The Day I Left He Proposed But I No Longer Wanted Marriage Chapter 04

The Day I Left He Proposed But I No Longer Wanted Marriage Chapter 04

I didn’t answer Claire. I just stared stubbornly at Evan.

“Evan, you really don’t know why I haven’t been able to graduate all this time? And what makes you so certain I’m the one slandering her—just because she’s Claire’s aunt?”

Guilt flickered across Evan’s face.

But just as fast, he turned impatient and fed up.

“Enough, Aria! Professor Bennett is a renowned professor—how could she possibly plagiarize a student’s work? Call Professor Bennett right now and apologize, or next year’s graduation will just have to be pushed back even further!”

Hearing those words, my heart died completely.

“I don’t need to graduate anymore. Evan, let’s break up.”

My voice was very soft, yet every word landed with absolute clarity.

Evan seized my wrist in a tight grip.

“Aria, don’t you use breaking up to threaten me! You’re the one in the wrong here. You’re going to stop attending classes for now—when you’ve come to your senses and are ready to apologize, then you can go back!”

With that, he shielded Claire and left.

I walked out of the restaurant and hailed a taxi.

Leaning back against the seat, the past between Evan and me slowly began to surface.

We’d met in college and fallen in love.

Back then, that love was fiery and pure.

The Harrisons were old money. Claire was the arranged marriage candidate they’d handpicked for Evan.

But the Evan of six years ago had been brave.

When his family hurled the cruelest insults at me, he’d stood in front of me, shielding me from everything.

He’d held my hand tight, his eyes reddening, and told everyone—

in this lifetime, he would marry only me.

In that moment, I was overwhelmed, completely and utterly moved.

So when the Harrison family suggested sending me abroad for advanced study, I agreed without a moment’s hesitation.

I thought, I can’t let Evan fight alone at the front lines.

I had to become outstanding too, to be worthy of him.

I sniffed hard, my eyes burning and aching fiercely.

Six years later, under the stinging slap of reality, I had finally woken up completely.

And I finally understood why, six years ago, Evan’s mother hadn’t used schemes to tear us apart. Instead, she’d sent me abroad to study.

Right before I left, she’d said something deeply pointed.

“Evan is still young. In time he’ll learn—love, and suitability, are two different things.”

Back then, I thought it was just a throwaway piece of sarcasm.

I never imagined it was a bullet fired six years ago.

Today, it struck me right between the eyes.

No way to dodge it. A pain that cut straight through my heart.