Chapter 13
Behind the closed door, Fiona couldn’t hold back her tears any longer.
She was flesh and blood after all, not some emotionless machine that could simply
delete memories with the click of a button. The video–that cursed Pandora’s box -kept playing in her mind. The sickening, humiliating truth haunted her like a nightmare she couldn’t shake.
In Quentin’s heart, Daisy had been his beacon of light during his darkest days, the most vibrant splash of color in his otherwise gray existence. He only remembered how Daisy had taken his breath away, how that single moment had felt like an eternity of enchantment. His words dripped with tenderness when speaking of her, expressing nothing but fond memories and gratitude.
He had completely forgotten everything Fiona had sacrificed during those same days.
While Quentin and Daisy were living out their perfect romance, it was Fiona who had emptied her entire savings account to cover the holes in Quentin’s failing business. It was Fiona who had gone door–to–door to their clients and business. partners, swallowing her pride and enduring countless humiliations, begging them to give Quentin a second chance.
For Quentin, Fiona had done it all.
She had knelt in the snow–covered ground, pressing her forehead to the earth in desperate pleas. She had sat in smoke–filled rooms, drinking with businessmen until she could barely stand. She had even miscarried after drinking herself sick to
secure a crucial contract.
Fiona remembered how, on that day in the hospital, her first thought hadn’t been about her own health. Instead, she had excitedly messaged Quentin: “Don’t worry, the company is saved.”
Quentin never replied.
Looking back now, she realized he must have been too busy exploring new
horizons with Daisy, lost in their passionate affair.
Evelyn came down the stairs to find Fiona slumped against the door, tears.
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streaming down her face. She rushed forward, wrapping her daughter in her arms. “Don’t cry, sweetheart. Tell Mom what’s wrong.”
Though the man outside had left, the thorn in Fiona’s heart remained firmly
lodged. Buried in her mother’s embrace, she finally let out the words she’d been holding back…
“Why does he love Daisy so much? What makes her so special? Their love story. started with one magical moment, but what about our ten years together? What did those mean?”
“He keeps Daisy tucked away in his heart, lying to me that he needs to remember those difficult times to motivate himself. But the truth is, the only thing he wants to remember is Daisy.”
Hearing her daughter’s sobs, Evelyn felt her heart shattering into pieces. She gently rubbed Fiona’s back, but found herself at a loss for words of comfort. Words felt hollow and inadequate in the face of such raw emotion. As someone who had walked this path before, Evelyn understood all too well. Everyone must learn to grow through pain and tears – she couldn’t shoulder her daughter’s heartache, but she could silently stand guard in her own way.
Fiona cried for what felt like hours, as if trying to drain every last drop of sorrow from her mind. There was a silver lining, though after the tears subsided, clarity.
–
washed over her like a wave. So many things suddenly made sense.
She tossed and turned all night, finally realizing there were things she needed to say to Quentin. Not for his sake, but for the sake of their decade–long history. Once she had composed herself, Fiona used a public phone to call him.
After leaving Fiona’s place, Quentin felt like someone had carved a hole in his heart. The sweet, innocent girl from his memories seemed to be slipping further and further away with each passing moment.
When he saw the unknown number flash across his screen, he assumed it was another call trying to convince him to return home. His finger hovered over the
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decline button, but something deep inside urged him to answer.
The moment he heard Fiona’s voice, Quentin knew that answering this call was the
most right decision he’d made in recent memory.
But the very next second, her words made his blood run cold, shattering every
hopeful expectation he’d been harboring.
“Quentin, I don’t love you anymore,” she said.
“I’m grateful for the kindness you showed me during the darkest time of my life, and because of that, I’m willing to forgive all the ways you hurt me.”
“As for that USB drive… let’s call it even.”
–
“I’m calling to tell you that running away from our wedding wasn’t revenge it was my choice. I’m choosing to let you go, to let go of our love and our past.” “From today forward, we owe each other nothing. I hope we can both find our own happiness, and never cross paths again.”
The line went dead before Quentin could utter a single word.
Fiona had loved him with every fiber of her being, holding nothing back. Then, upon discovering his betrayal, she’d executed her revenge without mercy and
walked away. Now she was even giving them both a graceful ending, closing the chapter as if nothing had happened, ready to stride confidently into her new life. But what about Quentin? What was he supposed to do?
This was over twenty years of love they’d shared!
Quentin pulled a cigarette from his pocket, his trembling hands fumbling with the lighter.
Once, twice the flame refused to catch.
His fingers tightened around the lighter, ready to hurl it into the distance. But in that split second before letting go, memory struck like lightning – this was Fiona’s. gift. Their names were still engraved on its surface, a permanent reminder of what they’d been.
Quentin could still hear his own voice from back then, teasing Fiona about how childish it was to engrave their names on a lighter. Now that memory twisted like a
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knife in his chest. Where was that sweet, supposedly childish girl now?
He scrambled to retrieve the lighter, his heart pounding. Running his thumb over the fresh scratch marks he’d just added, he raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. How had it come to this? The possibility of Fiona actually leaving him had never even crossed his mind until it happened.
All these years, she’d been the perfect girlfriend- understanding, patient, never causing problems. She’d loved him with a devotion that seemed endless, and he’d
grown so accustomed to her love that it became as natural as breathing.
Now, trying to imagine life without Fiona felt like trying to imagine life without oxygen. The thought of returning to his apartment – their apartment – now just an empty shell of what used to be home, made his chest tighten painfully. Ten years of love. Twenty years of knowing each other. How could anyone expect them to just walk away from something so deep, to pretend they could just move on as if they owed each other nothing? The very idea was impossible to accept. No. He wouldn’t accept it.
What he’d lost, he would find again. What he’d broken, he would fix.
Standing in these unfamiliar streets, Quentin’s voice was steady with
determination as he spoke to the night air: “Fiona, I don’t believe for a second that
you can just walk away from ten years of us like it meant nothing. If I could make you fall in love with me ten years ago, I can do it again now. I’m even more worthy of your love than I was back then.”
His voice grew stronger, filled with conviction. “I’m going to prove my love to you.
And when I do, nothing and no one will ever come between us again.”
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