Chapter 10
The Principessa Bought a Genius Boyfriend Chapter 11
The Principessa Bought a Genius Boyfriend Chapter 11
Vincent picked up an orange and began cutting it slowly.
It suddenly hit me—the day we reunited, he’d asked me to cut a fruit platter.
“What did you mean by what you said?”
“You could snap at me, why can’t I? I thought you got bored and dumped me, then disappeared for four whole years, like you were purposely avoiding me… Can’t I even be mad?”
That was fair, yeah.
“But Aurora said you hated me.”
“I’m sorry. That was my fault. I didn’t call her out on it sooner.”
Vincent finished slicing the last piece of orange.
He sighed softly.
“After all… I thought you really… didn’t want me anymore.”
Snow fell outside the window.
It made the inside of the house feel all the more dry and warm.
In this moment, I finally knew for certain.
In the river of time, that boy had walked all the way to me.
The week of homecoming, Vincent and I both went back to campus.
He was the alumni representative, and he had to give a speech there.
The school was still the same, but waves of fresh young faces had come and gone.
There were always people staying young.
There were always people stepping into their prime, chasing their dreams.
When I pulled my phone out of my pocket, an old student ID slipped out and fell to the ground.
A student picked it up for me, glanced at the name, then looked up at me, surprised. “You’re Isabella?”
“You know me?”
“I interned at Vincent’s company. You’re pretty famous over there.”
“Really?”
I’d only been to Vincent’s company once. When I was sitting at the front desk waiting for him, the receptionist had the exact same reaction after writing down my name—”You’re Isabella?”
I didn’t think much of it back then. I never knew why.
The student said, “The whole people search system the company uses has a core algorithm that Vincent wrote himself in the early days. He left a note on it—”
He paused, like he was recalling the exact words.
“If you ever meet Isabella, tell her for me that I love her.”
“Everyone who’s ever worked with this code has seen that line.”
I froze for a long time.
He smiled. “It’s so nice. He finally found you.”
After the speech, Vincent and I walked slowly along our old routes from back in the day.
We ended up in front of the library.
Vincent stared at the big tree to the left. “This is where you confessed to me, back then.”
“Yeah, I remember. I was so bold back then.”
He stared blankly at the spot, his memories drifting far, far away.
“Vincent, were you happy in college?”
He’d struggled, been slandered, and hit rock bottom.
I thought he’d say no.
But Vincent said, “I was very happy.
“As long as you were with me, even pain turned into happiness.”
He turned around, just like he did all those years ago, and looked down at me.
“Isabella, it’s my turn to say it now.
“My ninth year of loving you is almost here. Give me a chance, okay?”
It started snowing again.
Snowflakes landed on his hair.
I smiled. “Happy new year, and please take care of me from now on.”
Happy new year, my boy.
Happy new year, my youth.
Even if we had our regrets, we would always be our best selves.
