Can’t Win Me Back

Landon sat by the bedside, lifting Lauren’s bruised hand and gently pressing it to his cheek. He rubbed her hand tenderly against his cheek before placing a delicate kiss on her palm.

This was also how he typically showed her affection. He treated her like an incredibly fragile and precious object, guarding her with unwavering devotion.

He had cared for her diligently, yet those monsters had mercilessly ravaged his beloved, dragging her through the mire and shattering her.

“Lauren, I’m right here. Open your eyes and look at me, will you?” he implored, tears welling in his eyes, his lips quivering with emotion. “Wake up… Don’t leave me alone.”

In the end, he remained seated like that until daybreak.

Early the next day, Javier, accompanied by Rory, arrived to visit Lauren.

Jasper was sitting outside the hospital ward. He hadn’t slept all night. A conflicted look came across his eyes when he saw Javier, but he stood up anyway.

“Have you been sitting here all night without sleeping?” Javier was surprised to see the dark circles beneath Jasper’s eyes.

“Yeah. I

hasn’t it? The longest someone can go without sleep is seven days. You

eyes met. The atmosphere was awkward between

that Javier

used to

buy some breakfast. You haven’t

boxes of takeout. He placed them on

food tastes bland. He specified that he wanted pancakes

a casual tone, “I heard that Alyssa was also here all night. I

had misheard. He stared

explaining, “She has been helping out a lot since that incident with Lauren.

his lips together. The look on his face was as prideful as

did help my daughter. So, I

what Javier had said