Year Five The Perfect Goodbye Plan novel Chapter 51

Silvia didn’t wait for Shipley to finish—she hung up on him without a word.

A waiter, noticing her set down her phone, hurried over with an apologetic, gentle look in his eyes.

“Excuse me, ma’am, do you know when your guest will be arriving? We’re at our dinner rush, and there’s quite a line outside. If it’s possible...”

At the entrance, couples had already started taking numbers, waiting for a table.

Silvia had been holding onto hers for almost two hours now. Even she couldn’t justify it anymore.

Worn out, she stood, managed a small apology to the waiter, paid her bill, and left, her steps heavy with fatigue.

Almost without realizing, she found herself walking along the riverfront in Luminova City.

The evening breeze chilled her shoulders. Lowering her gaze, Silvia quietly slipped off her beaded bracelet.

Even in the end, Shipley had chosen Vianne over her.

She’d never been lucky in love—not once.

Lifting her hand, she tossed the bracelet into the water.

The wooden beads sank with barely a ripple, just like her hopes with Shipley—so quiet, they left no trace.

Head bowed, Silvia had wanted closure, a proper ending. But this was all she got.

If the beginning was this rough, what hope did the ending ever have?

She kept walking, her figure swallowed by the night, her shadow stretching long and thin beneath the streetlights.

The night was too cold. She ducked into a small bar.

She was leaving this city—the place she’d called home for three years. Her thoughts churned as she sipped her drink, and before she knew it, she’d had a few too many.

Tomorrow, she told herself, she’d cut her losses, leave Luminova City, and start over somewhere new.

This time, she’d live for herself.

When Silvia finally surfaced from her thoughts, she’d downed three martinis and was well past sober.

Her skin was feverish, her body limp as if she’d melted right into the chair. She gave a soft whimper, cracked open her eyes, and focused on Kent’s face.

Her gaze was hazy, shining with unshed tears as she looked him up and down, slow and searching.

Kent’s brow furrowed at the way she stared, but Silvia just broke into a crooked grin.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning back. “Mr. Parsons—what a coincidence.”

Coincidence?

Kent took in her tipsy smile and pressed his lips into a thin line.

Without another word, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her out of the bar, his steps steady.

The scent of alcohol and something soft and sweet from her hair drifted up as he walked.

He looked down at her; Silvia was crying and laughing all at once, her lips mumbling something he couldn’t quite catch.