“I told you, the wedding’s still on. I’m just
taking care of her because of her dad.”
Right, Willow was the daughter of a family
friend of his.
Ever since her dad died, Connor had taken on
the responsibility of “caring” for Willow.
Willow called him “Uncle Connor” with a
sweet voice, but the look in her eyes was
pure adoration.
I knew Connor understood perfectly what was
happening. He just played dumb.
And I? I was just a shield. Protecting him and
Willow from gossip.
I looked up at him. I responded calmly, “Yeah.
く
Connor, I’m done with this love triangle.
“My wedding is still on. Just not with you.”
He frowned. He started lecturing me.
“I’m busy. I don’t have time for your
emotions.”
“If you don’t want to get married, then fine.
Let’s call the whole thing off.”
Then he left me standing there in the mall and
drove home.
He didn’t know the wedding was called off.
And I didn’t want to marry him.
I checked my phone. The last text I’d sent to
L
I tried sending another one.
Same thing. Red exclamation point.
He hadn’t even unblocked me.
And he expected me to marry him?
I would have tried to talk him out of it, try to
make him see sense.
But I was done deluding myself.
His heart hadn’t been with me for a long time.
As I was hailing a cab, my actual fiancé, Jake,
called.
He wanted to meet at some new coffee shop
He noticed my empty hand. He looked
confused.
“You didn’t get a ring?”
I gave him a weak smile. “Nothing really
caught my eye.‘
دو
Then he pulled out a ring box. He handed it to
- me.
“I brought this back from France. I wasn’t
sure if you’d like it, so I held back showing it
to you.”
I opened it. Inside was a stunning, rare pink
diamond.
My name was engraved on the band.
く
This was a level of thoughtfulness I had never
experienced before.
Tears stung my eyes. I was about to slip the
ring on and thank him.
Then Connor called.
“Hey, where are you? I’ll send a driver to pick
you up for the license.”
After that blow–up, he actually expected me
to still get the license with him?
He was so sure that I would forgive him.
Whenever we fought, he’d give me the silent
treatment.
Within half a day, we would be talking again.
Because I gave in.
I caved into allowing Willow to attend our
dates.
Caving into letting Willow label the passenger
seat as hers.
Caving into letting Willow fill the car with her
stuffed animals.
Connor’s clothes, his daily necessities,
everything was picked by Willow.
There was no sign of me left in his life.
Even then, Willow was not satisfied.
She jumped from the second floor of the
house because Connor didn’t answer her
<
Connor dropped all his billion–dollar deals to
be by her side.
He blamed everything on me.
Just because I wasn’t there to care for Willow
right away.
He forced me to apologize to Willow. He
made me kneel in front of Willow’s hospital
room to beg for her forgiveness.
Only then he would forgive me and marry me.
Otherwise, he would break up with me.
I was too in love with him back then. I could
not bear to leave him.
Г
So I gave in.
But love should not be treated this way. If you
were hurt enough, you will naturally leave.
Thinking about those memories made me
smile bitterly.
