He Saved A Spot For Her, Leaving No Room For Me Chapter 10

He Saved A Spot For Her, Leaving No Room For Me Chapter 10

After I got to Crestwood, I moved into a small apartment.

The day I registered my fingerprint on the lock, the system prompted: “Please set an

administrator.”

I stared at the screen, then pressed my finger down.

Click.

The door opened.

I started laughing right there.

Administrator: Iris.

No household card.

No temporary pass.

No one who could walk in without my permission.

Turns out, coming home didn’t have to mean waiting for anyone else to let me in.

Nadia would occasionally fill me in on what happened to Ethan and Tessa.

After Tessa was summoned by the police, her studio’s funding dried up.

Clients pulled out. Partners withdrew.

Her parents showed up at her apartment building, yelling that she’d brought shame to the family.

Later, she went to Ethan’s company and waited for him outside the door.

It was raining that day.

She stood outside the glass entrance, soaked through, crying, “Ethan-you’re all I have left.”

The security guards dragged her away.

She clung to the door handle.

Ethan stood on the other side of the glass and watched her for a long time.

In the end, he turned around and walked away.

He didn’t open the door.

Nadia clicked her tongue. “Karma, right?”

I kept sorting through papers. “Yeah.”

“But it’s got nothing to do with me anymore.”

Ethan’s side was worse.

The canceled wedding spread through every circle.

His family lost two business deals.

Ethan’s mother didn’t dare come after me anymore-she turned all her anger on Tessa.

Nadia asked, “You don’t feel even a little satisfied?”

I thought about it. “I do.”

“But the feeling doesn’t last.”

She laughed. “You’ve fully moved on.”

A month later, Ethan sent me a Costco membership card.

His name on the primary.

The household card empty.

With a note: [I finally get it-the household card isn’t about convenience. It’s about who gets a

place in your life.]

[Iris, I’ve been keeping that place for you.]

I cut the card in half and mailed it back.

With one line: [I don’t need to be tied to anyone anymore.]

Another two weeks passed. He sent a screenshot of the smart lock’s administrator list.

Only my name was on it.

He said: [Your fingerprint is still there. The door is always open for you.]

I replied: [Ethan, you’ve got it wrong.)

(It’s not that I don’t have a door.]

[I just don’t want yours.)

Sent. Blocked again.

Later Nadia told me Ethan renewed his Costco membership every month.

The household card stayed empty.

Not that I ever shopped there anymore.

He also bought the set of dishes I used to want most.

Two place settings.

He only set out one.

The other stayed sealed in its box.

He said he’d open it when I came back.

But I’d already moved to another city.

And my tastes had changed.

That night, Uncle Ray called.

He said the pomegranates from Millbrook were ripe-he was sending me a box.

Then he asked, carefully, “Iris-are you scared, living alone?”

I stood at my apartment door and pressed my finger to the lock.

The door opened.

Light spilled out from inside.

My eyes felt hot all of a sudden.

“No.”

“I come home now without needing anyone’s permission.”

Uncle Ray was quiet for a long time.

“Your mom would be happy to see this.”

I touched the gold bangle on my wrist.

“I’m pretty happy too.”

After I hung up, I stepped inside.

Only one pair of slippers by the door.

My favorite white placemats on the table.

Almond milk in the fridge-the kind I actually like.

No clearance cake.

No one else’s candles.

No one who needed me to give up my space.

I used to think love meant someone opening the door for me.

Now I know.

A real home is when you’re the administrator of your own life.