At the restaurant door, the night breeze hit me, and I finally understood: if someone never put you in their heart to begin with, no amount of sacrifice will ever fill the space between him and his “brother.”
When I got home, I wrapped myself in a blanket on the couch, coughing. Soon after, Daniel came in.
Kicking off his shoes, he muttered, “Bella’s ignoring me. She said my apology to you wasn’t sincere and she won’t see me anymore.”
Every word was about Bella—nothing about my humiliation.
I ignored him, went to the kitchen for a glass of water.
He tossed his jacket onto the sofa, his voice full of irritation. “What do you want from me? Do you need me to fight with her before you’re satisfied?”
I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. “Daniel, you’ve got it backward. You crossed the line with Bella, gave her my engagement ring, and now that she’s mad at you, you’re blaming me?”
Daniel jerked his head up, bloodshot eyes blazing. “We’ve been like this since we were kids. She’ll cool off. Why won’t you drop it? Now look—she’s really mad and even deleted me on WeChat!”
I pointed at the suitcase by the sofa—stuffed with his things. “We’re done. I packed your stuff. You can leave now.”
“I’ll cancel the wedding, too. You can explain it to your family.”
He froze, then trailed after me, rubbing his hands, lost. “Olivia, I know I was wrong. I shouldn’t have done that. Bella… she’s just blunt and thoughtless. I already talked to her. Don’t be mad, okay?”
“Look, I took off the ring. I’m really drawing a line with her.” He held the ring out to me, trying to appease me. “Olivia, give me one more chance, please? We’re about to get married…”
He headed toward the bedroom. “Okay, okay—if you’re still mad, I’ll calm Bella down and have her apologize to you, alright?” As he spoke, he yanked open the nightstand, pulled out a pill box, and tossed it to me. “You were coughing hard just now. Take some medicine.”
I looked at the label—Bella’s allergy meds. “I need cold medicine, not this.”
“Huh?” Daniel glanced back, waved it off. “Same difference. Take that for now; I’ll buy the right one tomorrow.”
He tried to put an arm around my shoulders. “Forgive me this once. I promise I’ll keep my distance from her from now on, I—”
His pocket buzzed, cutting him off. He stiffened, then answered on reflex, voice instantly soft. “Hey? Bella? You done being mad?”