Chapter 3
[The vicious side character is such a pain! Look at her—scaring our female lead out of her wits!]
Why on earth was I here?
That was the question I kept asking myself.
Meanwhile, Rolland, seeing I wasn't responding, piped up again. "Shawna, come on—is this really necessary?
"Look, in life, partnerships work when both sides are in it, and they crumble when they're not. You can't just chain me down because I don't love you anymore.
"Let's handle this with some dignity—don't act like a child having a fit."
He drove the point home, over and over: no love left.
Yet he said zilch about luring me to Glathe under false pretenses.
Not a word about how we were still engaged just yesterday.
Zero mention of our childhood sweetheart era, when things were at their sweetest, and he'd vowed to the skies that if he ever strayed, lightning would strike him down.
The bullet comments nailed it.
Rolland was head over heels for Dorthy. That was why he'd hidden her involvement and his cheating so flawlessly—no leaks whatsoever.
Then, right when I was at my happiest, brimming with anticipation, he hit me with the fatal strike.
The person I loved most had betrayed me.
Yesterday, in the aftermath of that bombshell, I'd been overwhelmed by a sorrow so profound it left me numb. I'd stumbled through in a daze, running on pure instinct.
But now, facing Rolland head-on, the comments jolted me into clarity.
Why had I tracked him down? Why subject myself to this embarrassment?
I wasn't here to be humiliated.
I was here to fight back—to reclaim my dignity.
With that epiphany, an odd sense of peace settled over me.
"You're absolutely right, Rolland," I replied. "But the way I see it—and always have, since I was a kid—there's no turning an ex into a 'sister.'
"A breakup means a clean break: no contact, not even on our deathbeds.
"That said, before we part ways for good, we've got to clear up all the unfinished business."
As those words sank in, I saw Dorthy's tense frown ease up.
She must've been agonizing over Rolland's line about me being a "sister" instead of his fiancée.
Hearing me spell it out and reject it outright probably brought her some relief.
"Rolland," I went on, "I'm here for two things. First off, I want back what's mine—something important."
That "something" was a ring.
The one my grandma had handed directly to Rolland before she died.
She'd told him it wasn't worth much.
Just a tiny chunk of mixed jewel, roughly carved, with those fuzzy inclusions inside.
But it had come down from her own grandma to her.
And then she'd passed it to him personally, in the hope that someday he'd give it to our future child.
I knew Grandma had meant to entrust me to Rolland's care.
She was dying, and she'd always worried that my parents wouldn't be around much longer, while my brother would eventually settle down with his own family—and he wasn't exactly dependable.
The only person who truly put her at ease was Rolland, the one who'd grown up right alongside me.
But if she could see from the afterlife how he was treating me now, what would she think?
Sure enough, when I brought up Grandma, Rolland's face shifted.
She wasn't just my grandmother, after all.
She'd doted on him every bit as much as she had on me.
That was when I noticed his left hand absentmindedly grazing his chest—the spot where he kept that ring tucked away close to his skin.
[What's the male lead getting at?]
[Holy shit, why's there guilt in his eyes when he looks at the side chick? Is he nuts? I only stan a male lead who's all in for the female lead!]
[Hey, chill out up there. The male lead and the side chick have history—of course there are feelings. Relax, she'll keep messing up later and burn through every last bit of them.]
[Hold up... in the original story, the side chick doesn't show up like this, and she sure as hell doesn't agree to the breakup so easily.]
[Did we just alter the plot? Why does it feel like the side chick's not self-destructing anymore?]
[Doesn't matter! The male lead waffling like this is straight-up wrong!]
"I forgot to bring..." Rolland muttered without thinking.
That set off a storm of furious rants in the barrage.
Even the viewers could spot it—his instinctive move proved he'd been carrying the jewel ring on him the whole time.
Just imagining him wearing that same jewel ring when he proposed to Dorthy.
It nearly made me gag.
Still, I shoved down the chaos in my head and held his gaze, unflinching.
Dorthy did too.
She let out a soft, unhappy murmur, "Rolland."
Rolland went quiet, then undid the necklace around his neck.
The little jewel ring hung from the chain, swinging lazily in the air.
I reached for it, trying to take it, but felt him pulling back.
I couldn't help a faint smile. "Mr. Arias, we're done here. What sense does it make to hang onto your ex's stuff?"
The resistance vanished in an instant.
I tugged hard, snapping the chain that held the jewel ring, and tossed it carelessly onto the coffee table.
Then I slipped the small circle into my pocket.
Really, though, it was just a lifeless trinket.
Grandma had left behind plenty of keepsakes at home.
She'd never hold a grudge against her favorite granddaughter over one little jewel ring.
So, I hadn't come here solely for the ring—there was something else far more important.