I Cleaned His Fridge For Three Years For Nothing Chapter 09

I Cleaned His Fridge For Three Years For Nothing Chapter 09

Rhys and I officially became a couple six months after the studio’s grand opening.

There were no dramatic, over-the-top gestures.

One afternoon we drove deep into the surrounding hills to collect reclaimed oak timber for a renovation job, and rain caught us on the drive back to town.

We sheltered under a narrow wooden porch overhang, and he draped his wool coat over my shoulders, leaving half his own torso soaked through with rainwater.

“You shouldn’t push yourself like this with your heart condition.’

“Then you can take charge of looking after me.”

I stared at him, a laugh bubbling up in my chest.

“Rhys, have you been planning this for ages?”

He smiled wide.

“I have. But I waited patiently, never cut the line.”

I reached out and tangled my fingers through his.

Rain pattered against the wooden roof above us, sounding like a stamp sealing a long-overdue

answer.

Our days unfolded at a gentle, unrushed pace after that.

I focused all my energy on running the vintage renovation studio, and he crafted custom

small-batch oak furniture pieces.

Marnie often said Rhys and I were two people who specialized in restoring broken old things—and

along the way, we’d slowly fixed our own fractured selves too.

Kai visited Willowspire occasionally after that, never intruding, only watching from a distance.

Once he crossed paths with Rhys and me walking through the town alleyways.

Rhys carried a canvas grocery bag full of fresh produce, while I cradled a potted wildflower bush

against my chest.

Kai stared at us for a long time before speaking.

“You look exactly like the version of yourself you always dreamed of being.”

“I only just remembered that dream myself recently.”

A faint, sad smile tugged at his lips, weighted down with unspoken regret.

“That’s wonderful.”

He didn’t show up again after that day for over a year.

The following spring, Clara fell seriously ill and was admitted to Havenbrook General Hospital, so 1 flew back to the city to visit her.

Clara gripped my hand tight in the hospital room, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Sage, I’m so sorry. If I’d asked more questions back then…”

I shook my head gently.

“You never did anything wrong to hurt me, Mrs. Voss.”

Kai stood silent by the ward window the entire time, only speaking as he walked me out of the hospital building.

“My mom still keeps that vintage silver engraved bracelet locked away.”

“Pass it along to someone who’s actually meant to receive it.”

He dropped his head and laughed softly, sad and hollow.

“There won’t be anyone else.”

I looked out at the endless stream of cars and pedestrians passing through the hospital parking lot.

Our breakdown wasn’t ever just about that single carton of yogurt hogging my fridge shelf.

It was every time he talked over me mid-thought, every dinner he rushed ahead without glancing back to see if I followed, every careless line that brushed my feelings off as overreacting or childish.

That yogurt mess was just the last tiny straw that broke a load I’d been carrying alone for far too long.

“Kai, even if that yogurt incident never happened, we would’ve fallen apart eventually.”

His eyes glistened, but he nodded and forced a small smile.

“I know that now.”

Rhys waited for me beside his rental car, waving from across the lot.

Kai spotted him and spoke quietly.

“He clearly treats you with all the care you deserve.”

“He does.”

“I’m glad.”

He pulled the passenger car door open for me, the gesture natural yet restrained.

He’d finally learned how to treat me with respect–but it was far too late to matter anymore.

The night before my flight back to Willowspire, Elara reached out to meet me for coffee.

She’d opened Elara’s Little Craft Studio, a small community workshop teaching children handcraft

art projects.

The walls were covered in messy, colorful kid drawings.

She poured me a glass of vanilla iced tea and smiled.

“All the kids say I’m way too strict with them.”

I glanced at the paint smudges dotted across her linen apron.

This space fits you perfectly.

She ducked her head and laughed softly.

“I spent so many years competing to win at everything. Now teaching them to cut a sheet of paper neatly feels more rewarding than any high-budget design project ever did.”

Before I left, she handed me a linen lamp shade.

It was the exact one she’d bought from my pop-up market all those months ago, redesigned with a tiny hand-embroidered wren stitched along the edge.

“Sage, I know we can’t go back to how we were before. This isn’t an attempt to reconcile-it’s just a thank-you gift.”

“Thank me for what?”

“Thank you for walking away. If you hadn’t left, none of us would’ve realized how badly we’d messed up.”

I took the lamp shade from her hands.

Forgiveness didn’t mean restarting our friendship.

It simply meant I was done trapping myself in old resentment.

When I landed back in Willowspire, Rhys waited for me at the airport arrivals gate.

He spotted the lamp shade tucked in my luggage and raised an eyebrow playfully.

“A gift from a former rival?”

“An old friend.”

He nodded in understanding.

“I’ll act completely gracious about it then.”

He took my suitcase from my grasp and pressed a steaming paper cup of vanilla milk tea into my

hands.

“Though can I get an extra slice of vanilla tart tonight? Being gracious works up an appetite.”

I laughed so hard I nearly choked on the warm tea.

Wind swept through the airport exit.

Life hadn’t always been gentle to me.

But fate had led me to a new corner, where a warm light waited just for me.