Chapter 5
Peter’s face went dark.
“I should be asking you that.”
“This is my place. Where’s Hailey?”
With that, he tried to barge inside, only for the new owner to block him.
“What the hell? You can’t just walk into someone else’s place!”
“This is my new place, man! You’re looking for the previous owner, right? She sold it! Didn’t you know?!”
Peter froze, staring up at the place he’d called home for eight years, now all done up in different decor.
His world was crumbling
Chapter 5
Peter froze, staring up at the place he’d called
home for eight years, now all done up in
different decor.
His world was crumbling. “No, no, no, no, no… This can’t be happening!”
“I was just here three or four days ago. This is my home! My wife and I lived here for eight years!”
The new owner snorted. “Dude, are you sure you’re not just crashing here?”
“The previous owner was a lady. And she decided to leave, so she sold it.”
“Maybe you should go find your ‘wife‘ first, huh?”
And with that, the guy shoved Peter out and
1
=-67% 15:47
J
J
1:
Chapter 5
Peter just stood there in a daze, refusing to believe what was happening. *
“Hailey, what kind of game are you playing?” He pulled out his phone and quickly dialed my number, but it just kept saying my phone was off.
He hopped on Instagram and tried messaging me, but it immediately came back with a red exclamation mark.
Peter’s face turned pale.
“She fucking blocked me?! Hailey, what the hell are you doing?!”
Then it hit him that something was seriously
wrong.
Panicking, he started pacing around. Then, suddenly, he got an idea–he called my old workplace.
67% 15:47
2/11
Chapter 5
“Hey! I’m Hailey’s fiancé. She blocked me, and I need to talk to her! Put her on the phone!
Now!”
The line went quiet for a moment, and then a voice came through, slow and almost… amused.
“Dude, Hailey quit last week. You didn’t know?”
The bouquet Peter was holding dropped to the ground with a thud.
What he didn’t believe at first was creeping closer to the harsh truth.
His fiancée… really left him?
He clenched his phone, veins popping on the back of his hand.
“No. You’re kidding me, right?”
Chapter 5
“Hailey… Hailey and I… We’re supposed to get
married in less than two weeks! There’s no way she’d just quit without telling me!”
“We’ve lived in this damn city for 10 years! Where else would she even go?”
He was asking, but it sounded more like he was talking to himself.
But then my colleague on the other end scoffed.
“Her fiancé, huh? You didn’t seem like you cared about her at all! If I had a boyfriend like you, I would’ve dumped him a long time ago— ain’t no way I’d put up with your crap for eight years!”
“And you guys are getting married? Seriously? Dude, she’s been miserable over your
bullshits every damn day! And you’ve got the
67% 15:48
Chapter 5
nerve to even bring up marriage?”
“Look, I’m blocking your number right now, and if you try calling again, I swear, I’ll knock you out if I ever see you!”
My colleague hung up fast, and no matter how many times Peter tried calling back, he couldn’t get through.
When my colleague messaged me about it, I had just landed in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Seeing the message made me smirk. [Blocking him was the right move. Don’t waste your time on that asshole.]
Then I turned off my phone and dove into my new life in Santa Fe.
Before long, I settled down quickly and found myself a decent place to rent, where I could spend my days tending to a garden, growing
☐ 67% 15-48
5011
Chapter 5
some veggies–just living life at my own pace.
I don’t miss the city anymore, and I sure don’t miss those days with Peter.
Romance? That’s all in the past.
I’ve saved up 10 years‘ worth, more than enough for me to live comfortably here.
Now that I was out of the way, Peter could finally be open about his real relationship with that childhood “friend” of his.
Well, good for them.
But then, to my surprise, two weeks later, Peter actually found me.
When he walked into town, he looked worn
out.
I was on my way to give some freshly picked veggies to my elderly neighbor when he
riched over orahhino mu wrist with m–67% 15:48
6/11
Chapter 5
rushed over, grabbing my wrist with
bloodshot eyes.
“Hailey! You left without a word? What’s that supposed to mean, huh?!”
“You didn’t even tell me you sold the house! And you canceled the wedding! Why’d you do all this?”
I pulled my wrist free, speaking calmly.
“I bought that place. Selling it was my choice.”
“And come on, you’re Peter! You can afford a new place, can’t you?”
I’d heard from his assistant that when I sent all his stuff back to the office, it piled up like a mountain.
Staff were gossiping that Peter got kicked out
by his fiancée.
1
3
C
1
1
- 1
1
67% 15:48
דדויד
Chapter 5
Nobody’s face looked worse than his. Now, his face was ghostly white as he glared at me. He kept staring at me, looking more freaked out by the second.
“For heaven’s sake, Hailey, we were about to get married! You just left and canceled everything?! What the heck’s going on?”
I sighed. “Peter, we’re over.”
Ever since Josie came back into his life- especially with her pregnancy and constant midnight calls–I’d tried breaking up with him more than once.
But he was too confident, too sure I’d never leave.
All he did was laugh it off every damn time.
I remembered the time a couple of weeks ago
when my stomach problems flared up and I
67% 15:48
8/11
Chapter 5
when my stomach problems flared up, and I begged him to take me to the hospital.
But he acted like I was interrupting his welcome–back chat with his childhood friend, telling me to shut up. He even actually kicked me out of the car!
It was late at night, no rides in sight. I waited in pain until an ambulance finally came.
Later, when I was in the hospital, I tried calling him to bring me a charger.
But he turned down every call as soon as it
rang.
Then voila–I spotted him in the hospital hallway, gently helping Josie along.
“Eascancelede, darling, we don’t want you or the baby getting hurt!”
וח
67% 15:49
1
IT 1
1
9/11
Chapter 5
Then voila–I spotted him in the hospital hallway, gently helping Josie along.
“Eascancelede, darling, we don’t want you or the baby getting hurt!”
That was the moment I knew I was done. I brought up breaking up for the last time. After that, I took a solo trip to Twilight Summit for seven days, and Peter completely ignored me, acting like my breakup message didn’t even exist.
He just jumped right into asking where I’d been.
Looking back now, it all feels absurd and hilarious.
