I Took Off My Ring At The Abandoned Station Chapter 08

I Took Off My Ring At The Abandoned Station Chapter 08

I ran into Daisy Brooks at the mall that day. 

She was working at a coffee shop, wearing an apron, hair in a ponytail, head down wiping cups. 

I stood at the door, hesitated, then walked in. 

“A latte, light sugar. 

She looked up, and the cup in her hand fell to the floor. 

With a crash, ceramic shards flew near her 

feet, but she didn’t flinch. 

She just stared at me. 

“Abigail… Abigail.” 

I said nothing. 

She scrambled to pick up the pieces, her finger getting nicked, a bead of blood 

appearing. 

She ignored it and stood up, her voice shaking: “Why… why are you here?” 

“Buying coffee.” 

“I… I’ll make it for you.” She turned around, 

her hands still shaking so much she nearly 

dropped the next cup. 

I looked at her. 

“You don’t have to,” I said. “I’ll go 

somewhere else.” 

“Abigail!” she called out, her voice suddenly loud, startling even herself. 

I turned back. 

She stood behind the counter, her eyes red, biting her lip until it was white. 

A few customers nearby were watching us. 

“Abigail, I’m sorry,” she said. 

She had said those words at the service area. 

Back then, she said it so easily, her tears 

came on cue, her voice soft and thin. 

But it wasn’t real then. 

She knew how to cry beautifully, and how to 

speak to make people pity her. 

“I really am sorry,” she said. “Not for 

sympathy, not for your forgiveness, I just… I 

just wanted to say, I’m sorry.” 

I looked at her, saying nothing. 

“You were so good to me,” her voice was 

broken. “You found me a job, helped me rent 

a place; when I couldn’t afford the deposit, 

you transferred five hundred dollars without 

a word. When I was working late and 

couldn’t get a ride, you had Nathaniel pick 

me up. You said it wasn’t easy for me to 

come to the city alone from the mountains; 

you said you’d help me.” 

Her tears fell, hitting the counter one after 

another. 

“And what did I do? I seduced your husband. 

I used the things you taught me to steal your man. I’m… I’m not a decent person, Abigail, 

I’m not.” 

The other customers left, and the shop grew 

quiet. 

I stood there, still holding my bag. The 

coffee didn’t happen, but I didn’t want it 

anyway. 

“Daisy.” I said. 

She looked up, her eyes bloodshot. 

“Are you finished?” 

She blinked, then nodded. 

“Then I’m leaving.” 

I turned. 

“Abigail!” she shouted after me again. 

“Don’t you want to curse at me? Hit me? 

You… you’re just leaving?” 

I stopped for a moment without looking 

back. 

“I have nothing to say to you. Live your life.” 

I pushed the door and walked out. 

I thought I would be angry seeing her, or 

sad, or at least feel some surge of emotion. 

But there was nothing. 

It was like seeing someone I knew, nodding, 

and walking away. 

Not because I was magnanimous, but because she no longer mattered to me. 

People who don’t matter don’t deserve my 

energy. 

That night, Chloe Stevens came to my place to drop off files. 

She saw the coffee on my table and asked: “Didn’t you say you were going to buy 

coffee? Why didn’t you get one?” 

“Ran into someone.” 

“Who?” 

“Daisy Brooks.” 

Chloe’s expression changed instantly: “Did 

she cause trouble?” 

“No. She’s working at a coffee shop. She saw 

me, cried, and apologized.” 

Chloe was silent for a while, then put down 

the files and sat across from me. 

“Ms. Miller, don’t you hate her?” 

I thought about it. 

“I did. That night at the service area, I 

wanted to kill her. Later on the plane, I hated 

her too. During those months abroad, I’d 

wake up in the middle of the night hating 

them.” 

“But now?” 

“Now, I don’t,” I said. “Hating someone is too exhausting. I don’t want to waste my strength on her.”