Resign with Grace, Return with Fire Chapter 28
“Are you two… Fred, answer me!” Sandra cried.
I couldn’t be bothered to respond and turned to leave, but she clung to me tightly.
“I thought I was the one in the wrong, but it turns out you’re the one who changed! I’m your fiancee. I even bought a diamond ring to propose to you. How could you do this to me?” she screeched.
In an instant, the people around us started to lap up the drama. They assumed I was the scumbag; they cursed me for being cold, shameless, and a heartless player.
“Man, society’s going downhill. He’s got a fiancee, and he’s messing around with another woman. What a jerk!”
“He’s a total scumbag. The woman’s love is wasted on him!”
As the crowd piled on, Sandra just watched, never once trying to shut them down. She was clearly venting her anger. She kept saying that she loved me, but this was who she really was.
I knew very well that she was waiting for me to apologize to her and coax her like I used to. Too bad she was going to be disappointed. I wasn’t the same Fred Sloan she could twist around her finger.
I looked at her icily. “Sandra, get this straight-you’re the one who has changed, so quit playing the victim and deluding yourself. Besides, we’ve already broken up. You have no right to boss me around.”
“Fred, do you seriously feel no guilt? How can you be so cruel?” Sandra cried angrily. Tears welled up in her eyes.
I didn’t want to argue anymore. “If you’re going to repeat the same nonsense every time, I don’t want to waste another minute listening to you. There are plenty of men in this world. Instead of spending your time harassing me, go to Lester or something. He’s the right man for you.”
She burst into tears and let them spill down her face. “You know I love you, Fred. I feel nothing for Lester! I’ve already explained all of this to you. Why won’t you let it go? Can you really just throw away the years we were together?”
She kept insisting nothing had happened between her and Lester, but every time he so much as pouted, her heart would ache for him.
That was supposed to be something exclusive to couples-heartache is where love would start.
And if she truly cared about our years together, Lester would never have been in the picture to begin with. So, what broke us wasn’t just Lester’s existence-it was Sandra’s half-measures and indifference.
Even without Lester, someone else would’ve wedged themselves between us sooner or later.
I didn’t want to drag this farce out any longer. I shook Sandra off and turned to leave.
“Fred, wait!”
She rushed in front of me. Before I could react, she yanked my hand and forced a diamond ring onto my finger. A sharp pain shot through it as the ring became jammed around it.
I stared at the ring, which was a whole size smaller. I felt nothing but irony.
Ridiculous, wasn’t it?
Sandra swore this diamond ring was one she’d painstakingly chosen just for me, yet it didn’t even fit me. If I remembered correctly, it would fit Lester’s finger perfectly. Even when getting a ring, she’d instinctively gotten it in Lester’s size.
It was painfully clear whether or not she loved me, wasn’t it?
The air went still, and a flicker of embarrassment crossed Sandra’s face.
