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He Ran From Me as I Ran Out of Time Novel Cover

He Ran From Me as I Ran Out of Time

After five years and fifty-two canceled weddings, Caleb Frost chooses his protégé, Gina Lowe, over his fiancée one final time. When Gina frames her for a malicious act, Caleb reacts with fury, trapping his partner in a windowless cellar with a blocked air vent. He ignores her pleas, leaving her to suffocate in the dark while he comforts Gina. By the time guilt finally strikes him three days later, he returns to find a tragedy he can never undo.
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Chapter 1

I have been dating my manager boyfriend, Caleb Frost, for five years. He calls off our wedding 52 times for Gina Lowe, an aspiring actress on the set.

On the day I am ready to give up on him and walk away, Gina falsely accuses me of using expired makeup on her that caused an allergic reaction.

So Caleb shoves me into a sealed cellar and locks me inside.

As he pushes me down, his face is twisted in disgust. "It's one thing to pick on Gina, but to use expired makeup on her and cause an allergy? Do you know how important an artist's face is?

"Stay down there and think about your wrongdoings."

With that, he drags the crying Gina to the hospital.

The cellar's air vent is blocked. Every breath I take grows harder until I suffocate to death inside.

Three days later, Caleb remembers me only after attending a gathering with Gina.

But little does he know, I am already dead from the lack of oxygen in that dark cellar.

My boyfriend, Caleb Frost, who worked as a manager, canceled our wedding 52 times because of Gina Lowe, who was an aspiring actress.

Then, he locked me in a cellar after Gina framed me, and I suffocated to death from the lack of oxygen.

When I woke again, I found my spirit beside Caleb.

He had just taken Gina to see a dermatologist.

Now, sitting in the production crew's break room, he held the crying Gina in his arms.

He comforted her softly. "It's okay, Gina. Luckily, we got to the hospital in time. That's why you recovered so quickly.

"I'll have the best esthetician take care of your skin, so don't you worry."

Gina was still sobbing softly. When she heard what Caleb said, she blinked and murmured, "Caleb, Cecile might have used the expired makeup on me by accident. Please don't punish her too harshly."

The moment he heard my name, Caleb's expression darkened as he soothed Gina.

"Cecile went too far this time. How could a professional makeup artist not check the products first? She'll never learn if I don't teach her a lesson."

Gina deliberately showed a fearful expression. She said timidly, "Cecile was punished because of me, and she has spent so many days alone in the cellar. Will she be mad when she's let out?"

Caleb replied, "She won't. I'm doing this for her own good. It will soften her attitude, so she won't run into trouble at work later."

While Caleb comforted Gina, a crew member rushed over, looking anxious. She said, "Where's Cecile? We're ready to shoot, so why isn't she here to do the makeup yet?"

Caleb, who was still reassuring Gina, replied nonchalantly to the crew member, "From now on, someone else will do Gina's makeup. I don't trust Cecile to do it."

As he spoke, Caleb casually pulled out his phone and checked our chat. It was then that he realized our last conversation was three days ago.

I had not sent him a single message or called him in three days.

Caleb frowned at the empty chat and muttered, "She made Gina suffer so much and didn't even bother to send a single text to check on her."

Just as he was about to call me, Gina suddenly grabbed his hand and sobbed, "It's all my fault. You canceled the wedding to take care of me, so Cecile has every right to resent me.

"It's all my fault for being so weak. We shouldn't contact each other from now on. We can't let Cecile misunderstand our relationship."

Caleb put down his phone and gently patted Gina. He said, "It's not your fault. Your poor health isn't on you. It's Cecile who's always paranoid and suspicious. This time, she needs to see the error of her ways."

I stood to the side and found his words ridiculous. But I was just a spirit now, and no one could see me.

I had dated Caleb for five years, and he had canceled our wedding 52 times because of Gina.

The first time was when Gina was caught by the media after messing around at a nightclub. He rushed back to handle the publicity crisis and abandoned me at the beach for an entire day.

The second time was during the ceremony. When he heard that Gina was being picked on by other aspiring actresses, he rushed back to stand up for her. I was left alone to become a laughingstock in front of the guests.

After that, anything that happened with Gina became an excuse for Caleb to abandon me.

This time was no exception.

Last week was our 52nd attempt to get married. The wedding was extremely simple. Only close family and friends were invited.

On the day before the wedding, I accidentally twisted my ankle. But I didn't want to miss this long-awaited wedding, so I spent the entire day enduring the pain while setting up the venue.

During the whole time, Caleb ignored me. Even when the wedding began, he still hadn't shown up.

That was when I got his call.

He said, "Sorry, Cecile. Gina suddenly has a terrible stomachache, and I need to rush her to the hospital. Let's call off the wedding this time.

"I promise I will definitely see our wedding through the next time."

He hung up right after, leaving me to face all our family and friends alone.

If it had been before, I would have thrown a huge tantrum.

But this time, I was over it.

Since Caleb didn't want to marry me, why should I keep humiliating myself?

I bought a plane ticket to go abroad and threw away all the gifts Caleb had given me.

But just as I was about to hand in my resignation, the production crew asked me to do Gina's makeup one last time. They didn't have a stand-in makeup artist.

After years of working together, I agreed.

But I never thought that choice would push me straight into ruin.

Gina's face reacted badly to the expired makeup she had tried, and Caleb pushed me into the cellar, refusing to listen to my explanation.

I struggled with all my might, but the air vents to the cellar were blocked, causing the air to grow thinner.

Ignoring my desperate pleas, Caleb locked the cellar door. He had taken away all my chances to escape.

Now, as I looked at Gina, who was in Caleb's arms, I shook my head in disappointment.

"Caleb Frost, you killed the person who loved you most in the world with your own hands," I thought.

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