They Played a Game to Make Me Beg, I Played a Game to Make Me Gone Chapter 09

They Played a Game to Make Me Beg, I Played a Game to Make Me Gone Chapter 09

Derek stood alone on the unfamiliar street. A single suitcase next to him. He looked travel-worn

and exhausted.

He’d lost weight. There was a shadow of stubble along his jaw, his eyes sunken in like he hadn’t

slept right in weeks. It was obvious he’d jumped on a red-eye, connecting through multiple flights,

chasing me across thousands of miles from our old town to Milan just to say something.

The second he saw me, he rushed forward. His voice was thick with desperation. “Natalie, forgive

me for showing up like this. You kept ignoring me, and I just missed you so much.”

He reached out to touch my arm. I stepped back, my face hard. “Go home. There’s no point in you being here.”

Derek wasn’t hearing a word of it. “Natalie. Just give me some time.”

From that day on, Derek refused to take no for an answer. He stayed right there in Milan. He rented the apartment directly across from mine and tried to win me back through sheer action.

He memorized my schedule and waited for me downstairs every day. He drove me to work, picked me up. He had hot meals ready, laundry done, sheets changed.

If I got too busy to eat, he’d drop food off at the front desk. He never got in the way of my job. He checked the weather, made sure I had a jacket or an umbrella. Derek was doing every single considerate thing he’d never done before. I knew he was trying to pay back every missing drop of

care all at once.

But every time I looked at him, all I could see was the guy who stood there doing nothing while I was

drowning.

Jessica heard about it and tried to nudge me. “He literally crossed an ocean for you. Seems like he

actually gets it now. Why not give him another chance?”

I shook my head. I might have been weak-willed my whole life. But once I make up my mind about

something, there’s no going back.

Three months later, one night, Derek finally ran out of patience. He blocked my path before I could

go inside. It was the first time he’d cornered me for a real conversation since arriving.

“I know I was a jerk. I couldn’t tell right from wrong. I gave up everything back home to come find

you. I’m ready to stay in Milan, to live here with you, to work here.”

“If you can’t forgive me yet, fine. Just give me a chance to make it up to you. I owe you a debt, and

I’ll spend the rest of my life paying it back.”

He poured it all out, every sincere-sounding word, betting that I’d soften. What he didn’t expect / was the total blankness on my face. When he finished, I spoke with zero emotion.

“You don’t need to do any of this.”

He flinched and immediately started talking again. “I’m doing this because I want to. I’m not forcing you to forgive me right now. I can wait. As long as it takes.”

I cut him off. “If you want this to end with some shred of dignity, get on a plane and go back home

right now.”

Derek froze. The hope and sincerity on his face cracked apart. Panic flickered in his eyes. “Natalie, I don’t want to leave. If I go back, we’re really done for good. I’m serious about making this right. It’s not just some impulse.”

I was completely out of patience. I stepped around him and headed straight for my door. “Whether you change or not has nothing to do with me. Everything you’re doing now is just to make yourself feel better. To me, it’s a burden.”

That word burden hit him like a physical blow. Derek stood there, rooted to the spot, his face draining of color.