Page 88 of Punishing His Runaway Bride
This scene was too normal.
Normal like any ordinary family.
But this wasn't my family.
And this wasn't his family.
After dinner, Leo ran off to watch cartoons. I cleared the dishes, Sebastian stood by to help.
"Let me." He took the bowl from my hands. "You sit."
"You don't have to—"
"Olivia." He looked at me, a bit of seriousness in his eyes. "Let me help."
I froze, let go.
He took the bowls to wash.
I stood in the kitchen, watching his back.
This man. Five years of this. Showing up, helping, never crossing the line, never making me uncomfortable. The things he gave me, I returned whatever I could. What I couldn't return easily, I kept but always found a way to repay—like today's dinner. I never let him stay at the shop too late, never gave him any ambiguous hope.
He knew. He knew it all. But he kept coming.
"Sebastian," I spoke up.
"Yeah?" He turned.
"You..." I wanted to say something, but the words stuck in my throat. "Never mind."
He looked at me, silent for a moment, then kept washing.
When the dishes were done, he dried his hands, turned around.
"Olivia," he said. "I'm going to leave in a bit."
"Okay."
"Before I go, I want to say something."
My chest tightened.
"You're making this too hard on yourself," he said, voice soft, likestating a fact, not accusing, not pitying. "I know you don't want to hear this, but it's true."
I looked at him, said nothing.
He took a step forward, then stopped.
"I'm not trying to say anything." He said. "I just want you to know that if... if you need help, you can find me anytime. I'm not—"
He paused.
"I'm not trying to make things difficult for you. You know that."
I knew.
He'd never made things difficult for me in five years.
