Chapter 17 " General Sterling . " Evelyn cut him off calmly , stepping back to put distance between them . " The past is over . I have a quiet life now . Please - leave it alone . Don't come here and disturb it anymore . " Her composure hit Graham harder than any tears or accusations ever could . He would have preferred her to lash out , to shout at him - anything but this absolute , freezing indifference that excluded him from her life . When she started to walk away , panic surged through him . Instinct made him reach for her arm . Evelyn jerked away as if he had burned her , the motion startlingly fast . She lifted her head ; the eyes that had once been full of adoration and starlight now showed only clear , unmasked resistance and a trace of something else , a fear she tried to suppress but couldn't quite hide . That flash of fear stabbed Graham like the sharpest icicle . It cut so deep his breath hitched . She was afraid of him . The girl he had once held in the palm of his hand - the girl he had never allowed himself to speak roughly to had become someone who feared him . - His outstretched hand froze in midair ; his fingertips went cold and trembled . Words lodged in his throat and would not come . Evelyn did not look back . She clutched her books to her chest , kept her head down , and hurried past him without a single backward glance . Her slender figure drew a long shadow in the setting sun - decisive , without a trace of lingering attachment . Graham stood there like an abandoned statue on Harborbend's unfamiliar streets , watching her silhouette disappear around the corner . A chilly evening breeze stirred the fallen leaves into lonely spirals that whispered against the pavement . The chatter of passersby , the ring of bicycles , the laughter and talk around him - all of it receded into a distant blur . The world lost color and sound , leaving only a vast , gray emptiness and the cold , hollow sting of being utterly rejected . Chapter 17 73.91 % He had lost . Completely . He hadn't come to win her back . He had come to humiliate himself . The naïve idea that a little coaxing could fix everything now seemed like a cruel joke . He did not leave Harborbend . He took a long - term suite at the Crestwood Suites , two streets from the community high school . The hotel was dated , the furnishings sparse and worn , the walls half - painted with a stripe of faded green . The air carried that damp , musty hush of old buildings . He scaled back most of his duties , handling only the most essential military matters by phone and paperwork . He exiled himself to the small Southern town and began a long , silent vigil . He no longer dared appear in front of Evelyn . That brief street encounter - the clear fear in her eyes - had poured cold water over every hard idea he'd had of " taking " her back . He chose a clumsier , quieter route instead . Through his old war buddy , Julian Blake , who still worked at Harborbend City Hall , he quietly reached the principal of Harborbend Community High School . Without revealing his identity , he called in a favor under the guise of a concerned supporter of military families and asked that Evelyn be watched over . The principal , though puzzled , obliged out of deference to City Hall . He took a little more care when assigning Evelyn's duties and tried to accommodate her health . There were a few local drifters who lingered near the school at dismissal , sometimes whistling at girls or at female teachers walking home . Graham had seen them once . He said nothing then , but late one night , dressed in plain clothes , he " happened " upon them . Quietly and unmistakably , he made it plain that they would be wise to keep their distance . After that , the routes home for the school's girls and its female teachers grew noticeably quieter . Chapter 17 Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!