He Left Me Behind, So I Married Someone Else Chapter 11

He Left Me Behind, So I Married Someone Else Chapter 11

“Nora.”

He stood there in a white sweater, holding a drink in both hands as he offered it to her.

“This is for you.”

Nora lowered her eyes and glanced at it.

“An apology?”

“No.”

He looked at her.

His eyes still carried that same bright, hopeful look.

“I’m serious.”

“Serious about what?”

“About yesterday.”

He took a breath.

“I wasn’t playing around.”

Nora laughed.

“Ethan, right?”

She took the drink from him.

Then, right in front of him, she handed it to a passing underclassman who had been staring at him.

“Freshman, you want a drink?”

Then she walked around him and left.

Later, because his pride wouldn’t let him give up, Ethan chased after Nora for an entire semester.

He waited outside the Campus Dining Hall.

He stood outside her classroom.

When Nora attended lectures, he sat in the back row.

When Nora studied, he sat across from her.

He confessed his feelings eighteen times.

And Nora rejected him eighteen times.

It wasn’t because she actually hated him.

She just hated being played with.

So she wanted him to understand what it felt like to be the one getting fooled.

It wasn’t that she thought Ethan was a terrible person.

She just couldn’t stand the way he used a game as an excuse to mess with someone’s feelings.

Nora had zero tolerance for that.

She thought he deserved to know how it felt.

Later, Nora and Adrian made their relationship official.

Ethan asked her to meet him, saying there was something he wanted to tell her one last time.

Nora went.

By the small lake behind the school, he stood there with slightly red eyes.

“You said…”

His voice was hoarse.

“You said you’d give me a chance when I grew up a little.”

“How could you choose someone else?”

Nora froze.

She couldn’t remember when she had ever said that.

Maybe it was one of those times when Ethan confessed, and she had casually brushed him off.

She never expected him to actually believe it.

Looking at his red-rimmed eyes, Nora suddenly didn’t know what to say.

For the first time, she wondered if she had been too harsh on him.

But the words were already out.

There was no taking them back.

After that final rejection, Ethan never came looking for her again.

And then…

There was now.

Nora stared at the embarrassing photo on her phone.

Remembering everything that happened back then, her cheeks suddenly felt hot.

She had been too young.

She thought she was clever.

She thought she was impressive.

She thought Ethan deserved it.

But looking back now…

It was childish.

After they finished soaking in the Hot Springs, Ethan suddenly spoke.

“There’s something I’ve always wanted to clear up about that year.”

Nora turned her head toward him.

“That Truth or Dare game…”

He paused.

“I lost on purpose.”

Nora froze.

“I saw you standing by the basketball court that day.”

“You were wearing a white dress, laughing the whole time.”

“I just wanted a reason to talk to you.”

His voice was calm.

“My roommates said that move was ridiculously cheesy and that I’d definitely get rejected.”

“I told them I didn’t care.”

“Getting rejected meant I’d have a reason to keep chasing you.”

Nora stayed silent.

“Later, when you told me I wasn’t respecting women, I went home and thought about it all night.”

He smiled faintly.

“And you were right.”

“So those eighteen times I confessed…”

“They weren’t because I was trying to prove a point.”

“They were real.”

The wind blew through the alley.

Nora pulled her scarf tighter.

“After you got together with Adrian, I kept watching your Status.”

“I saw every single thing you posted.”

Nora looked up.

“This business trip to Frostvale Mountain Town brought me back to you.”

He smiled.

“That has to mean something.”

“The reason I posted that awful picture of you this morning…

“I just wanted to see how you’d react.”

“Ethan…”

“I know you came here for a Destination Wedding.”

He cut her off.

“But I don’t think you’re happy. Right?”

He stood beneath the lantern light.

His eyes were still bright.

Just like they were back in college.

“I just wanted to try one more time.”

He looked at her.

“What if…”

“What if this time, you actually need someone like me?”