Lost Me Gained Regret

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Chapter 279
Barefoot, Christine dashed to the door, freezing momentarily upon opening it. “Mark, you... came to see Jane?”
“Yeah.” With a gentle smile, Mark stepped inside, glancing my way as he slipped off his shoes. “How are you feeling today? Still
in pain?”
Seeing him again, even just after a night, made me feel strangely unworthy.
It was Mark who helped me out!
Noticing my daze, Mark chuckled, “Daydreaming?”
“No, not really.” I hastily shook my head, pulling myself back to the present to answer his earlier question. “Much better, not as
painful as yesterday.”
“That’s good to hear.”
He placed a bag on the coffee table, “I swung by the pharmacy to pick up some scar treatment for you. Those injuries of yours
are no joke, and even though they’re not on your face, we can’t be careless about them. We don’t want any scars.”
Feeling a mix of guilt and gratitude, I was more compliant than usual. “Yeah, I’ll use it when I change my dressings tonight.”
“Hold off for now.”
The house was warm, heated throughout, as Mark took off his white down jacket, explaining with a light laugh, “You should wait
until the wounds start to heal before using the scar treatment.”
“Okay.” I nodded, making a mental note.
Just as Christine was about to close the door, our takeout arrived. She carried it into the kitchen. “Dinner’s on me tonight. You
guys just sit back and relax.”
Stew was the best choice in this weather.
Neither Mark nor I objected.

From the kitchen came the soft clinking of utensils. Mark, with a side glance, observed me closely, his gaze tightening slightly.
“Have you been crying?”
“...Yeah.”
There was no denial.
For eight whole years, mistaking someone else’s kindness for another’s had led me to fall for the wrong person. It was worth
shedding a few tears over.
Had I not been mistaken, I might not have fallen for Bryant so deeply.
He was like the calm after a storm, a bright distant moon, but I had never dared to see him as my beacon, to carelessly fall for
him.
At most, like others, I’d cherished a fleeting crush, moving on after graduation.
Mark appeared somewhat helpless. Misunderstanding the cause for my sadness, he tried to comfort me, “Matters of the heart
require some blessing from fate. You were already on the path to divorce, and now with his announcement of an engagement,
you can start to let go...”
“Mark,” I suddenly cut him off, staring at his kind and gentle face, holding back yet unable to stop myself from asking, “You’ve
always known I got it wrong, haven’t you?”
He furrowed his brows lightly, “What do you mean?”
“I just found out, back in college, it was you who helped me.”
I looked at him earnestly, speaking softly, “Why... why didn’t you ever tell me?”
He paused, then gently wiped away the tears on my face, “I didn’t want to see you upset, like now.”
I ventured cautiously, “Does it bother you? That I’ve always attributed your kindness to Bryant?”
Even though he’d always had someone else in his heart, wanting a thank you for a good deed is only natural.

“It doesn’t bother me.” He smiled, watching me intently, his gaze warm and inviting, “I can wait. Wait for the day you’re willing to
see me, wait for you to move past him.”
Now, it was my turn to be stunned.
His words left no room for doubt. But I remembered he’s had a crush on someone for years...
Mark and I, at most, had known each other for just over eight years.
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