When I Repeated My Parents’ Love Story Chapter 05

When I Repeated My Parents’ Love Story Chapter 05

What my parents pulled out wasn’t a beautifully wrapped gift box. It wasn’t the kind of extravagant luxury item they’d shown up with every year before.

It was two thick sheets of paper.

“What’s this?”

Ethan raised an eyebrow. He didn’t take it.

Angela frowned too, her face full of confusion.

I craned my neck to see. Both pages were crammed with line after line of entries-printed lists, but covered

in handwritten additions scrawled all over the margins.

They were gift inventories.

The guests milling near the entrance caught wind of the scene. Heads turned. Whispering rippled through the

crowd.

“What, is the Ashford family going bankrupt? Who tries to claw back every gift they’ve ever given?”

“Or maybe the doormats finally got tired. Maybe they grew a spine and they’re here to demand something for

once.”

“Look at them. After years of groveling, looks like they’re finally snapping.”

I was stunned too.

Were my parents actually rising up?

After all that time, after pouring out everything they had, anyone would hit a breaking point eventually, right?

Ethan recovered first. He wiped the smirk off his face and replaced it with something thin and perfunctory,

almost polite.

“Richard. Nancy. What is all this…”

My dad didn’t let him finish. He handed over one of the sheets.

His voice came out flat, completely level, with a chill of distance I’d never heard before.

“Ethan. This is a record of everything Nancy has ever given you. The gray scarf she hand-knitted for you

back in college. The ceramic teacup she stayed up all night making for your birthday last year. Every batch

of herbal tea and every cold remedy she ever brought when you were sick. It’s all on here.”

He turned and handed the other sheet to Angela, his tone just as detached.

Angela This is everything I’ve given you over the years. The limited-edition perfume you mentioned once in

passing. The downtown launch site I rented out when you said you wanted to see fireworks. The jewelry I brought every time you were feeling down. It’s all accounted for. Nothing’s missing.”

The guests and I stood there, completely floored.

Was this some new breed of doormat tactic?

My mom picked up right where my dad left off.

“We’re not showing you this for any other reason. We just want you to throw it all away.”

My dad added, “Exactly. Toss it. Donate it. Give it to someone else. We don’t care. Just don’t keep it.”

“We were young and stupid back then. We gave things that crossed the line. Now we’ve thought it through.

You both have your own families. Holding onto this stuff isn’t good for you, and it isn’t good for us.”

He paused, glanced at my mom, and his voice firmed up even more.

“Especially the handmade things. Those are way too personal. Just get rid of them.”

Angela’s fingers tightened on the list. The paper made a faint crumpling sound.

Ethan’s face went completely dark. His eyes, which always carried that lazy, superior gleam, now burned with

disbelief and wounded pride.

“Nancy. Richard. What the hell are you playing at?”

Ethan kept his voice low, but the fury bled right through.

“It’s our wedding anniversary. You came here to ruin it?”

“We’re just returning what was never really ours. Tidying up some old baggage while we’re at it.”

My mom smiled. It was polite. It was also a mile away.

“Don’t worry. There won’t be any more of these… inconveniences. Happy anniversary. We’ll see ourselves

out.”

She slid her arm through my dad’s, smooth and natural, and they turned to leave.

I stood frozen in place, still reeling, my brain struggling to catch up.

That was it?

They just stopped?

And they told the hero and heroine to throw away everything they’d groveled to give over all those years?

Had my parents been body-swapped?