Old Dreams No Return (Serena) novel Chapter 10

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Refusing to accept it, he redialed. Once. Twice… But all that came through was the same emotionless voice.

He fired off a WhatsApp message. It instantly turned into a cold mark, a clear sign: “Message sent, but the recipient has blocked you.”

So, if her number wasn’t dead, then he’d definitely been blocked.

For the first time, it truly clicked for him: the “breakup” wasn’t just another one of their usual fights.

“Liam!”

Tiffany’s clear voice snapped him out of it, coming from behind him. She jogged up, already reaching for his arm, her move smooth and practiced. “There you are! I’ve been looking for you forever. I need your help with something.”

Liam violently swatted her hand away, the force making Tiffany stumble back. Her sweet smile instantly froze, wiped clean off her face.

“Get lost!”

He low-growled, his eyes blazing with an uncontrollable fury and a terror he’d never experienced.

He had zero patience for Tiffany right now.

He ignored Tiffany, who stood there, frozen and looking totally bewildered, and stalked away to the side. Then he started frantically speed-dialing every mutual friend they had.

“Hey? Mr. Robert, have you heard from Serena? Where is she?”

Lisa, it’s Liam. Rennie, has she…?”

Tank, when was the last time you saw Serena? Did she change her number or anything?”

Liam started dialing, one call after another. But every single response was a dead end.

“Liam? What’s up with you and Rennie? She didn’t say a word to me…”

“Beats me. Didn’t she get her acceptance letter? She should’ve already checked in.”

“Changed her mind about schools? No way! I thought you two were going to NYU together!”

“Her number changed? We honestly have no idea…”

The girl he’d known his whole life, the one he always thought would be right there, just… vanished. Like a single drop of water in the ocean, she was gone without a trace, leaving absolutely nothing behind.

Every familiar tie he had, every single connection-she’d just severed them clean. Overnight. And she’d done it all herself.

Even her parents’ phones were dead ends. He called his own folks, only to hear the news: Serena’s entire family had moved out! It hit him like a lightning bolt, completely gutting him.

“Liam, what the hell happened? You still can’t get a hold of Serena?”

A buddy from my gaming squad hit me up. “Dude, you two really went at it hard this time?”

Liam stared at the words on the screen. His fingers tightened, knuckles turning stark white.

Just a fight? Every single time before, I’d suggest breaking up, and he’d sweet-talk me, or later, even just send a half-assed text, and I’d always end up crawling back to him.

He’d gotten so used to me being unable to leave, to that unwavering sense of security that made him so damn complacent.

He figured this time would be just like the others.

He purposely gave me the cold shoulder, intentionally getting cozy with Tiffany. He even went as far as to kiss her right in front of me. He wanted to teach me a lesson,, to make sure I’d never dare to bring up breaking up again.

It never crossed his mind that I’d actually leave.

And she just walked away, so damn final, so utterly complete. Not a single crack left for him to even try

and

get her back! “Liam…”

22:12

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Tiffany edged closer again, her eyes glistening and red, like she was the one who’d just suffered the greatest injustice. “Please, don’t be like this. You’re scaring me… Serena’s probably just still mad, that’s all. She’ll cool down in a few days, I bet…”

Shut up!”

Liam’s head snapped towards her, his eyes dark and chilling. “If it wasn’t for you…”

He cut himself off mid-sentence, stopping abruptly.

If it wasn’t for Tiffany… what exactly?

Was it her perfectly timed calls? All those moments she “needed” him by her side?

The root of the problem wasn’t Tiffany.

It was him.

It came down to him constantly ignoring my feelings for Tiffany. To him pushing my boundaries again and again. To that damn, arrogant confidence he had that I’d never actually leave.

His heart lurched, a cold, invisible hand seemingly crushing it. A suffocating, raw pain ripped through him, stealing his breath.

Eighteen years, everything had always gone his way. But this? This was the first time he’d ever truly felt what it meant to lose.

So bitter. So sharp.

He shoved Tiffany out of his way, stumbling to the curb, and flagged down a cab.

“Where to?”

The driver asked.

“Anywhere… just drive.”

He slumped against the backrest, eyes squeezed shut. His voice was raw with exhaustion.

His phone wouldn’t stop buzzing. Tiffany was blowing up his WhatsApp, texts flooding in, one after another. Where was he? Why wasn’t he answering? Her messages were a cocktail of needy dependence and sharp accusations.

Before, he probably would’ve eaten up that kind of adoration.

But right then, those messages? They were just suffocating, totally getting on his nerves.

He swiped away the notifications, even seriously considered just powering off his phone.

But he couldn’t.

He was still waiting, hoping a mutual friend might have a lead, waiting for some long-shot miracle to connect him to her.

As night deepened, the cab meandered aimlessly through New York City. The neon lights outside flashed and shimmered, but they couldn’t touch the dark void in his heart.

He kept scrolling through his phone, poring over the old chat logs. The ones he used to find so annoying, so extra, the ones he couldn’t even be bothered to open. My daily updates, the petty complaints, even my occasional little moods… now, they were all a luxury.

He tapped open my profile. The background photo? Gone. Just a blank, cold void. It felt like an invisible, unyielding line had been drawn, an insurmountable chasm that totally split their two worlds apart.

“Rennie…”

Where the hell are you, really?” he mumbled, his Adam’s apple bobbing hard.

The only answer was the wind howling outside the car window.

He’d never felt this helpless, this terrified.

1

It felt like the most crucial part of his life had been ripped right out, leaving an unbearable void.

Turns out, he was the one who’d actually been left behind.