I Quit the Night His Eyes Healed

Chapter 3

I'd been stuck inside this novel for two years.

All because I stayed up binge-reading a romance story one night, then woke up inside it the next morning.

No magical system.

No special abilities.

No heroine treatment.

Just an ordinary extra trying to survive in somebody else's story.

After leaving the Bennett house, I found a new job working sales at a luxury boutique downtown.

One afternoon during my shift, Zara suddenly leaned across the counter toward me, excitement practically written all over her face.

"Hey, have you seen anything about Liam lately?"

The second I heard his name, my heartbeat stumbled.

Without warning, memories from that night came rushing back.

Liam's usually pale skin flushed dark with heat beneath my hands. His breathing uneven. His voice rough and low as he kept calling my name over and over again.

"Good girl... right there? I can't see."

Heat climbed straight up my neck.

"Whoa." Zara blinked at me. "Why are you suddenly so red? Are you getting sick?"

I snapped back to reality and immediately forced a smile.

"No, I'm fine. What were you saying?"

Luckily, she didn't think much of it.

"So apparently Liam disappeared for almost a year because of health issues or whatever, but he finally showed up in public again recently. Then out of nowhere he posted the weirdest thing online."

My fingers tightened slightly around the jewelry tray in my hands.

"What did he post?"

Zara read dramatically from her phone.

"'Sorry, Nora. I won't do that again.'"

My chest tightened instantly.

Then Zara laughed. "Wait a second, your name's Nora too. That's kind of funny."

I kept my expression calm with effort.

"Yeah, weird coincidence. But someone like him has nothing to do with people like us anyway."

"True." Zara shrugged. "Guys like that live in a completely different universe."

Then she wandered off to help another customer.

But my thoughts stayed tangled around Liam.

What did that post even mean?

Was he apologizing to me?

I'd never imagined Liam would publicly post something like that online, especially not with my name in it.

Because as far as I was concerned, our relationship had never reached that kind of level.

Other than that one completely out-of-control night.

And honestly, Liam was gorgeous, rich, and unfairly good in bed.

I couldn't exactly claim I came out losing.

Even if I hadn't resigned first, the most likely ending probably would've been Liam politely distancing himself from me once everything became awkward.

I let out a quiet laugh at myself and glanced toward the mirror nearby.

The woman staring back looked painfully average.

Not ugly, not beautiful and just ordinary.

With makeup and decent lighting, people might call me cute. If I really put effort into my appearance, maybe even pretty on a good day.

But reality was still reality.

A few months earlier, I'd jokingly asked Liam what kind of woman he liked.

At the time, he'd been stretched lazily across a poolside lounge chair soaking up the afternoon sun.

Even blind, he still somehow managed to angle his face toward me perfectly.

"Hmm," he'd said after thinking about it. "Probably someone pretty."

I'd stared at him in disbelief.

"You're unbelievably shallow."

Liam laughed immediately. "Come on, wanting someone attractive is normal. If I said I preferred ugly girls, you'd probably accuse me of having issues."

I'd opened my mouth, then completely failed to argue with that logic.

Still unwilling to give up, I tried again.

"So you don't care about personality at all?"

"Oh, I do." He nodded seriously. "Ideally I'd like someone who's beautiful inside and out."

I'd gone completely speechless.

"...Wow."

After a long silence, that was all I could manage.

Liam laughed softly and pushed himself up from the chair, reaching for his cane. The second he started walking, I instinctively hurried over to steady him before he could stumble.

The moment I grabbed his arm, he casually slipped his hand around mine instead.

"Why do you sound so disappointed?" he asked, smiling. "You think I'm not good enough for someone like that?"

That question was impossible to answer.

Liam was smart, capable, rich, and ridiculously attractive. Women chasing him probably stretched across half of Manhattan.

Male lead privileges.

My mood sank even further.

"Of course not," I muttered quietly. "Who wouldn't like you?"

That answer clearly pleased him.

His smile softened his already handsome features until he looked unfairly gentle.

"What about you, Nora?" he asked casually. "Do you like me too?"

My heartbeat instantly spiraled out of control.

I knew he was probably teasing me without thinking much about it, but that still wasn't enough to stop the feelings I'd buried for so long from surging painfully to the surface.

In the end, all I managed was a small, embarrassed reply.

"...Yeah."