My Don Mistook Survival for Greed Chapter 07

My Don Mistook Survival for Greed Chapter 07

After I finished my work for the day.

Back to my rented basement in Brownsville. Midnight again.

The cramped hallway had an unexpected visitor.

Jason and Dante grew up together, I knew I couldn’t hide this.

I just never expected it to happen so soon.

Too fast for me to cover up how bad off I was.

My dignity-ripped open again and again. I had no words left.

Silent standoff. Long.

Dante spoke first.

“You’ve been living… here?”

I felt anger flicker.

Wasn’t it obvious just by looking? Why did he have to ask again?

I didn’t want to answer.

Dante tried a different question.

“Why hide it from me?”

The hallway light flickered once.

It let me see that Dante’s usually straight back looked slightly hunched now.

Yet, none of that had anything to do with me anymore.

“What’s there to say at this point?” I said indifferently, “Showing up at your ex-girlfriend’s place in the middle of the night-aren’t you worried your current girlfriend will get mad?”

“No, that’s not it. Me and Celina, it’s… not what you think.” Dante rushed the words out, they came out stumbling instead.

“Celina, she… I don’t actually like her. I was just mad back then, I wanted to prove there were girls

who didn’t care about money.”

I laughed softly.

“She really doesn’t care about money. You made the right choice.”

Once upon a time, I hated Jason! Hated Dante! Hated Celina!

But after hating back and forth.

In the end-I hated myself. For sinking so low as to hope someone else would give me love and

happiness.

The love and happiness I never had.

I hated the pathetic picture I made, abandoned and pitiful.

I hated that I wasn’t stronger.

Once I saw that-I didn’t hate anyone anymore.

Yet Dante came back.

Under the dim light, pain crawled all over his face.

“What the hell did I do?” He held his head weakly. “I kicked you to the curb when you were at your lowest, most broken point.

“What did I do?” He clutched his head. “I left you-when you were suffering the most.

“Then immediately went public with Celina.

“Even let her humiliate you.

“I’m an idiot. Renee…”

But I was too tired.

I needed rest, I needed sleep.

No time to listen to a passerby’s monologue.

I tried to step around him. Get inside.

He grabbed my arm.

He begged.

“I’ll break up with Celina tonight. Renee-can you give me one more chance?”

I had already given Dante a chance.

In the end. It crashed. I bled.

I should never have given it to him.

If I hadn’t let him in, I wouldn’t have gone through all this pain.

The motion-sensor light in the hallway cut out.

Memories roared loudest in the dark.

I suddenly remembered the day Dante broke up with me.

I was still working at the Caruso Family’s bar back then.

The bar launched a new limoncello dessert. Everyone said it was incredible.

Just… expensive.

Dante loved limoncello-flavored desserts more than anything.

I gritted my teeth, bought one and wrapped it up, planning to bring it home to share with him after my shift.

Neither of us ever got the chance to taste it.

Because Dante showed up where I worked, to break up

with me.

He actually said a lot, but I couldn’t hear a single word clearly.

The word “over” was too heavy.

It crushed the fantasy where I was still eagerly waiting for him to praise me for remembering his favorite dessert.

My brain couldn’t accept it. So, I awkwardly tried to verify.

“Dante, this kind of joke isn’t funny at all.”

But how could there be any smile on Dante’s face? Everything he wore was dead seriousness.

I stammered, completely lost.

“Dante… did I do something wrong?”

Dante met my eyes.

He didn’t say whether I was wrong or right.

He just spoke like he was stating a plain fact. “Renee, I don’t like girls who are too materialistic.

“I’m not materialistic,” I babbled in panic, “Just give me a little more time.

“Let’s not talk about this.

“I saved you an amazing dessert today. Wait here. Let me get it.”

I ran to the staff area. From the fridge, I pulled it out carefully, like I was pulling out my own heart.

But Dante remained firm.

“It’s pointless.”

I got frustrated and angry.

“Did Jason put some nonsense in your head again? Don’t believe him, he’s not a good person at all.

“Yeah. He’s lying.”

I was too desperate.

I threw everything aside and reached for Dante’s hand.

I thought if I just acted cute, everything would be fine.

Yet, Dante shook me off.

The dessert fell to the floor.

I went to pick it up, only to find it was too smushed to recognize what it had been.

My hand, mid-reach, froze.

I refused to admit it was all for nothing.

But Dante still popped the last bubble of my fantasy. “Renee, it’s over between us.”

I didn’t remember what happened after that.

All I could recall was one single tear falling.

It spread out on the carpet.

The heat was on, so the tear dried quickly.