Chapter 9
“Lenard, can you care about me just a little? Or take me seriously, just once. Is it really that hard for you to give me some attention, even just for a second?”
I was so angry that my eyes welled up with tears. And he knew I wasn’t someone who cried easily. Perhaps seeing me act so out of character, something inside him shifted.
He promised to try and once again, I believed him.
Growing up, I was surrounded by an overwhelming lack of love. After my parents divorced, all they left me was a house and two housekeepers. The housekeepers only cooked and cleaned; they didn’t pay much attention to me. Slowly, I learned to take care of myself.
One day after school, the housekeepers were nowhere to be found, so I decided to cook for myself. I turned on the gas stove,
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but for some reason, I couldn’t turn it off. Panic set in as the flames grew higher and inched closer to me. Just as I thought it might reach my hair, a boy climbed in through the window, shut off the gas valve and saved me.
He introduced himself as Lenard before quickly running off. After that, I never saw him again. It had been years before our paths crossed once more. He looked so different from how I remembered him. Maybe it was just puberty, I thought to myself. Then, I mustered the courage to approach him. When I thanked him for what he had done back then, he furrowed his brows and with his youthful, almost mocking voice, he said something that stung.
“I don‘ t remember doing any of that,” he said. “And just so you know, if you‘ re telling this story hoping to get in with the Donovan Family, you‘ re completely wrong. Not just anyone can be friends with the Donovan, let alone be one.”
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I froze mid–step and quickly backed into my own little bubble of safety.
Even so, I couldn’t help but secretly pay attention to him after that. I followed his every move, doing my best to improve myself, hoping that someday, when people. mentioned his name, I could blend in. In
way, that
its own way,
satisfaction.
gave me a sense of
I waited, watching him from afar. When he broke up with his first love, he finally noticed me. He waved me over like one might beckon a stray dog.
“Do you like me, Faye?” He asked confidently. “Do you want to be my girlfriend?”
I froze for a moment, then quickly nodded.
When Priscilla found out she scolded me hard. Nagging me for being so caught up in love, saying that Lenard was just heartbroken and looking for a substitute. Well, I agree with her.
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“Then why don’t you break up with him?” Her face contorted in frustration.
I shook my head, rejecting her suggestion. “It’s fine. It feels good just being there for him. Who knows, maybe he’ll notice. me eventually!”
Priscilla annoyed by my lack of backbone, pinched my cheeks and tugged at me. “If you keep going, you’ll get hurt eventually.”
“Well, let’s not jinx it,” I shrugged, brushing off her concern. “Let‘ s figure out the solution later, for what comes
later.”
After I had finished a design sketch, a colleague called me downstairs with a playful expression, saying someone was waiting for me.
I thought it might be Rafael, but it was so unlikely of him. Why would he be looking for me? He never even got out of his car to pick me up.
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Chapter 9
When I reached the ground floor, there was. Lenard, standing at the front desk with a bouquet of flowers. I immediately turned. to leave, but he blocked my way.
“Faye, stop!” he shouted, his voice loud enough to catch the attention of everyone nearby. “You can’t keep running away from me. Let’s talk.”
His outburst was enough to make
passersby pause and a few even started to gather, eager to watch the unfolding
drama. I sighed in resignation.
“I’ve cleaned the apartment and changed the locks,” he began, his voice softer now but still urgent. “I’ve also prepared a lot of gifts for you. And I’ve ended things with Arlene. Please, come back to me.”
For the first time, he seemed desperate, as
if his screaming that if he
S were
didn’t fight for me now, I would leave him for good.
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I shook my head. If the wedding dress incident and that fake marriage hadn’t happened, maybe his apologies would have softened me. But not now.
My gaze shifted to the woman standing by the door, her expression a mix of fury and despair. Calmly, I spoke, pointing past him, “Instead of spouting all this nonsense to me, why don’t you sort things out with her first? She deserves an explanation from you far more than I do.”
Lenard turned to follow my gaze. There was Arlene, lowering the phone in her hand. Tears brimmed in her eyes,
threatening to fall, making her look utterly pitiful. For the first time, Lenard didn’t
rush to her. There was no trace of the usual
concern or affection in his eyes–only
irritation.
As usual, after finishing my work, I opened my social media to check the latest trends. That’s when I noticed an account
dragging my name into a scandal. Someone
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had paid this account to post about me, labeling me as a homewrecker. Lenard was being portrayed as a married man, with his supposed fiancée neglected and heartbroken. To protect his image, the account twisted the narrative, suggesting I had deliberately seduced him.
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