Resign with Grace, Return with Fire Chapter 24
I’d been too naive. How could a broken bracelet ever go back to being as good as new? How could a relationship that had already gone bad ever go back to how it was?
I returned to my senses and reached out to take the bracelet. Seeing that, Sandra’s eyes lit up with relief, and her voice shook with excitement. “Fred, I knew you still loved-”
I tossed the bracelet into a nearby trash can before she could finish speaking.
She froze. When she came to, she lunged for the trash can like a madwoman. She was a total germaphobe, but right then, she didn’t seem to care. She dug through the trash until she finally found the bracelet. She cradled it carefully to her chest.
Her voice trembled as she confronted me. “Fred, this is a token of our love and proof of our wonderful relationship. How could you just throw it away?”
I looked indifferent. “A bracelet that doesn’t fit well should’ve been tossed long ago. That goes for the person wearing it. I don’t want to get back together with you, Sandra. Let it go.”
She panicked, and her tone turned frantic. “But why? I don’t believe you can just let me go like this. Nothing happened between Lester and me, and I’ve admitted that I made a mistake. If you’d just say the word, we could go back to how we were. Why does it have to be like this?”
I didn’t say a single thing.
Sandra burst into tears and clutched my hand, pleading with me. “Fred, please don’t be like this. Do you think I’m lying to you? Let’s go to the city hall right now. We can register our marriage once they open for the day. How about that? Is that okay?”
Her clinging wore me down. I shook her off and said evenly, “That’s enough, Sandra. We had a good run, so let’s end it on a positive note. If you keep hounding me like this, you’ll only annoy me more.”
With that, I left her there and headed upstairs alone.
That night, Sandra waited downstairs until morning. I didn’t sleep a wink, either.
The following day, Ariana asked me out to a movie, hoping to help me clear my head. The moment we sat, I realized that Sandra was in the seat beside us.
“What a coincidence, Fred.” She smiled at me, nerves flickering in her eyes.
I couldn’t help frowning. Was she stalking me?
That rubbed me the wrong way. I asked coldly, “Didn’t I make myself clear yesterday? We’re never getting back together.”
“But I want to pursue you again. Don’t forget that I was the one who chased you first back then,” she said.
It was true. Back in college, when I was getting bullied, Sandra had stepped in to defend me. After that, she kept picking the same classes as me and sitting beside me. She’d always start the conversation and ask me out.
I’d turned her down a few times, but after enough tries, I’d been moved.
At the time, Sandra wasn’t as polished and aloof as she was now. She had that liveliness and vivacity that all college students had. I’d fallen hard for her.
But now, that feeling had long since faded with time. The situation seemed the same, but the people were utterly changed.
While I was lost in thought, Sandra had already stepped up to me. She held out a bottle of milk. “Fred, I bought you milk. I remember you, like me, love drinking it.”
I looked at her calmly as I sneered inwardly. She had no idea that I’d never liked milk. In fact, I had a mild case of lactose intolerance.
Back when we used to watch movies together, I would always order milk because she’d been brainwashed by toxic weight-loss advice online. She’d wanted to slim down so badly that she’d refused to touch her favorite milk.
