The Man Who Always Won Lost at Love Chapter 05
My phone kept buzzing wildly on the passenger seat. When I stopped at a red light, I finally put the call on speaker.
“Dante, I’ve made myself clear enough. The engagement is off. We’re done.”
He sounded agitated. “What are you mad about now? I already apologized! What else do you want?”
Of course, he still didn’t think he had actually done anything wrong.
“Your apology doesn’t mean anything to me anymore.”
The other end went quiet. “What do you mean, it doesn’t mean anything?”
“I mean that from now on, whether you win or lose or who you’re with, none of it has anything to do with me.”
I took a deep breath. “You can spend the rest of your life coming in first. I’m done competing with you.”
A long silence followed.
Then, to my surprise, Dante’s voice trembled slightly. “Can’t we just talk this through? You’re ending five years
because I hit you once? What did those five years mean to you?”
I almost laughed. “Those five years didn’t end because of one slap. They ended because, every time it came down to a choice, you chose someone else over me.”
He immediately shot back, “Is this still about Mireya? Leona, the three of us grew up together. Can you stop
being so petty?”
The whole thing suddenly seemed absurd.
Dante had only met Mireya because of me.
And somehow, in the end, I was the one being told I had no right to care.
I didn’t bother explaining any further.
“I hope things turn out exactly the way you two want. You’ve already been to see Teresa together. It’d be a
shame not to get married now.”
“Leona!” Dante’s voice shot up, then abruptly softened. “Do you have to be so sarcastic?”
I had said the same kind of thing to him more times than I could count.
Every time we fought and he insisted on proving he was right, I would ask him wearily, “We’re supposed to
love each other. Why can’t we just talk? Do you really have to push me until I give in?”
Back then, the moment I softened, Dante only saw proof that he had won.
Now he finally understood what those words felt like from the other side.
It was too late.
I hung up.
The road out of the city felt impossibly long.
In a way, it had taken me eight years to finally leave.
My new apartment wasn’t ready for move–in yet, so I had no choice but to stay at a hotel for the time being.
But somehow, as I drove, I found myself back outside the apartment building Dante and I still shared.
Looking at the familiar entrance, I suddenly remembered Dante eight years ago, standing there with two
suitcases and a grin on his face.
“Let’s take this place. It’s close to Orsatti, so you can sleep ten minutes longer. I’ll make breakfast, and your
commute will be easy.”
Back then, I truly thought he had chosen it for me.
Only now did I realize it was also conveniently on the way to Mireya’s neighborhood.
Dante had to get to work before me every morning, yet he could park outside Mireya’s building and wait ten
or fifteen minutes for her.
A sudden knock on the window pulled me back to the present.
Dante stood outside looking exhausted. “I knew you didn’t mean it. You were just saying it in the heat of the
moment.”
“I’ve been waiting for you for three hours,” he said. “It’s late. Come home. I’ll take tomorrow off, and we’ll go
see your parents together. We can reschedule the engagement dinner.”
I stayed in the car. “You’ve got it wrong.”
Dante frowned. “What?”
“I only came back for my things. Once I have them, I’m leaving.”
His expression finally changed. “You’re serious? You’re actually leaving?”
I opened the door and headed toward the building.
Dante followed me. “How can you just walk away like this? Even if I did something wrong, I had my reasons! If it hadn’t been for what you did ten years ago-”
I stopped short.
“There it is again–ten years ago. Dante, what are you talking about? I have no idea what happened ten years
ago!”
His face went completely still.
