He Married Her While I Waited at the Altar, I Called My Mother While She Called Me Back Chapter 10

He Married Her While I Waited at the Altar, I Called My Mother While She Called Me Back Chapter 10

“Huge news.”

Riley sent me a voice memo on my second day back in Bayview City.

“Hailey and Julian are getting divorced.”

“What?”

“She initiated it. Word is she met some guy from a wealthy business family. She moved out last

week.”

“Did they sign the divorce papers?”

“Signed. Hailey walked away with a car and two credit cards.”

Three months.

Their marriage had only lasted three months.

He gave me up for Hailey, and now Hailey had given him up.

I put down my phone, not feeling much of anything.

I wasn’t gloating, nor did I feel a sense of vindication.

It was just the predictable calm of something I already saw coming.

That night, I went out for BBQ by myself.

I ordered a Half Mild/Half Inferno BBQ Platter.

I used to only ever order mild when I ate with Julian because he couldn’t handle spice.

I grabbed a piece of meat with my tongs and dipped it into the inferno sauce. It was so spicy it brought tears to my eyes.

But I enjoyed every bite.

When I left the restaurant, a light rain had started to fall.

I stood by the entrance of the mall, hailing a ride.

Someone was standing under the streetlight across the street.

Wearing a gray coat, looking noticeably thinner.

It was Julian.

The moment he saw me, he froze entirely.

Then he crossed the street and walked toward me.

I didn’t run, and I didn’t hide.

He stopped in front of me.

He had dark bags under his eyes and unkempt stubble on his chin.

“Stella.”

“Yeah.”

“Hailey and I are divorced.”

“I know.”

“Are you… doing okay here?”

“I’m doing great.”

His lips moved, repeatedly searching for the right words.

Finally, he said one sentence.

“Could you give me one more chance?”

“I know I was wrong. I know everything now.”

I looked at him.

Rain was dripping down from his forehead.

In the past, if I saw him like this, I would have immediately rushed over to shield him with my

umbrella.

Now, I just held my umbrella over myself, without taking a single step forward.

“Julian.”

“Yeah.”

“I used to think you were my whole world, and that I could give up everything for you.”

“But you took my ‘could’ for a ‘should.’ You took my whole heart as something you were simply

entitled to.”

He opened his mouth to explain.

I raised a hand to stop him.

“You say you know everything now. Let me ask you: how many times did you ever accommodate me being terrified of the cold?”

He didn’t speak.

“To this day, you still don’t know what brand of chocolate I like.”

“You watched your friends call me a clown, and you replied with a snickering emoji.”

“When you told me to sleep in the guest room, did you even remember that I paid half the down payment on that apartment?”

With every sentence he heard, his body seemed to shrink a little more.

“Stella, I’ll change. Just give me time. I swear I’ll change.”

“You don’t need to anymore.”

I gave him a small smile.

Compared to the girl three years ago in that apartment who said “okay” to everything, I had finally

learned how to say “no.”

“You don’t need to change anymore, Julian.”

“Because I’m no longer waiting for you.”

My Uber pulled up behind me.

I closed my umbrella and opened the car door.

The second I closed the door, I looked through the window and saw him standing motionless in the

rain.

The driver asked, “Where to?”

“18 Oakwood Drive.”

That was my new apartment.

I lived alone. It was small, but it was enough.

As the car passed through the intersection, I didn’t look back.

Riley sent a text: “He’s still standing there. Are you really not going back down?”

I pressed the voice memo button.

“When you miss out on someone, they’re gone.”

“Even turning back for one last look is a waste of time.”