Chapter 2
By the time dawn crept in, Christine still hadn’t seen him. All she got was a notification lighting up her phone–a new post. “The best birthday gift is getting back what you thought you’d lost.“}
Brad, who never posted anything, had just shared a picture. It’s him and Ava, kissing under a sky exploding with fireworks. Christine stared at the photo. All the color drained from her face, her heart squeezing painfully in her chest.
She couldn’t help it; she called him, holding on to the tiniest bit of hope.”
Ava answered instead. She called out “Hello?” a few times, then shouted, “Brad, do you know a Christine? She’s calling you, but not saying anything.”
A moment later, Brad’s voice came through on speaker, low and almost bored. “She’s not important. Just ignore it, babe. Go get some more sleep.”}
Right then, Christine knew it was over. It was time for her to leave.
She packed her things, ready to go, but ran straight into Brad at the door.”
They’d been sleeping together almost every night, so she’d been staying at his place just out of convenience. But now, she couldn’t stay another second.
When he noticed her with her bags, Brad’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say much. “Found a place to stay?“>
“Yeah. Same old apartment as before. Landlord’s letting me rent for a month.”
Brad frowned. “Only a month? Why?“>
Christine was about to explain, but he didn’t seem to care. “I’ll drive you.“}
She tried to say no, but Brad was firm. “It’s snowing hard, and it’s late. If something happened, Tina would be upset.“}
She didn’t have the energy to argue. She got in the car.
There was a time when they’d done every wild, reckless thing imaginable in that car. Now, she barely recognized it.
The dashboard was covered in cute plushies. The seats had pink covers. There were snacks everywhere–potato chips, jelly beans, mini donuts.
Christine had never imagined someone as put–together and cold as Brad would ever turn his car into this.
Brad caught her looking and shrugged. “Ava likes this stuff.“}
Christine got the message. After a long silence, she finally managed, “You finally got her back, Mr. Tate. I’m happy for you.”}
Brad seemed surprised she said that. His eyes darkened, but he didn’t reply.
Halfway to her place, Ava called. She wanted Brad to come build a snowman with her.
Brad pulled over, clearly eager to go, but hesitated when he looked at Christine.
She got it. She opened the door herself. “Mr. Tate, I’ll just call a cab.“}
Brad nodded, got out, and helped her with her bags.
Her hands shook. She dropped her suitcase, and it burst open on the snowy sidewalk. Brad bent down to help, and in the streetlight, he saw it all–a stack of unsent love letters with his name on them, photos she’d secretly snapped, little things he’d tossed out that she’d quietly kept.”
Christine’s heart almost stopped. She scrambled to scoop everything back in.}
“Sorry,” she whispered.”
Brad didn’t say a word. He just got back in the car and sped away.
Christine stood in the snow for what felt like forever, but still couldn’t get a cab.§
She tried to walk home, dragging her suitcase behind her, but a passing bike slammed into her.
A deep gash split open on her calf, blood soaking into the snow.!!
She watched the rider disappear into the night, pain stealing her breath, leaving her lying there in the freezing dark for what felt like hours. When the worst of it passed, she limped home through the snow, taking almost four hours to get back to her tiny apartment.
After cleaning up her wound, she checked her phone. Brad had sent her a single message:
[Don’t ever let yourself fall for someone so blindly again. There are plenty of men out ther. Don’t waste your life hanging on to me.] Christine stared at it for a long, long time.!!
Chapter 2
When the sun came up, she went outside, lit a match, and burned the whole box of memories.
And with it, the love that had burned inside her for eight years finally turned to ash.!
Brad, I’ll do as you asked.
08 54
