She Got 41 Tries, I Got Zero Seconds. So I Gave Myself a One-Way Ticket Out Chapter 08

She Got 41 Tries, I Got Zero Seconds. So I Gave Myself a One-Way Ticket Out Chapter 08

When Auden arrived, I was leading the medical team through the setup of a field clinic.

“Tam.”

I heard someone call me.

I turned around, and when I saw the man standing behind me, I froze.

Across thousands of miles, Auden had come after me anyway.

“Let’s talk outside.”

To keep him from disrupting the team, I led him to a quieter spot away from the tents.

After we stopped, neither of us spoke for a long time.

In the end, I broke the silence first. “If you have nothing to say, I need to get back to work.”

“Wait.” Auden blocked me, his face dark. “Tam, you took this too far.”

“You left without even telling me and came to a place this dangerous. Do you still see me as your boyfriend

at all?”

I paused, then reminded him calmly, “Auden, we already broke up.”

“What breakup?” His voice rose, then dropped again. “Something you said out of anger counts now?”

He looked like a furious lion with every nerve pulled tight.

I was calm.

“It wasn’t anger. If saying it over the phone wasn’t formal enough for you, I’ll say it again to your face.”

I enunciated every word. “We are–”

“Tamsin.” Auden cut me off sharply. “I didn’t fly halfway across the world to hear you break up with me.”

With that, he stepped forward and grabbed my wrist. “Tam, come home with me.”

I pulled free and took one step back. “Auden, don’t touch me.”

His body went rigid. His voice turned rough. “Tam, don’t do this to me. I love you.”

“Love me?”

I let out a quiet breath, but my voice stayed calm.

“You spent two hours choosing clothes for Blythe because, in your words, a body like hers deserved the right

dress. When it came to me, you grabbed the first thing you saw and called it good enough.”

Auden’s face went pale.

“You wore a matching scent with her and told me I was childish for noticing. I asked you about that drink more than 20 times, and you said no drink was worth the wait. Blythe mentioned it once, and suddenly you

could stand in line under the sun.”

I looked at him.

“So don’t stand here and call that love.”

Auden lowered his head. “I… I’m sorry. Give me one more chance.”

Before, one lowered head and one apology from Auden would have been enough. I would have softened. I would have felt bad for him. I would not have been able to keep blaming him.

But not this time.

I looked at him calmly. “Auden, I gave you chances.”

Auden lifted his head, confusion in his eyes.

“When people mistook you and Blythe for a couple, I asked you to correct them. When Blythe and I wanted to watch different movies, I waited to see what you would choose. That rainy night, when you called me, I gave

you one last chance to listen.”

His lips parted, but no sound came out.

I went on. “You said there was no need to explain. You picked the movie Blythe wanted and sat beside her, leaving your actual girlfriend alone rows behind you. And when I was still talking, you didn’t even have the patience to hear me out. You hung up so you could dry Blythe’s hair.”

Auden sank into a crouch, his hands buried in his hair. A broken sound escaped him. “No. Please stop. I

know. I know it was my fault.”

I looked down at him. “Auden, we are completely over. Go home.”

I turned to leave.

The next second, he caught my wrist again.

I looked back.

His eyes were red, full of desperate unwillingness to let go. “No. We’re not over. Tam, I really… I really know

I was wrong.”

He pulled out a ring box and opened it. “Look. I brought the engagement ring. Give me one last chance, and I

swear I’H change. I’ll make it up to you. Twice over. Ten times over.”

My eyes fell on the ring in his hand and stayed there for a moment.

Hope flickered in Auden’sface

I asked, “Is this the one Blythe tried on?”

Auden rushed to explain. “She only tried it on for you.”

I looked at him. “And an engagement ring is something another woman gets to try on first?”