My Fiancé Took Her to the World Cup — and Left Me to Babysit Their Cat Chapter 09

My Fiancé Took Her to the World Cup — and Left Me to Babysit Their Cat Chapter 09

I took Alex to my grandmother Eleanor Hart’s grave.

Looking at Grandma Ellie’s gentle smile on the headstone, my voice caught before I even began.

“The herbal sleep pillow Serena’s cat ruined with urine was the most precious thing my grandmother left me.”

“She knew I was under a lot of pressure at work and didn’t sleep well.”

“She asked around again and again before she finally found a herbalist who could make herbal sleep pillows.”

“She was eighty-five. She didn’t know her way around trains, let alone the Amtrak Acela. She didn’t know how to fly. All she knew was the intercity bus.”

“She spent almost twenty hours making transfer after transfer before she finally found that herbalist.”

“She didn’t want me taking sleeping pills. She was afraid they would be bad for my health.”

“She searched online for all kinds of methods before learning that herbal sleep pillows even existed.”

“So that I could sleep a little better, she went out of town for the first time in her life without telling anyone in the family.”

“On the way back, she was in a car accident.”

“I told you those two pillows meant something different to me.”

“But at the time, you were playing a game with Serena.”

“Serena was laughing, and you were answering her.”

“As long as Serena was there, maybe nothing I said ever mattered to you.”

“You spoiled Serena so much that you let her cat pee on something that precious.”

“It felt like you personally took a knife and drove it into my heart.”

Alex went rigid.

Then his knees buckled, and he sank onto the grass in front of the headstone.

He hated himself for being a selfish bastard. Hated himself for being greedy. Hated himself even more for making a mistake he never should have made.

He sobbed and apologized.

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t know.”

“It was my fault. I was a bastard.”

“I failed you.”

My eyes still reddened, and tears slid down my face.

But only because I missed my grandmother.

When I got home, my parents had learned from the neighbors that Alex had come to find me.

Afraid I would go back to him, they nervously tried to talk sense into me.

After only a few sentences, I cut them off.

“Relax. I will never get back together with Alex.”

“You can stop worrying.”

“No matter what he does, I won’t forgive him. I won’t turn back.”

“And I will never leave you again. From now on, you can enjoy retirement in this small town, and I will build my life here too.”

Only then did my parents breathe a sigh of relief, smiles finally appearing on their faces.

I thought that after I made everything so clear last time, Alex would no longer have the nerve to keep pestering me.

Unexpectedly, a week later, he came again.

This time, he was carefully dressed.

He had cut his hair neatly, shaved his face, and worn the suit I had given him before.

Holding a bouquet of flowers, he walked into my café.

I stood behind the counter, checking yesterday’s accounts.

Just like when we first met, he looked sincere and nervous.

He said, “Ellie, the old Alex doesn’t deserve forgiveness.”

“The Alex standing in front of you now is starting over. He’s a brand-new Alex, trying to become a better man.”

“Starting today, I will pursue you with one hundred percent sincerity.”

“I know you won’t accept me for now, but that’s fine. I have confidence, and I won’t give up.”

“I believe love can overcome anything.”

He held the flowers out to me with both hands.

I stared at him, speechless.

Did he think he was being sincere? Original?

Before I could say what was already on the tip of my tongue, I suddenly heard a familiar voice.

“Confidence won’t help you. Compared with me, you have no chance at all.”

“Right, Ellie?”

Theo Lancaster, my new suitor, stood there holding a bouquet of red roses.

He wore a tailored suit, his features refined and his air coolly aristocratic.

As he spoke, he handed the flowers to me.

I looked at the two men offering me flowers.

Under Alex’s tense gaze, I accepted Theo’s roses.

“Yep!”