Chapter 26
When I stepped out wearing my coat, Jessica was standing by the door.
When Selena saw me, she stepped aside. “Seb, you two tall You didn’t eat much for dinner. Now that you’re awake, let me make you some food.”
With that, she walked toward the kitchen.
Jessica’s face was flushed, her skin burning with fever. It was the same way she always looked when she was sick. Her face and neck were bright red, almost to the point of being frightening.
She pulled a small red velvet box from her pocket, her hands trembling as she opened it. Inside were two matching rings.
“You said, if we ever got married, we’d have our initials engraved on the rings,” she said, voice shaking. “I went ahead and ordered them. It’s the style you liked. You also said you wanted to go to Baldara for our honeymoon, so I bought the plane tickets. We can leave next week.
“Seb, I was so immature, but after all these years, I’m finally awake now. Let’s start over,
okay?”
These were things I once dreamed of, and I had fantasized countless times that she would look back at me and take
my hand. But why did people always hope that shattered things could be made whole again? The things I once longed for were now right in front of me, but didn’t even stir a ripple in my heart.
I glanced at Jessica.
“Jess.”
This time, I didn’t call her Jessica.
“Thank you for all these years.”
Whether she was sincere or not, I might not have made it out of high school alive without her.
“Believe it or not, these past few years, I genuinely cared about you. Not just because of love, but because you were a part of my life through all those dark, early years. No one can resist a savior sent from above, Jess.
“You should be happy for me. You didn’t drain all my courage to love–after all these years, that’s the one way out you left me.”
The corners of Jessica’s eyes were moist, her voice laced with a quiet bitterness as she asked, “Seb, am I really that unforgivable?”
I pulled a blue velvet box from my coat pocket and opened it in front of her. Inside was a massive diamond ring. “Look,” I said gently. “I’m ready to propose to Lena. It’s over between us.”
Jessica lowered her head, her fingertip lightly tapping the diamond, a sad smile playing at her lips.
Countless times before, I’d always followed her closely, looking up at her.
The summer I was sixteen, she boldly stood in the middle of the schoolyard and shouted, “Everyone, listen up! Sebastian is under my protection from now on. No one is allowed to bully him anymore.”
She had once walked toward me, backlit by the sun, bringing light with her. Now, she was walking away, parting the crowd as she stepped down a road that only deepened the chasm between us. And with each step, she walked further out of my life.
“Jess, don’t keep holding on. Let go, please.”
+15 BONUS
Chapter 26
Jessica closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, there was something flashing deep in her
gaze.
“Seb, I can let go, but you can’t marry Selena. Because from the beginning, she only got close to you because of a wager between the two of us. You hate being lied to. And the reason I’m telling you the truth now is because I don’t want you to suffer the same pain again in the future.
With that, Jessica pulled out her phone and played a recording.
Selena’s voice came through, clear and unmistakable.
