Time-Limited Love: A Contract Expired, Not Renewed novel Chapter 22

Landon had no idea how long he’d been standing out on the balcony. It wasn’t until a sharp, burning pain shot through his fingertips that he finally snapped back to reality.

He glanced down at the crystal ashtray on the railing, overflowing with cigarette butts.

Grinding out the last stub, he realized that even this much nicotine hadn’t managed to calm the restless anxiety gnawing at his chest.

When the smoke had faded, he drifted back into the living room.

His gaze immediately landed on the mango cake sitting on the table.

He knew Zinnia was allergic to mangoes.

He remembered, clear as day, when they’d just gotten married. One evening, passing a new bakery on his way home from work, he’d bought her a mango crepe on a whim.

He could still picture how Zinnia’s eyes had lit up when he handed it to her, her whole face bright with a happiness that seemed to sparkle like a sky full of stars. She tried to hide it, but the smile in her eyes was impossible to contain.

He never quite understood it—how something as simple as a dessert, barely worth ten dollars, could make her so genuinely happy.

When she took a bite, her expression shifted, just for a second. But she still finished the whole thing, her eyes crinkling with delight.

Things spiraled out of control after that. Red rashes broke out across her face and hands, her breathing grew shallow, and in the next moment, she collapsed in his arms.

It was only at the hospital that he learned she was allergic to mangoes.

That change in her expression—he realized—was because she’d tasted the mango. Yet she’d eaten it anyway.

He’d asked her, bewildered, why she would eat something she knew she was allergic to.

She’d answered so lightly, “I couldn’t waste your thoughtful gesture.”

Landon figured her upbringing simply didn’t allow her to brush off someone’s kindness.

But he still couldn’t understand—what kind of upbringing taught you to risk your life just to spare someone’s feelings?

After that, he never brought mangoes into the house again. Every meal, he made sure to steer clear of them.

Yet tonight, with his mind set on apologizing, he’d come home carrying something that could kill her.

He watched as she furrowed her brow in her sleep, her whole face twisted with despair and helplessness.

When she called for him to save her, there was no hope in her voice—almost as if, even in her dreams, she knew he’d never come.

What could she have dreamed of, to make her feel this way?

Why would she have such a nightmare?

“Zinnia…”

...

Darkness. Nothing but darkness.

The cold, like icy hands, wrapped around Zinnia’s throat. Each breath was a struggle, the suffocating pressure threatening to squeeze the life out of her.

Somewhere, she thought she could hear Landon’s voice—so close, and yet so far away.