Chapter 2

I smiled and held the phone up for them to see. "This is exactly why I'm having a newly single party."

My dad's face went pale. He opened his mouth but said nothing.

Victor's parents looked incredibly guilty.

"Sarah," his mom said softly. "Victor is just young. He doesn't think things through. We sincerely apologize.

"We'll make him give you a proper explanation. Please give him another chance."

I waved them off and said nothing.

The damage was already done. An apology couldn't fix it.

This was an issue between Victor and me from the very beginning.

And I couldn't choose to forgive him anymore. When you built up enough disappointment, you just got tired.

Everyone knew Hannah's threat was just a trick to ruin my wedding.

It wasn't her first time doing this.

Every time she threatened to hurt herself, she ended up perfectly fine.

And every time, she sent me a gloating text.

This trick never failed her. She just wanted to tell me I could never beat her.

Even when I showed Victor these texts a million times, he never stayed with me.

He always said, "what if it's real this time?"

What if? Fine. In that case, I'd just bow out.

*****

I went to work early the next day.

My coworkers didn't ask what happened yesterday, but they kept giving me curious looks.

Finally, my manager called me into his office.

He crossed his fingers and looked at me. "Sarah, we have a new project opening up in Boston. Are you interested in giving it a try?"

I looked at him gratefully and agreed without hesitation.

He nodded in approval. "I'm glad you're keeping an open mind. Go to Beston and show them what you can do. With your skills, my position will be yours sooner or later.

"Pick a time, and I'll have my assistant book your ticket."

I thought for a second. "Let's do this afternoon."

After leaving the office, I handed all my current files over to my assistant, Caleb Hunter.

He held the stack of folders and hesitated. "Sarah, do you want to think about this? The Beston project will take at least a year."

I knew Caleb was looking out for me. He was afraid I'd regret going.

After all, most of the company knew how deeply I loved Victor.

But now, I was completely over it.

I patted Caleb's shoulder. "I already booked my flight for tonight."

After packing some clothes, I flew to Beston.

Right after landing, I went straight to the project site.

I was incredibly busy for the next few days.

One night, I got back to my hotel, and my phone started ringing nonstop.

I looked at it. It was Victor.

It seemed he finally remembered me.

I didn't want to deal with him, so I tossed the phone aside.

Just as I was about to take a shower, Caleb called. "Hey Sarah. Victor came to the office looking for you today. So..."

I said flatly, "Just ignore him."

Caleb sounded a bit riled up for me.

Caleb sounded frustrated on my behalf. "Right. You've always spoiled him too much. This is a good chance to teach him a lesson. Otherwise, he'll think you're too easy to control."

I laughed. "Caleb, from the moment I decided to come to Boston, I really meant to start over."

The line went quiet. Caleb seemed to take a breath before asking carefully. "Wait, you're serious?"

I looked down and softly said, "Yeah."

After hanging up, I felt a strange sense of relief. It felt like the chains holding me down were finally gone.