I Let My Eighteen Year Old Self Cancel Our Engagement Chapter 07

I Let My Eighteen Year Old Self Cancel Our Engagement Chapter 07

It was Brandon who told me how the whole drama played out.

He sent me a very long message: [Willow, I’m sorry. Back then, all of us joined in on the teasing one way or another. We called you petty, sensitive, not as generous and cute as Zoey. We were the ones who misjudged her. As for my girlfriend, I’ll apologize to her myself.]

At the time, I was tending to flowers in my newly rented apartment.

Eighteen-year-old Willow had completed her mission and retreated into my mind, chattering nonstop. They got off too easily. One after another, they didn’t trust their own girlfriends. Now they think an apology fixes everything?

I smiled and glanced around the empty new apartment. For the first time in a long while, I felt a quiet sense of relief.

There was no Owen’s desk here. No desk lamp he never turned off. No coat casually tossed wherever he pleased.

I would never again fall asleep alone and hear him leave in the middle of the night, followed by the sound of the lock clicking shut.

So living alone could even make the air feel cleaner.

The next day, the university forum exploded.

No one knew who had posted some screenshots from the flash drive.

Eloise was the first to speak up: [Some people love slapping the “sensitive” label on others and saying other people’s girlfriends are too controlling. Who would’ve thought someone could build a whole carefree persona on the surface? And be rotten so clearly behind everyone’s backs!]

Right after that, Tyler’s ex-girlfriend also posted.

[At first, I kept reflecting on what I had done wrong. So many nights, I tossed and turned, crying alone. I kept wondering if I was really that terrible, if I was really that unbearable.]

(I’m grateful that in the end, I managed to move on. But even now, knowing the truth has come out,

I don’t feel all that relieved. Justice has its own way of working out. I’ve always believed it takes two to tango.]

Their advisor also found out about the whole situation.

The next morning, Zoey went to his office and cried for hours. When she came out, her eyes were

swollen.

The recommendation letter she had wanted was gone. Her advisor only said, “I can tolerate a

student being slow. But I can’t tolerate a student putting all their energy into scheming against

others.”

Owen had passed his defense. But his advisor required him to add explanations for the sources of

certain data and figures in his slides.

The material I had helped him organize had to be cited and labeled all over again.

That afternoon, Owen sent me dozens of texts.

At first, they were only explanations: [Willow, I didn’t know Zoey was that kind of person behind my back. I really thought she was just innocent. I was fooled too. I admit I neglected you too much. Give me a chance to make it up to you, okay?]

Then they became apologies: [I’m sorry, Willow. I really messed up. Letting you suffer was my failure. I shouldn’t have taken everything you did for me all these years for granted. Please meet me

once. Can we talk?]

Later, his messages became more and more frantic.

Over and over, he only begged to see me once, to give him a chance to explain.

I didn’t reply to a single one.

A few days later, Owen found his way downstairs at my new apartment.

I didn’t know how he found it.

I only remembered going downstairs to take out the trash and seeing him standing under the streetlight, looking much more worn down than before.

The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up instantly. “Willow!”

I stopped at the apartment entrance and didn’t continue down the steps.

Eighteen-year-old Willow sneered in my mind. Tyler’s girlfriend was right. Zoey was wrong, sure. But are the men who couldn’t manage themselves innocent?

Owen took a step forward and stammered, “Willow, it’s okay if you can’t forgive me right now. I’m

only asking you to give me one chance to make it up to you. I’ve already made everything clear with Zoey. There will never be anything between us again.”

I looked at him like that and let out dry laughs. “So?”

Owen didn’t understand. “What?”

“I’m saying, now that you’ve realized she never actually liked you, you came back to me?”

His face turned pale. “No… that’s not what I mean. Willow, we were together for ten years! We were supposed to get engaged after I graduated! Can you really let me go?”

“I was just out of my mind for a moment. Nothing ever happened between her and me! We never crossed any lines. We didn’t even hold hands! I only spoke up for her a few times and helped her out. What’s the…”

Owen still wanted to say more, but I cut him off, “But you enjoyed it. She admired you, depended on

and gave you all the validation you wanted. So you enjoyed that attention. You looked forward

you,

to the thrill she gave you.”

“But you couldn’t let go of the stability I gave you either, so you were stuck between us. It looked like you weren’t choosing either side, but really, you wanted both. And now that you’ve finished enjoying it, you’re doing exactly this, pushing all the blame onto her.”

Owen’s breath caught “No. I never meant to hurt you!”

“But you already did.” I looked at him calmly. “Every time you left me behind and ran to her. Every time you spoke up for her and blamed me instead. You knew I would be hurt, but you still did it. Why? Because you were sure I would forgive you.”

Owen’s tears finally rolled down his cheeks. “I thought… no matter how much we fought, we’d never break up.”

But nothing lasts forever, does it?