Chapter 9
When our eyes met, Xavier showed a faint smile.
“You can leave now,” he said calmly to Kimberly.
Hearing this, Kimberly quickly stood up. She tried to persuade me a little more before turning away, but as she passed behind Xavier, I caught her stealing a glance back at me, her eyes cold as ice.
“Camille, I already made Kimberly apologize to you, and the company has fired her.
“You won’t see her again at work. Come back with me, okay?”
He took a large bouquet of roses from someone nearby and held them out to me, just like he had in the beginning.
“Let’s start over. Let’s go back to how we were when we first got together. Let’s start fresh, okay?”
His gaze was fixed on me, filled with longing.
I reached out and took the roses from his hands.
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For a brief moment, his eyes lit up, but before he could even smile, I spoke in a calm voice.
“You seem a little too confident.
“If we really could start over, do you think I would still choose to be with you?”
As soon as I finished, I lifted my hand and tossed the bouquet straight into the nearby trash can.
Xavier’s expression didn’t change much, almost as if he had expected it. But for just a second, a flicker of disappointment flashed through his eyes before he quickly masked it.
With an easy, practiced smile, he casually reached into his bag and said, “That’s okay. I can still show you how sincere I am. I bought a house
for us as a reconciliation gift.
V
“You used to say you wanted to hang lots of pictures in our new home, right? I even picked out a camera and bought a ton of frames so we could build our own photo wall. And to put your mind at ease, I’ll give you the property deed. Our deed…
“Wait, where is it?”
His smile stiffened as he rummaged through his bag, his movements growing more frantic. He even turned the bag upside down, spilling its
contents onto the floor.
Everything was there except the deed.
“This doesn’t make sense. I just had it…”
His voice was urgent, almost panicked.
I glanced at the time.
“Sorry, my flight is boarding soon. I don’t have time to watch your little performance,” I said coolly.
Xavier opened his mouth as if to say something, but the moment his eyes met mine, all the hope drained from his face.
There was only cold indifference in my gaze. Maybe even a hint of mockery.
“If it’s gone, then it’s gone.
“No matter how hard you try, no matter how desperately you hold on, you won’t find it.”
My words carried more meaning than just the missing deed, and I knew Xavier understood.
His eyes gradually turned bloodshot again, filled with deep regret.
In just one day, he had cried too many times. His swollen, red–rimmed eyes made it almost impossible to recognize the proud, arrogant man
he once was.
“I’m leaving,” I said simply.
I walked past him without looking back.
As if finally realizing that nothing he did could change the outcome, Xavier collapsed onto the ground, his body shaking as he let out a broken, gut–wrenching sob
fignored him. It was as if I didn’t hear a thing.
With the whispers and curious stares of onlookers following behind me, I strode toward the boarding gate, toward a brand–new journey that belonged to me alone.
