Once a Doormat Now Untouchable (Caleb and Sydney) novel Chapter 245

**When The Ocean Learned My Name and Whispered It Back to You by Aurelia Novel 245**

**Chapter 245**

Sydney felt as if she were trapped in a fog, the remnants of a distant memory slowly clawing their way back to her consciousness. It was a moment suspended in time, one that had unfolded at the entrance of her residential compound—a place that had once felt safe and familiar.

That day had been a vivid tapestry of joy. Her father had just returned from a mission, his face lit up with the kind of happiness that only a reunion could bring. Sydney, filled with exuberance, had practically pulled him towards the vendor who spun cotton candy with a rhythmic grace. She could still hear the soft whir of the machine, the sweet scent of sugar wafting through the air. Just as her father had handed over the money, the vendor’s hands were busy crafting the fluffy treat. But then, in an instant, everything had changed.

A deafening boom shattered the air, a sound so sudden and jarring that it felt like the world itself had split apart. The cotton candy, once a symbol of delight, was forgotten as she and her father instinctively turned their attention to the chaos around them. Their hearts raced, not for the sugary treat, but for the lives they could save.

But that day marked a turning point, a cruel twist of fate. After that moment, the taste of cotton candy would forever be tainted by loss. Her father, along with her mother, would never return home from their next mission. Their absence created a chasm in her life that nothing could fill.

Caleb observed the flicker of pain in Sydney’s eyes, the way they glistened with unshed tears. He gently covered her hand with his, his touch both comforting and heavy with unspoken words. “You remembered, didn’t you?” he ventured, his voice barely above a whisper, as if afraid to shatter the fragile moment.

Sydney inhaled sharply, fighting against the tide of memories that threatened to drown her. The ache of her parents’ absence surged within her, and she forced a bitter smile. “So, you’re saying you were that little boy?” The words slipped from her lips like shards of glass, sharp and painful.

If that were true, then what a cruel twist of fate it was. The very boy she had once saved with her own hands had now become the architect of her deepest heartbreak. He was the one who had shattered her hopes of ever finding solace in love, the one who had relentlessly pushed her to the brink of despair.

Caleb felt the weight of irony heavy in the air, a palpable tension that wrapped around them both. Inside, he felt as though a swarm of ants were gnawing at his insides, each bite a reminder of his failures. “It was me,” he rasped, his voice thick with emotion. “Precious, I… I’ve been searching for you all these years.”

His eyes shimmered with unshed tears, a storm of regret swirling within them. The girl he had yearned for, the one he had chased through the corridors of his mind, had been right beside him all along. The countless days and sleepless nights spent in search of Precious collided violently with the years he had spent neglecting and dismissing Sydney.

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