I Don’t Want the Reunion Voucher You Never Meant to Give Me Chapter 06

I Don’t Want the Reunion Voucher You Never Meant to Give Me Chapter 06

On the third day I was gone, Adrian went to the office like normal.

Ivy walked in carrying his coffee while he was going through the project files I’d left behind.

A cup of oat-milk latte sat cold and untouched on the desk.

“Mr. Cole, you haven’t eaten breakfast?”

He didn’t look up. “Put it down. Get out.”

Ivy didn’t move.

“I already took the ring off. I can explain things to the press too. If Elise is still upset, I can apologize to her myself.”

“Where is she?”

Ivy blinked. “I don’t know.”

Adrian looked up at her.

“You’re always so eager to find her. Suddenly you don’t know?”

Ivy went pale. “Whenever I go to her, it’s about work.”

“Is that right?”

He tossed his phone onto the desk.

On the screen were the messages she’d sent me.

[Mr. Cole says you’re the mature one.]

[He says you’re the one he’s marrying, so it doesn’t matter if he gives me other things.]

[Elise, you’re not going to fight me over that too, are you?]

Ivy panicked. “I only wanted to explain things to her.”

“Did I ask you to explain?”

Adrian leaned back, something dark settling behind his eyes.

“Since when does what happens between me and her require your input?”

Tears spilled down Ivy’s face.

“But every time you two fought, you were the one who told me to go talk to her!”

“I told you to convince her to come back. I never told you to teach her how to leave!”

The office went quiet. Adrian paused too.

It was as if only now did he fully accept that I was actually gone.

Ivy wiped her tears, said quietly, “She’s just trying to make you worry. Send her another Reunion

Voucher and she’ll come back.”

His jaw tightened. “You think I don’t know that?”

He opened the mystery box dashboard, built a new prize.

[Adrian Cole’s Unconditional Apology-Redeemable Once.]

Odds of winning: 100%.

Delivery failed.

I’d deactivated my account.

A notice popped up:

[The other user has ended the relationship status. Shared history will be permanently cleared in 30

days.]

Adrian stared at the word “ended”, his face darkening by degrees.

He called HR. “Get Elise Carter up here.”

A pause on the other end.

“Director Carter left the company.”

“When?”

“The paperwork went through a month ago. Per your prior approval, senior staff departures don’t

require separate sign-off.”

Adrian remembered, then.

A month ago, I’d dropped a stack of papers on his desk, said I needed his signature.

He’d been picking out a full-time hire gift for Ivy at the time-signed without even glancing at it.

I’d asked, “You’re not going to check it first?”

He’d said, “What could possibly be that important with you?”

So that day, I’d already been getting ready to leave.

Not after the launch.

Not after the ring was taken from me.

Not even after the coffee spilled.

I’d stopped wanting him long before any of that.

Adrian shot up, his chair banging into the wall.

“What company did she go to?”

“Not on record.”

“Her address?”

“System still has it listed as your place.”

He hung up, grabbed his jacket, headed for the door.

Ivy caught up. “Mr. Cole, you have a press interview this afternoon.”

“Cancel it.”

“But the launch just happened-everyone’s already speculating about us. If you go after her now, the press will-”

Adrian turned to look at her. That look alone stopped Ivy where she stood.

“Ivy.”

“You’d better hope I find her.”

Otherwise, he didn’t know whose door this would end up landing on.

Adrian went to the café I used to frequent, my old college, the hospital, and finally, my mother’s

grave.

Seeing my silhouette from a distance, three days of tension finally eased out of his chest.

Of course. I hadn’t gone far at all.

I’d just been waiting for him to come find me.

I was crouched in front of the headstone, setting down a bunch of gardenias.

I’d lost weight. The cut on my finger had already scabbed over.

Adrian came up behind me.

“Done throwing your fit?”

I turned and looked at him, calm.

“Why are you here?”

The question landed like a splinter in his chest.

Before, whenever I saw him, my first question was always whether he was tired, whether he’d

eaten.

Now it sounded like he was someone who shouldn’t be there at all.

Adrian held out the ring. “Take it.”

I glanced at it and didn’t reach for it.

“Ivy wore it. I had it sanitized. The band was a little warped-I got that fixed too.”

“I don’t want it.”

“Elise!”

His tone hardened slightly.

“That’s enough now. I got the ring back. I came to get you. What more do you want from me?”

I looked at him.

“You think you showing up means I have to go back?”

“What else would it mean?”

Adrian reached for my hand.

“I’ll rebook the venue. If you don’t like that date, I’ll find another one.”

I stepped out of his reach.

“Adrian, I’m not getting married.”

His face fell instantly.

“Say that again.”

“I don’t want to marry you.”

The cemetery was silent.

Adrian stared at me like he was hearing that sentence for the first time, truly.

After a long moment, he laughed, coldly.

“If you won’t marry me, who exactly are you planning to marry?”

“No one. That’s also an option.”

“Elise, don’t say things you don’t mean.”

“I mean it.”

I picked up my bag and walked past him.

Adrian grabbed my wrist.

“Do you think me coming here means you

won?”

I looked down at his hand.

“Let go.”

“Come home with me.”

“I said, let go.”

My voice wasn’t loud, but there wasn’t a shred of hesitation in it.

Something in Adrian’s chest flared.

“I haven’t agreed to a breakup yet.”

I finally looked up.

“Leaving you doesn’t require your agreement.’

I pried his fingers off, one by one, the same way he’d pried the ring off my hand backstage.

Then I walked away and didn’t look back.