After Our Wedding Was Canceled, He Searched the River for the Ring Chapter 09

After Our Wedding Was Canceled, He Searched the River for the Ring Chapter 09

When Miles woke up, I was sitting outside his hospital room.

The doctor said his injuries were serious but not life-threatening.

Only then did I finally breathe easier.

It was not because I still loved him.

He had saved me, and I was relieved that he had survived.

When I went inside, Miles was lying in bed with a bandage wrapped around his temple. His face was

almost translucent with pallor.

The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up.

“Elena.”

His voice was painfully hoarse, as though he feared I might disappear the moment he spoke.

I walked to the bedside and held out a cup of water.

“The doctor said you’re going to be okay now that you’re awake.”

He did not take it.

He only stared at me.

“Elena, can we start over?”

I looked at him and gently shook my head.

“Miles, we’re even now.”

“You saved me once.”

“But that doesn’t erase all the choices you made before.”

He tried to push himself upright, but the movement pulled at his injuries. Sweat immediately broke

out across his forehead.

“Elena, I know I was wrong.

“I’ll never make you wait again. I’ll never let you be hurt because of me again.”

The words came out in a rush.

It was as though he had finally learned how to say everything I had once wanted to hear.

But I no longer needed to hear it.

“Miles, I waited for you too many times over those eight years,” I said softly.

His eyes immediately reddened.

This time, I did not give in.

Miles remained silent for a long time before taking a small box from beside his pillow.

“I’ve kept this with me.”

I recognized it.

It was the ring box he had made from an old film canister when he first proposed.

He had been broke then and could not afford an expensive diamond ring. All he had placed inside

was a simple silver band, and his hands had trembled with nerves when he held it out to me.

“Elena, when I have enough money, I promise I’ll give you the best wedding in the world.”

I had nodded through my tears.

Back then, as long as it was him, I needed nothing else.

Miles placed the box in my palm, his voice trembling.

“I know it’s too late to say any of this now.”

“But this was where we started.”

“Will you keep it?”

I stared at the worn box.

For a moment, my fingertips went numb.

It turned out that something so small could still hit that hard.

Not because I could not let go of the man he was now.

I was grieving for the girl I had once been-the girl who had trusted him with her whole heart.

I took the box.

A faint spark of hope appeared in Miles’s eyes.

But I merely closed my fingers around it and said quietly, “Thank you. And goodbye.”

It was almost dark when I left the hospital.

A narrow river ran beside the road.

I stopped on the bridge and opened the box.

The silver band was still there. Two tiny initials were engraved along the inside: M and E Miles and Elena-the initials I had once thought I would wear for the rest of my life.

I stared at it for a long time before suddenly smiling.

At seventeen, Elena had believed it was a promise.

At twenty-five, Elena finally understood.

Once a promise is broken, all that remains is an old keepsake that hurts to hold.

I raised my hand and threw both the ring and the box into the river.

The splash was so soft that it hardly sounded like the end of eight years.

But something inside me that had been pulled tight for far too long finally loosened.

Staggering footsteps sounded behind me.

Miles had followed me outside, supporting himself against the wall. The wind tugged at his hospital

gown.

He rushed to the edge of the bridge and dropped to his knees, reaching into the freezing water for

the box.

His hands quickly turned red from the cold.

But he seemed unable to feel the pain. He searched the water again and again.

At last, he pulled out the soaked box.

The ring was gone.

Clutching the empty box, Miles bent forward and broke down sobbing.

I stood a short distance away and watched him.

Then I turned and walked away.

This time, I did not stop.

Later, I returned to school.

My schedule was packed, the assignments kept piling up, and I spent every day surrounded by

flowers.

My instructors praised my instinct for color.

Luc still loved getting in on the fun. Whenever someone complimented my work, he looked even

prouder than I did.

“Elena, you should win first place.”

My classmates laughed and teased us about what a good couple we would make.

I only smiled and shook my head.

“No, thanks.”

“I just want to focus on school right now.”

They had no idea how much it had taken for me to start over.

Things were different now.

I began choosing my own flowers, designing my own work, and making a life for myself somewhere

far away.

A month later, one of my floral designs was selected for the institute’s annual exhibition.

I chose the title myself.

I called it.

On the day of the exhibition, sunlight streamed through the glass dome and fell across a floor

covered in white roses.

I stood in the middle of the crowd as applause rose around me.

At that moment, my phone vibrated.

The messages were from an unknown number.

Unknown Number: (Elena, I saw your piece.]

Unknown Number: [It’s beautiful.]

I looked at the screen but did not reply.

Then I turned off the screen, raised my head, and stepped into the light that was finally mine.