off?
Gary ran a hand through his hair in frustration, his mind struggling to come to terms with everything that had just unfolded.
For the first time in a long while, he felt truly uncertain.
Was it guilt? Regret? Or something else entirely? He had always thought of himself as a person who understood others, who knew how to get what he wanted.
But Nicole had shown him that he didn’t know anything at all about her.
The bell rang, breaking his reverie, and the weight of the moment began to lift.
But as he walked back to his seat, a lingering thought remained in the back of his mind.
What if I’ve been wrong about her all along?
