Deboned Fish for Her, Left No Room for Me Chapter 09

Deboned Fish for Her, Left No Room for Me Chapter 09

I backed up two steps.

My back hit the cold wall, and there was nowhere left to go.

I lifted my chin.

“That has nothing to do with you.”

“You’re not welcome here. Get out.”

“Then who is welcome here? Him?”

Keaton grabbed my wrist and yanked me toward him.

“The man who drove you home?”

A sharp crack rang out.

I slapped him.

Keaton’s face turned with the force of it.

He pressed his tongue against his cheek.

But he did not get angry.

Instead, he caught my hand and held it against his cheek.

“Marlow, I was wrong. I’m done pretending. I never wanted to break up.”

My fingertips trembled.

Revulsion crawled through me.

“A breakup is a breakup. We are not getting back together.”

Keaton’s eyes reddened at the corners

His voice went hoarse.

“But I only agreed because you made me so angry.”

“You broke up with me out of nowhere. Was I not allowed time to cool off?”

I stared at him blankly.

Then I suddenly asked,

“Keaton Stroud, do you still think I broke up with you because I was throwing a tantrum?”

He said nothing.

Clearly, that was exactly what he thought.

I smiled and wiped away the tears that had fallen.

“Keaton, do you even have a heart?”

“For four years, all you saw was Cecily. You never cared how I felt.”

“You already fell for someone else. So why are you acting like you’re the one I betrayed?”

Keaton’s face went pale.

His voice came out rough.

“Cissy and I are just friends.”

“Stop lying to yourself.”

I shoved him away with all my strength.

“I didn’t explode out of nowhere. I endured until I couldn’t take one more second.”

“When she shared tiny pieces of her day with you, you never found it annoying.”

She got to go to Hartwick with you. I was supposed to stay in Greyford.”

ose things, one after another. Can you swear you never felt anything for her?”

Keaton looked lost.

“Marlow, I was attracted to her, yes. But I never stopped thinking you were the one who mattered most.”

My tears stopped.

I opened the door.

“Keaton Stroud, you disgust me.”

“Get out. Stop bothering me. Don’t make me hate you more than I already do.”

Keaton’s shoulders collapsed.

His steps were heavy as he walked out.

He stayed in Cypress Harbor for three days.

I refused to see him the entire time.

With no other choice, he flew back to Hartwick first.

The first thing he did after returning was move out.

Cecily stood helplessly in the doorway.

“Why so suddenly? What am I supposed to do if you leave?”

Keaton packed only a few pieces of clothing into his suitcase.

When he looked at Cecily, his eyes were cold.

“Cecily, I was confused. Were you confused too?”

“Marlow was your best friend. Don’t tell me you never noticed how she felt.”

“We were both disgusting.”

Cecily recoiled at the blunt accusation.

The color drained from her face.

The door slammed shut.

After that, Keaton left Helion for another company.

But every time he remembered the disgust in my eyes, he had to numb himself with alcohol.

Overa

rk piled up.

resign.

option, Keaton returned to Greyford and took an ordinary job.

He lived like a ghost.

Then, through his mother, he heard I was getting married.

He sat on the couch all night without moving.

The next morning, he bought a last-minute flight to Cypress Harbor.

The wedding was beautiful and packed with guests.

I stood in my wedding dress, surrounded by everyone I loved.

It was exactly how he had imagined my wedding back in high school.

Only the man beside me was no longer him.

Keaton stood at the edge of the crowd until his knees gave out.

A little child saw how hard he was crying and toddled over, holding out a foil-wrapped chocolate from one of the wedding favor bags.

“My mom says chocolate makes people feel better. You can have mine.”

Keaton took the chocolate and put it in his mouth.

There was sweetness. And the salt of his tears. But in the end, all he tasted was bitterness.

Keaton stood up, unsteady on his feet, and walked away.

After that, he disappeared from our lives.

[The End]