Chapter 10
I erased every trace of my old life.
But somehow, it still found its way back to
- me.
The push notifications kept popping up- either about Heather selling off most of his company, or him and Jennifer getting into a fight at some hospital.
I didn’t even read them. I just swiped and deleted them.
Everything went exactly how I thought it would.
After I caught him cheating, he didn’t even hesitate he dumped Jennifer right away.
But what’s the point? It’s too late to fix everything.
The pain snuck up on me slowly, but before I knew it, I was drowning.
Every lonely night, I cried so hard I
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couldn’t breathe.
After that, I started clicking “not interested” on every piece of news about him.
If something really upset me, I reported it.
Over time, there were fewer and fewer updates about anything back home.
Finally, the last person connecting me to my old life disappeared.
And I just kept going, day by day.
A month later, I got my first paycheck.
I was shocked by how proud I felt. For the first time, I was making it on my own.
I wasn’t the same fragile girl he used to protect.
I had my own life now.
On the 36th day after we split, I saw someone outside the café.
From behind, he looked just like him.
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But I didn’t go over.
Two days later, I spotted someone near my apartment building.
His side profile reminded me of him.
But… there’s no way he had a beard that long.
After that, Heather stopped popping into my head as much.
But one day, my manager called out to me.
“Hey, Nancy, do you know this guy? He’s been going around with your photo, but he’s asking about someone named Shannon.”
My hand froze mid–air while I was cleaning cups.
“N–No, I don’t know him. Must be someone who looks like me. I mean, girls with my face are pretty common back home, you know.”
“Oh, really? Everyone back there must be
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all gorgeous then.”
The manager didn’t seem to think much of it and went back to work.
But my heart was pounding, and I just couldn’t calm down.
After work, I went to buy some bread. Just as I was about to pay, a hand reached out. and stopped me.
“It’s on me.”
Heather. His voice was rougher than I remembered, and he looked… older and worn down.
He carried the bag of bread for me as we walked out of the store, and I couldn’t hold. back anymore.
“What are you doing here?”
“How the hell did you even find me?”
He looked down at the bread in his hand and gave me this faint, broken smile.
“You said once… for your 25th birthday,
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you wanted to visit here. I remembered.”
“And… you don’t know how to cook, so I figured you’d still be buying bread like this. I’ve been waiting for you. For so long.”
“Shannon, I-”
I raised a hand to cut him off and took the
bread from him.
“There’s nothing more to say. You already called the cops. You should know this by now–Shannon is gone. I’m not her anymore.”
“You got the divorce papers, didn’t you? Look, we have nothing to do with each other anymore, so please don’t bother me again.”
I turned and walked away quickly.
But he followed me, his steps matching
mine.
“Please, babe, just let me explain first. Jennifer’s gone. She won’t bother you again, and neither will her baby.”
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“It’s all on me. I was stupid, out of my mind. I’m such a bastard. I deserve this–I deserve all of it. I wasn’t thinking,
Shannon. I wasn’t thinking at all.”
He slapped himself hard across the face, blood streaming down, freezing into frost in the cold.
“Please, babe, forgive me this once. I… I saw the disgusting messages she sent you- I already taught her a lesson. She’s done. She’s banned from the industry. You’ll never see her face again on any screen. Babe, I’m begging you. Just give me one more chance.”
“I’ve sold all the companies I owned back home. The ones I couldn’t sell, I’ve entrusted to others to manage.
“If you want to stay here, I’ll stay with you.”
“I’ll cook for you every day like I always did. I’ll be here every day, waiting for you to come home.”
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