The Day My Slow Brain Finally Felt Heartbreak Chapter 07
Three years later.
On a sunlit street in Provence, France.
I pushed open the glass door of my flower shop, the windbell above the frame letting out a crisp, musical
chime.
The morning sun was perfect.
Humming a soft tune, I skillfully trimmed and wrapped a fresh delivery of tulips.
These past three years had been incredibly peaceful.
Occasionally, I would catch bits of gossip about those two from the local Chinese international student
group chats.
Word was that Nathan and Joy had broken up a long time ago.
They lost the baby.
Since then, the two of them had descended into a never-ending cycle of mutual torture.
Joy blamed Nathan for being heartless – for costing them their baby and destroying the closest friendship
she had ever had.
She made a scene outside Nathan’s company every single day, weeping to anyone who would listen.
But Nathan was even more unhinged.
He blamed Joy for being cheap, calling her a manipulative temptress..
He claimed that if it weren’t for Joy, he would never have abandoned me outside the operating room, and he
would never have lost the love of his life.
Hearing these things, I only offered a faint, detached smile.
It felt like listening to a story about total strangers.
I placed the wrapped tulips into a bucket.
Suddenly, my spine stiffened.
I felt an intense, suffocating gaze burning into my back.
Confused, I turned around.
The shears in my hand nearly clattered to the floor.
Standing just outside the shop door was a completely emaciated, hollowed-out man.
It was Nathan.
He had actually tracked me down all the way here.
The moment he saw me turn around, Nathan’s eyes turned blood-red.
Tears spilled over instantly.
Abandoning all restraint, he shoved the door open and stumbled toward me.
“Valerie…”
“It really is you… Valerie!”
He lunged forward to hug me, but half a step away, he recoiled as if he had been struck by electricity.
“You’re speaking faster… your movements are so fluid…”
He sobbed, his voice shaking violently.
“Has your condition gotten better?”
“From three years ago… does the accident wound still hurt?”
With a heavy thud, he dropped straight to his knees right in front of me.
He clutched at his hair and broke down in tears.
“Valerie, I was wrong. I really know I was wrong.”
“For the past three years, not a single day has passed without regret. Every night I dream of you covered in
blood.”
“I threw Joy out. I’ve never seen her again.”
“Please forgive me, okay? Just give me one more chance.”
J
“I’ll take you home. I swear I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you, even if it kills me!”
He tilted his head up, his eyes swimming with a desperate, pathetic hope.
He seemed to be waiting for me to slowly whisper “okay,” just like I used to.
But he was bound to be disappointed.
I looked at the man I had loved for so many years.
My heart didn’t even register a single flicker of emotion.
I simply took a step back, widening the distance between us.
I looked him dead in the eye, my voice calm and perfectly clear.
I’m sorry, sir.”
“I’m already married.”
With that, I raised my left hand.
A wedding ring rested firmly on my finger.
Nathan’s wailing stopped instantly.
Every single drop of color drained from his face in a heartbeat.
