This time, Amanda hesitated. It took her a full three minutes to reply.

[What do you think?]

A bitter smile tugged at the corners of my lips. How laughable, this love I thought we had only taken three minutes for her to give me up.

[I see.]

After sending that message, silence stretched between us. Neither of us said another word.

I found myself scrolling through our past conversations, rereading the sweet nothings we once exchanged. How fleeting those words were—only meaningful when love was still alive.

I didn’t know how much time passed before I drifted into a restless sleep, only to be jolted awake by the shrill ring of my phone.

“Yvo, come home quickly. Grandma’s not going to make it.”

The words struck me like thunderbolt. I froze, unable to process what I had just heard.

Grandma was the one who had raised me after my parents divorced. She was my only family, the person who loved me most in the world. I’d always dreamed of giving her a better life once I succeeded.

But now she was leaving, and I hadn’t even had the chance.

It took me a long time to gather myself. I was still in the hospital, my pneumonia unhealed, and I wasn’t allowed to leave.

Desperate, I called Amanda. Surely she could help me get home.

She didn’t answer the first two times, but on the third call, she finally picked up.

“You’ve got some nerve calling me again,” she said, her tone dripping with mockery.

I ignored the sting of her words. “Amanda, can you take me back to my hometown? My grandma... she’s not going to make it.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “I can’t. I need a car today. You’ll have to take a taxi.”

“Please,” I begged, “my leg hasn’t healed, and it’s already 3 a.m.—there are no cabs at this hour. Just this once, I’m begging you.”

As I waited for her response, Jayden’s voice came through the phone. “Amanda, are you ready? We need to go if we want to catch the sunrise at the beach.”

Her voice followed, calm and resolute. “I can’t help you, Yvo. I already promised Jayden I’d go with him. I can’t break my word.”

Her response shattered the last of my defenses. I had expected excuses, but not this.

“Amanda,” I pleaded, my voice trembling, “I’m begging you, just this once. Let me see Grandma one last time.”

“But I can’t break my promise to someone else either,” she said without hesitation.

Her words were final. I knew then that she would never give up her plans with Jayden—not even for me.

My hands shook as I ended the call.

Grandma had always liked Amanda. When they first met, Grandma had given her the only piece of jewelry she owned—a token of her approval and love.

Amanda had promised then, in front of Grandma, that she would take care of me.

But now, everything had changed. Those promises were as insubstantial as mist, vanishing in the cold light of reality.

I stumbled to my feet and rushed toward the door, ignoring the sharp pain in my leg.

The hospital was on a secluded hillside far from the city. At this hour, there wasn’t a single car in sight—not even a person.

I pressed on, gritting my teeth against the pain and the chill in the air.

Three cars passed me, but none stopped.

It took three agonizing hours before I managed to flag down a taxi.

By the time I reached Grandma’s house, it was too late. She was gone.

My hand trembled as I pushed the door open. The creak of the hinges was the only sound in the suffocating silence.

I sank to my knees with a thud. The floodgates opened, and tears streamed down my face.

The guilt was unbearable. I had failed her.

I didn’t know how long I knelt there. When I finally stood up, the sky was already dark.

I walked back in a daze, each step heavier than the last. My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was Amanda.

I answered numbly.

“Where are you?” she asked, her tone carrying a hint of urgency. “I just got back. I can take you home now.”

“Leave me alone.” I hung up the phone, my heart heavy with despair.

How did we end up like this? Once inseparable, yet now strangers standing on opposite shores. The woman who had vowed to stand by me through thick and thin chose someone else when I needed her the most.

After arranging my grandmother’s funeral, I returned to my apartment.

The place was eerily silent. As I flicked on the lights, I noticed something by the door—a pair of men’s shoes that weren’t mine.

“You’re back, Yvo. Why didn’t you give me a heads-up?”

Jayden emerged from the bedroom, casually dressed in my pajamas, speaking as if he were the rightful owner of the place.

I cast him a cold glance. Exhausted from the events of the past few days, I didn’t want to waste my breath on him. I collapsed onto the couch, hoping for some peace.

But Jayden sat down in the chair beside me, his smug presence was impossible to ignore.

“Yvo, wipe that scowl off your face. Let me tell you something. this is my home now.”

I turned to him, my voice low and cold. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

“This apartment, the one you worked so hard for? Amanda transferred it to me. Didn’t know that, did you? Tsk, you're indeed pathetic.” He sneered.

His words struck me like a thunderclap. I shot up from the couch and grabbed him by the collar. “What did you just say?” I demanded.

We were on the verge of a physical fight when the front door opened.

Slap!

Amanda’s hand connected with my face. The sting was sharp, but the pain in my heart was far worse.

She rushed past me to Jayden, fussing over him like a protective mother. “Yvo, what’s wrong with you? Haven’t you had enough? First, you target Jayden at every turn, and now you want to hit him?”

She stood in front of him, shielding him from me, her gaze full of anger and disdain as she pointed her finger at my face.

The heartbreak was unbearable, a hundredfold worse than the sting of her slap.

“You gave him the apartment?” I asked, my voice breaking. “Amanda, this was supposed to be our home. I worked so hard to make this a place for us,” I shouted hoarsely, trying to win back a shred of her conscience.

“It’s just a stupid apartment,” she said dismissively. “Jayden didn’t have a place in New York. What’s wrong with giving it to him?”

“Fine. Fine!” The words choked in my throat as I stormed out, slamming the door behind me.

Once outside, I dialed my father’s number. “Dad, I’m ready to come back and take over the family business.”

There was a moment of stunned silence on the other end.

“Are you serious this time? No backing out?” he asked in disbelief.

“I won’t. You have my word,” I answered firmly.

The next morning, I sent my resignation letter to Amanda’s email, packed my bags, and booked the earliest flight home.

For eight long years, I had sacrificed everything for her. I had given up the chance to work at my father’s company and a stable future to support her dreams.

She started her own advertising firm, and I became her chief designer. When she struggled to bring in clients, I begged my father to help her, even drinking myself into a hospital bed to secure a major contract.

Yet, all our shared hardships, all the storms we weathered together, were erased the moment Jayden returned.

After breaking up with her, I deleted all her contacts and blocked her everywhere. I didn’t want any lingering ties to her.