13 Chapter 13
I was instantly awake. I checked the time and realized I’d only been asleep for a short while. My annoyance and exhaustion sharpened my tone. “Like the whiteboard says,
we’re over.”
He dismissed us and told Marcus to show me to my dorm. I dropped my luggage and flopped onto the bed with a sigh of relief. I’d only napped on the plane, and exhaustion was hitting me hard. I fell asleep without even unpacking.
I blocked all his social media accounts. Then I saw dozens of unread messages.
I had no desire to see him. A breakup doesn’t require mutual consent. When one person decides it’s over, it’s over.
Beneath his anger, there was a hint of hurt. He didn’t want to break up. The thought of being dumped by me had never crossed his mind. Why would I ever leave?
A good ex is one who disappears completely from the other’s life. There was no need for us to meet again.
A wave of guilt washed over me for leaving so stubbornly back then. He looked at me, his most promising and most disappointing student, and sighed. “You’re back,” he said, his voice softer than I expected. “This time, try to stick around.”
“Besides,” I added, “I realized you don’t love me at all.”
I glanced at them and deleted them all.
I didn’t overthink it. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open.
A ringing phone woke me. I answered, still half-asleep. Albert’s furious voice roared from the other end. “Sherry, where the hell are you?!”
It had been five years, and I noticed the Director had more gray hair now.
“Let’s just end this with some dignity,” I said, and hung up before he could reply.
I pulled the covers over my head, shutting out the world, and drifted back to sleep.
His anger flared. “No, I don’t agree!” “You owe me a reason.” “Running away on our wedding day with nothing but a breakup note-what the hell is that?”
16:07
1/0
I nodded, pushing my emotions down.
“I don’t agree to this breakup. Tell me where you are. I need to see you,” he demanded.
I didn’t answer. Krista was just the catalyst, the spark that finally set fire to the crumbling foundation of our relationship. For the past six months, I’d seen the tenderness he showed her. And I finally understood: he didn’t love me. That was the
real reason.
Silence on the other end. Just as I was about to drift off again, his hoarse voice came through. “So, you broke up with me because of Krista?”
All I wanted was to go back to sleep, not argue.
The first few were about the wedding, followed by a frantic stream of “Where are you?” He’d sent more messages today than in the entire past month.
“You were going to have a sham marriage and a baby with another woman. Did you really expect me to marry a man who was in love with someone else?”
