My Fiancé Said I Was the Homewrecker Between Him and My BFF? Screw Them Both! Chapter 09

My Fiancé Said I Was the Homewrecker Between Him and My BFF? Screw Them Both! Chapter 09

One day, he was waiting outside my office at quitting time.

He had a red velvet box in his hand, and when he saw me, he dropped to his knees right in front of me.

Coworkers were streaming out around us, some of them stopped to watch, and a security guard came over to ask what was going on.

He opened the box, and there was a diamond ring inside.

It was the style I’d mentioned liking once, in passing.

“Serena, I got a new ring. I had it made in the style you like.”

He looked up at me from the ground with red eyes.

“I bought a dress too. The French lace one you talked about, with the long train. I had them rush it…”

“We’ll do the whole wedding over again, every part of it. If you want to travel the world, we’ll go. Anywhere you want, I’ll be there…”

I looked down at him and felt nothing.

“Preston, do you hear how ridiculous you sound?”

His face froze.

“You thought about giving me a wedding only after I walked out of one.”

“You thought about loving me only after I blocked your number.”

“You thought about making it up to me only after I stopped loving you.”

“You hurt me every way you possibly could, and only then did you come asking for forgiveness. What made you think I’d say yes?”

His lips were trembling. “I can change. I swear, I’ll never do another thing to hurt you as long as I live…”

“Too late.”

I straightened up. “Go home. Don’t humiliate yourself out here.”

I went around him and headed for my apartment, and he scrambled up and followed me the whole way.

There were tears in his voice. “Serena, I know I was wrong. Give me one chance to make it right.”

I stopped and turned around, and what came back to me was the sight of him holding Phoebe’s hand and stroking her hair on my wedding day.

I thought about the way he’d said Phoebe’s blood sugar was low and she was dizzy from standing.

I thought about how obvious it had sounded to him when he asked whether it was really so hard for me to be the bigger person and forgive her.

I shook my head. “You owe me more than you know.”

“I don’t need you to pay it back, because you can’t.”

Preston went quiet for a few days after that, and thought he’d finally let go.

Then on Saturday morning, I opened my door to an enormous shipping box, and there was a wedding dress

inside.

It was pure white French lace, and the train really was long.

Tiny beaded flowers were stitched across the skirt, and the fabric was soft under my hand.

It was the one I’d looked at twice through a bridal shop window years ago.

So he knew what I liked.

He hadn’t cared enough back then, and he’d let himself not see it.

There was a card in the box, in his handwriting.

Preston: [Serena, this dress was always supposed to be on you. I’m giving it back.]

I folded the dress into the box and called someone to haul it away.

That evening, I went out for groceries and saw him downstairs again.

He was fixing the streetlight outside the building that had been out for months, up on a ladder, unscrewing the old bulb and putting in a new one.

He came down and saw me, and he rubbed his hands together, not knowing what to do with himself.

“This light’s been out for days. It isn’t safe for you coming home at night…’

I didn’t answer, and I walked past him.

He caught up in a few steps and held out a paper box he’d been carrying behind his back.

It was mango cheesecake from the bakery I used to love, the one on the south side, forty minutes away by

cab.

“Serena, what would it take to make you even a little happier…”

His voice went hoarse again. “Tell me and I’ll do it. Anything.”

I took the box and dropped it in the trash can at the curb while he watched.

“I’ve told you plenty of times.”

He stared at me.

“You never showing up again is the best thing you could give me.”

Every bit of color left his fáce, and whatever light was in his eyes went out.

After that, he really didn’t come back.

The light outside my building stayed on all night and never went out again.

The cake in the trash can got hauled off with everything else, and the ground was clean, with nothing left

behind.

####Chapter 10

On Monday, I left for work and scanned the sidewalk out of habit, and he wasn’t there.

The leaves on the path crackled under my shoes.

I pulled my scarf tighter and picked up my pace, and something in me felt lighter.

A coworker pushed a hot cup of coffee into my hands and asked, with a smile, how my weekend had been.

I said it was good and that I’d slept well.

On my phone, my brother’s concerned messages stood out.

Brother: [Serena, I didn’t understand any of it before. I believed Phoebe, and I thought you’d forced your way

between them.]

Brother: [How have you been? Can I come see you? And… see Mam.]

Brother: (I know I was wrong now. We’re family. Can you forgive me for how I acted?]

I answered without any heat: [No. I don’t have a brother, and Mom doesn’t have a son.]

Everyone in the office was busy with the new project, and the schedule was up on the wall.

My name was in the project manager column.

It was my first project since going permanent, and I put everything I had into it.

I set the coffee at the corner of my desk, opened my notebook, and started on the week’s plan.

The pen scratched across the paper, and in the quiet office, the sound carried.

Halfway through, I stopped and put my mother’s photo on the desk.

It was like when I was small, and she sat with me while I finished my homework.

In the picture, she was smiling, healthy, her eyes crinkled at the cantera.

Before I left, I wiped the frame clean with a tissue and turned on a small lamp beside it.

Even in the dark, there wouldn’t be any more grief or fear.

Six months later, the project officially closed.

At the celebration dinner, the head of the company announced my promotion to everyone.

I raised a glass with the team, smiling, and my mother’s necklace felt warm against my chest.

My phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number, unsigned.

Unknown: [Serena, how have you been?]

Unknown: (I know you don’t want to see me. I only wanted you to know that I’m still waiting.]

I didn’t answer. I deleted it.

What belonged to the past could stay in the past.

I put my smile back on and raised my glass with my coworkers.

My new life was right there around me.

The happiness I used to want was still within reach, and I didn’t need him for any of it.

The world was big enough for everything that had hurt me to eventually feel small.

There was still their regret, their guilt, and even their promises.

I didn’t need any of it.

I had learned how to love myself.