Chapter 21
“What do you mean we won’t be having a wedding?” Jared was taken aback. His hand was still frozen in midair from when he’d reached out to hold her hand.
The lounge backstage was silent–a stark contrast to the world outside, where the staff’s voices filled the air.
Yvonne looked into Jared’s eyes without the slightest hint of avoidance.
After a while, he snapped to his senses, looking like the realization had just dawned on him. “I get it now. You want to postpone the wedding, right? That’s no
problem.
“If you find your work too tiring, you can take a break. I’ll only have time to plan the wedding with you after I’m done with the projects I have in hand. I think it should be fine if we get married at the end of the year.”
He didn’t want her to be too far from him and stepped forward, reaching for her hand again. The smell of nicotine came with him. It had once been a familiar scent, but it now all seemed so strange.
Yvonne backed away again to avoid him. “There won’t be a wedding. It’s not a matter of when–it’s that there will never be one.”
She found it ironic. Marriage had always been something she’d prepared for alone; Jared had merely watched her, unfazed. Whenever they argued, he’d use marriage and a wedding to pacify her. Now, however, she no longer wanted to swallow his lies.
Her calm words aggravated Jared, making him lose some of his cool. “What the hell is this tantrum about, Yvonne?”
He strode to the door and slammed it shut. “You’re the one who wanted to get married, yet you’re also the one who’s now saying there won’t be a wedding. I can’t see through you, alright? Stop playing around with me!”
A trace of barely–there panic flickered in his eyes. It was almost as if he was so against his unease that he didn’t want to acknowledge it.
“Have you lost your memories, Jared?” Yvonne’s breathing was calm and steady. She wasn’t affected by his outburst. “You and I have already broken up.”
Jared’s breathing hitched. He hadn’t forgotten about that; he just hadn’t taken it to heart. He said, “Talking about breaking up when we’re arguing isn’t the right thing to do, Yvyy. We’re not over–you only said that in the heat of the moment!”
“I was, and
am,
serious.” She looked at him stoically. A breakup wasn’t a divorce–she could end the relationship with a single sentence.
Jared tried to keep his emotions in check, but he couldn’t accept this. The more he thought about it, the more his anger spiraled out of control.
“We’ve been together for seven years–how can you call it quits just like that? And why do you want to end things? Because I gave Shirley a job in the secretarial department? She’s just a student I sponsored, and I think of her as a little sister!
“Are you being this unreasonable because you don’t trust me? She and I have never done anything to
cried.
cross
the
line, and her existence won’t be a threat to you!” he
to
go.!
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me.” Yvonne checked the time. “The event’s over, and I need
Jared stood before the door, refusing to budge. “Do you like leaving that much? You left the company without telling me, and you’re ending this relationship so flippantly! Do I mean anything to you at all? Does our relationship mean anything to you? Are you going to just leave things at that and assume we’re over?”
Yvonne didn’t say anything. That only aggravated Jared further. He snapped, “You want to marry me, so why are you breaking up with me? And how can you just dump me without giving me a chance?”
His outburst was more out of shock and anger than anything else.
He continued, “I don’t believe for a second that you want to end things, Yvvy. You’re still mad, aren’t you? Take back what you said about breaking up, and I’ll transfer you back to the secretarial department. You’ll call the shots, alright? Is that enough to make you stop with this tantrum?”
“I’ve already quit my job and ended our relationship.” Yvonne was so cold to Jared that she couldn’t even be bothered to explain herself. “You and I have nothing to do with each other anymore.”
“That’s enough, Yvonne!” Jared couldn’t stand that he was the only one reacting like this while she was so stoic.
