His First Love or Me—Who Will He Choose? I Refuse Chapter 09
Fred disappeared for two weeks.
But news about him still came through mutual
friends.
Martin texted me.
[Lydia, Fred isn’t doing well.]
I didn’t reply.
He sent photos. A bar booth. Fred surrounded by
people.
Empty liquor bottles littered the tabletop.
He was leaning on the couch, laughing.
Laughing like crazy. But hollow.
Another photo. Him sitting on the edge of the
company roof at dawn.
Stories below him.
Martin texted:
[He posted your wedding photos on Story.]
I clicked in.
Fred had posted our only couple photo:
[Lydia. I’m going public now. Come back and see.]
Another one right after.
[I was a bastard before. Now let me love you. Is that okay?]
Three in the morning, he kept posting.
[You said you’d stay with me forever.]
[I don’t want anything anymore. I just want you.]
[Lydia. Please answer me.]
All the things he never gave m–the public
acknowledgment, the love confession, the
commitment.
Now it came like a late rain, pouring down.
But I wasn’t standing there anymore.
I turned off my phone and went back to wrapping
flowers for customers.
Sherry glanced at me.
“Ex?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Thinking of going back?”
“No.”
She smiled. “Just don’t. Bad luck.”
I smiled too.
Around that time, the studio landed a big job.
A beach resort hotel’s anniversary wedding show.
High standards. High budget. Sherry was scared
to take it.
I looked at the brief, and stayed up two nights
redoing the whole process.
Guest entry flow, floral installation designs, the couple’s vow exchange segment… I mapped every‘
detail out for her, piece by piece.
When I finished, Sherry slapped the table.
“Lydia. Were you really just ‘dating‘ before?”
I laughed. “No.”
“I used to build empires for someone else.”
She blinked. Then laughed too.
“And now?”
I closed the proposal. “Now I build my own.”
The day of the wedding show, a lot of medial
showed up.
I wore a black suit, earpiece tucked behind my ear.
I worked the event perfectly from backstage all
the way through the ceremony…
The hotel manager signed an extension on the
spot.
Sherry hugged me so tight I couldn’t breathe.
“Lydia! We’re rich!”
She was squeezing the air out of me.
“Let go first. The flower wall isn’t even taken down
yet.”
That night, the show trended on local news.
Fred saw me in a clip.
In the video, I stood in the ocean breeze, leaning
down to fix a bride’s veil.
My face was calm. My movements were sharp.
The caption underneath read:
[Beach wedding show goes viral. Lead planner Lydia wins praise.]
Fred stared it for a long time.
Long enough for the screen to go dark on its own.
And then he understood. I hadn’t left him to go.
hide and lick my wounds.
I was out there, in a place without him, shining.
That evening, a black car pulled up outside the
studio.
Fred stood by it. Thinner than before.
I tried to walk around him. He crossed the street
straight toward me.
A scooter slammed its brakes. The driver cursed
him out.
Fred acted like he didn’t hear.
He stopped in front of me, looking at me like I was made of glass.
“Lydia. I don’t know what else to do.”
I frowned. “What do you want now?”
His lip twitched.
“Can you make me one meal?”
“Last time.”
I should have said no. But people were staring. And he looked like he might shatter any second.
I didn’t want to be a spectacle.
So I took him back to my rental.
I made a bowl of noodles. Plain water. Dried noodles.
“Eat. Then leave.”
Fred held the bowl and ate slowly.
At the end, tears fell into the soup.
“You used to make me so many meals.”
“I always thought there would be more chances.”
He looked up at me.
“Lydia. I finally understand. There are no more
chances.”
I didn’t say anything.
He put the bowl down. With his hands clasped together, he offered me an apology.
“I was wrong. Hit me. Curse me.”
“Just don’t leave me.”
He grabbed my hand and pressed it to his face.
“I really can’t take this anymore…”
I pulled my hand back calmly.
“Fred. Just because you’re falling apart doesn’t
mean I have to save you.”
His face went pale.
I kept going, “You’re not the victim.”
“You’re just reaping what you sowed.”
