No More Waiting, She Chooses Love novel Chapter 862

I sat quietly, staring out the window, feeling the weight of my emotions. Ernest, sitting next to me, didn’t press me for words. He could sense I was troubled.

Once we parked, he gently wrapped his arms around me, his hand softly stroking my hair. “If something’s bothering you, let it out. Don’t keep it bottled up inside.”

“How can life be treated so carelessly?” I leaned against his shoulder, my voice trembling as I finally spoke. “Haley got what she deserved!”

Haley, in her greed for wealth, had caused her husband's death. And then, she betrayed the very friends who trusted her, selling them out for more money.

Deborah told me about a friend who was assaulted by someone Haley had arranged. She ended up taking her own life. I still hadn’t found the courage to break the news to Deborah.

“She’ll get her comeuppance. Evil never escapes justice,” Ernest murmured reassuringly into my ear.

But what difference does it make?

The lost lives can never be reclaimed.

Like my parents. Even though those who wronged them have faced justice, they remain forever beneath the ground.

Ernest didn’t take me home after we left the prison. Instead, we found ourselves boarding a cruise ship.

I looked at him, confused. “Why are we here?”

“To go fishing!”

I was about to protest, to say I wasn’t in the mood, but then I saw the spark in his eyes and stopped myself. I couldn’t let my bad mood spoil his intentions.

“Where did you get a cruise ship?” I asked, changing my protest into curiosity.

“I rented it.”

“Am I getting heavy?” It’s a question no woman can resist asking.

“Maybe a little!” His teasing had me playfully punching his shoulder. “Put me down.”

“Why?” He grinned, his eyes bright with a carefree joy that seemed to chase away the clouds.

I found myself lost in his smile. “Ernest, you look so good when you smile.”

He carried me up to the deck and set me on the railing. I clung to him, a little scared. “I’m afraid.”

He wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me steady. “As long as I’m here, you don’t have to be afraid, Licia.”

With that, he leaned in, and I tilted my head to meet him, our lips finding solace in each other.