I Returned to the Day He Brought His First Love Home-Chapter 143: She Seeks Not a Shred of True Love

Chapter 143: Chapter 143: She Seeks Not a Shred of True Love

"Archer Rhys? What are you doing here?" Grace Winslow stared at the man before her, completely stunned.

By her count, it had been nearly three months since Archer had left.

They hadn’t contacted each other at all during that time.

In Grace’s view, Archer’s confession had probably been a spur-of-the-moment thing. She figured that once he had time to cool down, he would regret it.

Since they weren’t in touch, she assumed that with time, he would gradually move on and live his own life.

She never expected to see him at the school gate today.

The Archer she saw today was completely different from before. He looked even more dashing and handsome. Grace even noticed many female students around the campus stealing glances at him, their eyes full of adoration.

"What’s wrong? Not happy to see me?" Archer Rhys strode up to Grace with his hands in his pockets, the smile on his face never wavering.

Grace blinked. "No, it’s not that. I’m just a little surprised. Are you back from your mission?"

"Yeah. It was a close call, and the first thing I wanted to do when I got back was see you. When I was injured, I remember thinking it was a shame I never got to say goodbye. I guess that lingering thought was what I held onto to pull through." Archer nodded, his gaze toward Grace soft and tender.

Grace’s heart skipped a beat. "You had an accident? Are you all healed? If you were injured, you should be resting properly. Why did you come looking for me?"

Archer was a bit taken aback. He had expected Grace to be moved by his words, but her reaction truly surprised him.

But then he remembered what Grace had said when he confessed his feelings, and he felt her reaction was actually quite reasonable.

’This is Grace, the woman I like.’

If he had confessed sooner, before the incident with Caleb Forrest, maybe things would have turned out differently between them.

But unfortunately, he had only appeared after she had been hurt by Caleb, and that changed everything.

"I came to see you and to ask for your address. That way, if anything comes up, I can write you a letter." As he spoke, Archer pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Grace. "This is my address at the base. As long as I’m not on a mission, I’m usually there. It’s not classified, so you can write to me."

He finished speaking and looked at Grace expectantly.

Grace accepted the slip of paper. It was still warm from his touch.

She smiled, then took a notebook from her school bag and wrote down her own address—not her school one, but her home address.

She tore out the page with the address and handed it to Archer. "This is my home address. You can write to me, too. I go home once a week."

"Comrade Archer, I have to get back to my dorm, so I can’t talk any longer. You should go home and get some rest. Goodbye."

Archer watched helplessly as Grace’s figure quickly disappeared from view, unable to look away.

"Comrade Archer? Are you here at the university to see me?"

Just as he was about to turn and leave, a voice shattered the peaceful moment.

Archer turned to see a girl standing before him. He frowned, unable to recall who she was.

"I live next door to your family. My name is Wendy Quinn. We met when we were children. My grandfather said our families arranged for us to be married long ago..."

Wendy tucked a strand of long hair behind her ear, her face flushing slightly. Her heart beat much faster as she spoke of the engagement.

For her, it had been love at first sight with Archer.

She had been smitten the first time she saw him two years ago.

But at the time, the Rhys family was not doing well. Archer’s grandfather and parents had all met with misfortune, and to avoid any association, the Quinn family had made a special trip to the Rhys household to declare that the engagement between the two families was off.

But Archer had defied expectations. Relying on his own efforts, he had climbed to the rank of battalion commander.

A twenty-six-year-old battalion commander with countless merits to his name—he had single-handedly forced his way into the uppermost circles of Coronet.

Moreover, she heard that he had recently been awarded a first-class individual merit. If not for his lack of seniority, he would have been promoted again.

Who could refuse such an outstanding man?

When the Rhys family moved back into the grand compound, the Quinn family’s ambitions stirred, and they began thinking about renegotiating the engagement.

Wendy, of course, was delighted.

’If I could marry Archer, I can’t even imagine how happy I’d be.’

’I’d definitely become the envy of countless girls in the compound.’

’After all, that’s Archer Rhys we’re talking about.’

"I don’t know you." Archer looked at Wendy’s bashful expression, his own face devoid of any emotion. He replied curtly and was about to stride away.

Wendy subconsciously reached out to grab his arm, but Archer sidestepped her, his gaze falling on her with icy sharpness. "Miss Quinn, please have some self-respect."

"I don’t know you, nor do I know any Quinn family. If you’re talking about the Quinn family whose grandfather arranged a marriage with mine, then if I recall correctly, when my family was in trouble, your grandfather personally went to mine and declared the engagement between our two families broken."

"If you don’t know about this, Miss Quinn, you might as well go home and ask your grandfather."

"My family, the Rhys family, does not acknowledge this marriage."

With that, Archer left without a second thought, striding away.

Wendy’s eyes instantly reddened. She stomped her foot, her face a mask of indignation.

’How could he treat me like this?’

’What happened back then wasn’t my fault.’

’I was so young. I had no power to influence the adults’ decisions.’

’It was my grandfather who wanted to cut ties when he saw the Rhys family had fallen on hard times. I never thought that way.’

But no matter how indignant she felt, it was useless. Archer couldn’t be bothered with her.

When Wendy returned to her dorm, she couldn’t hold it in and told her closest roommate what had happened.

"Your fiancé? Was he cold to you?" Josephine Joss looked at Wendy with curiosity.

"Yes! He said he doesn’t acknowledge our engagement. What am I going to do? I really, really like him." Wendy nodded, hugging Josephine miserably.

Josephine thought for a moment. "He was at the school gate... if he wasn’t there to see you, could he have been there for another student?"

"Maybe the reason he was so cold to you is that his affections have shifted, and he’s fallen for someone else?"

"I think you should investigate this angle. If he really has fallen for someone else, then that woman is a shameless homewrecker, a hussy interfering in other people’s relationships. You can go make her back off on her own. Tell her not to be so shameless, and if that doesn’t work, report her to the school administration and get her expelled."

Wendy’s eyes lit up at Josephine’s words. "Josephine, you’re so smart! Why didn’t I think of that? I’ll have someone look into it right away. If he really has fallen for a girl at our school, someone must have seen them. When I find out who she is, I’ll go to her and make her leave him on her own."

"He and I have had an engagement since we were children. What right does she have to steal my fiancé?"

As Wendy spoke, a smile crept onto her face, as if Archer Rhys were already in the palm of her hand.