Year Five The Perfect Goodbye Plan novel Chapter 123

Shipley stood frozen, watching as Silvia walked away.

He reached out, his palm suspended in the air.

Instinctively, he wanted to hold on to something—anything—but all he felt was the wind slipping through his fingers.

The emptiness of it all was suffocating.

It felt as if Silvia had just slipped right through his grasp.

He hated it.

The coldness in Silvia’s eyes was like a blade, stabbing at his heart again and again.

Where he used to walk through life with easy confidence, now he was left with nothing but a sense of panic.

Was she really going to leave him?

Shipley couldn’t believe it.

He knew Silvia’s past, knew it all too well.

As a child, she’d grown up with her adoptive mother, but never really found the love and care she needed.

When she finally returned to the Ashford family, she was old enough to sense the distance between herself and her relatives. That gap never closed. She withdrew, growing more and more isolated, refusing to open up to anyone in the family.

It was fair to say Silvia was someone who had always longed for love.

That was why, three years ago, she’d left her family behind without a second thought, following the man she loved all the way to Luminova City.

She needed love.

And Shipley had given her so much of it. Silvia should have been content—shouldn’t she?

So he told himself she would come back.

But even as he tried to convince himself, the confidence he once had felt shaky and thin.

Something was changing—something he couldn’t control.

His phone rang again.

He glanced at the caller ID, silenced the call, and walked into Neon Alchemy.

......

Worried that Kent would drop everything and come running, Silvia hurried to explain, “It’s not me. It’s Yvette—she got drunk and needed some fluids.”

Finn had picked Yvette up from the bar, planning to drive her straight home.

But as soon as she stepped outside, her face had turned an alarming shade of pale, and she started vomiting the moment she got in the car.

At the hospital, the doctor had said she was just severely drunk, told them to get her some IV fluids and wait for her to sober up.

Hearing it wasn’t Silvia who was sick, Kent finally relaxed a little.

His voice regained its usual calm, low and warm. “Do you want me to come pick you up?”

“No need. My brother’s here—you should get some rest.”

“...Alright.”

It was obvious from his tone that Kent wanted to come for her.

But he respected Silvia’s wishes, no questions asked.

After she hung up, Finn came back into the room, glancing at Yvette with a frown. “Silvia, go on home. I’ll stay with her.”