Lost the Bet on Our Anniversary, Ended the Relationship She Scriptted Chapter 04
Evan went still for a second.
Then his brow furrowed again.
“I didn’t tell anyone to go after your mom. People dug up her
past on their own. How is that my fault?”
My hand came across his face before I could stop myself.
“Do you hear yourself?”
Before I could say anything else. Sienna stepped in front of him with red–rimmed eyes.
“Aria Lane, blame me if you want. Evan was only trying to make me feel better.”
She swallowed.
“But I still don’t think I was wrong about you, You were
constantly getting too close to other men while you were
with him. If you really loved Evan, how could you still not
recognize him after four years? I’ve known him since we were
kids. I couldn’t stand by and watch him get hurt.”
I watched the two of them fall into the same routine, too drained even to be angry.
When I stayed silent, Evan apparently mistook it for hesitation.
“I still don’t want to lose you, Aria. I don’t want to throw away
four years. Just apologize to Sienna, and we can put all of this behind us.”
They had tested me, humiliated me, and turned my private
life into public entertainment.
Now they wanted me to apologize.
For what?
“I did nothing wrong. I’m not apologizing.”
My voice carried into the hallway, and someone lifted a phone to record.
Whispers followed.
“Isn’t that the girl everyone’s posting about?”
“The one who says face blindness is why she’s always with different guys?”
They didn’t know the whole story, but that didn’t stop them from judging me.
Between the gossip and the shock of losing Mom, I couldn’t
take another second of it.
I told everyone to leave.
While going through Mom’s belongings, I found a note under her pillow.
There was only one line.
“Aria, your mother couldn’t protect you.”
I wiped my eyes, folded the note carefully, and slipped it into my coat pocket.
Then I posted one clarification online with the police report and a notice from my attorney.
After that, I took Mom’s ashes to Lake Tahoe.
It was the place she had always told me she wanted to see when she was younger,
After she had me, life never gave her the chance.
The wind was strong by the lake.
I released her ashes over the water a little at a time and
watched them disappear into the distance.
Goodbye, Mom.
Goodbye, Evan.
From here on, I’ll walk the road alone.