Time-Limited Love: A Contract Expired, Not Renewed novel Chapter 245

Zinnia looked at him with calm, unflinching eyes. After a moment, she sighed, gently pulling her hand free from Landon’s grasp.

“No, Landon. You’re the one who’s mistaken now.”

She spoke quietly, but her words were direct, leaving Landon blinking in confusion. Zinnia continued, her voice steady:

“You’re just unsettled because I suddenly stopped caring so much, stopped doting on you. It’s like when you spent those two weeks with Noelle—without me around, you felt something missing, and you didn’t know how to deal with it. You’ve confused comfort for affection.”

She met Landon’s anxious gaze, hoping he would finally see things for what they were.

“Mistaking comfort for love—that’s the real problem. If we keep going down this road because of that mistake, you’ll only end up regretting it.”

She paused, searching for a way to make him understand. “It’s like typing on an old phone keypad—‘comfort’ and ‘love’ are just one letter apart. One careless slip, and you choose the wrong word. Suddenly, the whole sentence means something else entirely.”

While Landon seemed lost and shaken, Zinnia remained composed, analyzing their relationship with a clarity he couldn’t muster.

“We started this marriage with dignity. For three years, I’ve worked hard to preserve that dignity, holding everything together. So I hope, when we end it, we don’t let all that careful effort unravel into a mess.”

She offered Landon a gentle, almost friendly smile. “Don’t you think so?”

Landon’s lips trembled. He couldn’t force out a single word.

It was true—throughout the past three years, every time he acted carelessly or thoughtlessly, she had quietly restored order, making everything seem peaceful and harmonious.

The marriage he thought was built on mutual understanding had really been held together by her constant compromises and quiet endurance.

“Let’s end it here, Landon.”

Her voice was impossibly calm as she said it, but to Landon, it felt like a death sentence.

No bullet had pierced his heart, but it felt like his chest had caved in, his heart frozen solid, refusing to beat.

Now that everything had been said, she felt lighter than she had in years.

She knew Landon’s pride wouldn’t let him cling to her after such an honest reckoning—especially since she’d exposed every hidden feeling he’d tried to keep from her.

He wouldn’t drag things out any longer, not now that she’d made the end so clear.

On the drive back, Zinnia sat in the front seat, Dapper curled up contentedly in her arms.

With Dapper there, it was easy for Zinnia to find a sense of peace—her mood had brightened more than she expected.

That’s when her phone buzzed with a WhatsApp message from Yuri Ford.

The familiar style of the conversation made Landon immediately realize it was that man—the one he’d never fully understood.

He’d always lumped Dapper and Yuri together in his mind, never admitting that Zinnia had someone else—a man who could make her laugh with genuine happiness, someone who, unlike him, truly reached her heart.