Forged My Marriage, Stole My Baby—Now I’m the Judge You Kneel To - Chapter 37: Chapter 37

They met again two years later.
Rowena was engaged to Shane by then, trying on wedding dresses when she caught a glimpse of someone familiar through the boutique window.
The guy was in a designed suit, all angular features, looking like the person from her memories but different somehow. It took her a few seconds to remember him.
"Thorne?"
Thorne's eyes locked onto the diamond ring on her finger, his expression darkening. "Come with me."
"What?"
"Right now," he stepped closer. "It's not too late."
Rowena took a step back. "Why did you just disappear on me?"
Thorne didn't explain, just held out a piece of paper. "If you ever regret this, call that number."
She didn't take it.
"Why?" Her voice was shaking. "What am I to you? Someone you can just show up and dumped whenever you feel like it?"
Thorne's hand froze in midair, then slowly dropped. "Take care of yourself."
As he turned to leave, Rowena noticed something off about his walk—his right leg seemed messed up somehow.
On the hospital bed, Rowena opened her eyes with tears soaking her pillow.
Thorne immediately leaned over, his thumb gently wiping her cheek.
After a moment of silence, she suddenly asked"That injury to your leg... What happened?"
Thorne went still.
"At the bridal shop," her voice was barely a whisper, "I could tell you were limping."
After a long silence, he took her hand and pressed it against his face. "When you're feeling better, I'll tell you everything."
Rowena stared at that crescent-shaped scar below his collarbone and nodded quietly.
Her daily routine was basically just eat, sleep, heal.
It was peaceful.
"What're you thinking?"
Thorne came over to the bed and felt her forehead, relaxing when he confirmed she wasn't running a fever.
Rowena snapped back to reality, looking at his face. "Thorne, back then... why did you just vanish?"
Thorne's movements paused.
He pulled up a chair and sat down, his fingers unconsciously rubbing his knee.
The injured right leg.
"After my parents divorced, my dad took me overseas." His voice was calm, like he was telling someone else's story. "When I was eighteen, I snuck back to Boston to visit my mom."
Eighteen-year-old Thorne had tracked down his mother's apartment building, only to get mugged and knocked unconscious in some back alley.
When he came to, his wallet and ID were gone, just that gash on his forehead bleeding everywhere.
"That's when I met you." He looked at Rowena, his expression softening. "You took me home, fixed me up, and..."
"And never shut up." Rowena finished with a slight smile.
Thorne chuckled quietly. "Yeah."
He continued: "Later I found out my mom had remarried, started a whole new family." His voice got quieter. "When she saw me, it was like looking at a complete stranger."
Rowena's heart clenched and she instinctively grabbed his hand.
"I didn't mean to ghost you. My father's assistant security team found me, and when I refused to go back, they literally dragged me onto a private jet." Thorne looked down. "He was pissed about me running away, so he had me locked up at a training facility for two years."
"So your leg injury..."
"Cliff jumping exercise went wrong." He said it casually, but it made Rowena gasp.
The room fell quiet for a moment.
Rowena suddenly remembered something. "Then why'd you show up at the bridal shop later?"
Thorne's fingers tightened slightly. "The second I got out, I came straight back to find you." His voice was rough. "But there you were, in a gorgeous wedding dress."
That image still made it hard for him to breathe.
Rowena in that white gown under the lights, smiling so sweetly at another man.
"I left you my number." He gave a bitter smile. "But you never called."
Rowena's eyes started burning. "I thought you'd just dumped me again..."
Thorne suddenly leaned forward and pulled her into this fierce hug, like he was trying to absorb her into his bones.
"Rowena...I'm sorry."