Chapter 5
I stood downstairs at Jayden’s place, dialing his number every ten minutes.
Back in college, when I faced an unsolvable problem, I could spend an entire day slowly working through it.
But now, the puzzle had become Jayden, and I had lost all patience. I could only keep up the appearance of calm, while inside, I was falling apart, my emotions a raging storm.
By the twentieth round of ten–minute intervals, the phone finally clicked through.
I looked up. A figure appeared behind the lit window of Jayden’s bedroom, and his voice followed immediately after.
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“Lyn, I told you, I’m busy!“”
His tone was laced with irritation, with no trace of guilt. My heart squeezed painfully, as if an invisible hand had gripped it, and the pain was suffocating.
I cleared my dry throat and spoke softly, “Jayden, what are you busy with?”
There was a pause before he replied, “I..”
As I watched another small figure emerge from the window, my grip on the phone tightened, my breath quickening. “Jayden, don’t lie to me.””
He didn’t respond.
The two figures behind the window slowly merged into one.
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My eyes burned with tears, but I gritted my teeth, holding back the sting in my vision.
I heard my voice–terribly calm, disturbingly so–as if it was coming from a distant place. “Let’s break up, Jayden.”
“You’ve become someone else’s pet now,” I said, my voice trembling with disgust, “I don’t want someone so pathetic.”
Jayden’s voice came back, shocked, “Lena, what are you even talking about?”
“Break up? No, I don’t agree!”
When I didn’t answer, he seemed to finally confess without realizing. “Did Sara show you Amy’s social media?”
His tone turned defensive. “Lyn, how many times do I have to tell you? Amy is just my
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childhood friend. There’s nothing between us!”
“She just came back from abroad, got dumped by a jerk. I’m just catching up with her, comforting her. Why do you have to act like a crazy woman, interrogating me like this?”
“Why don’t you trust me? Lena, I’m really disappointed in you.”
Hearing Jayden bring up “trust” once again, I could only find it laughable.
My voice trembled, but I cut straight to the heart of his hypocrisy. “What if it were me?”
“If I were wearing another man’s clothes, lying in his bed, would you still trust me?”
Jayden’s voice deepened, but it was firm,
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little privacy?”
“Why can’t you just be a little more understanding, a little more considerate?”
“I’m not coming home today. You can be alone, and reflect on your actions!”
Without another word, Jayden hung up.
As I listened to the dial tone on the other end of the line, a wave of disorientation washed
over me.
In just two days, Jayden had become someone I didn’t recognize.
The rain poured harder, but my feet felt as if they were rooted to the ground, unable to move an inch.
It wasn’t until the light in Jayden’s room
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flickered out that the weight I’d been carrying in my chest finally dissipated. My legs gave way, and I collapsed into the downpour.
My heart, my love–both shattered in the torrential rain.
Then, just as I thought I couldn’t bear another moment, the phone rang.
It was already three in the morning. When I saw the name on the caller ID, my numb heart jolted. My hand trembled as I answered.
“Mom?”
A frantic voice came through. “Lyn, you need to come back right now–your mom’s condition has worsened!”
I wiped the rain from my face, my voice eerily
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calm. “Thank you, Auntie. I’ll be on my way.”
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