"Then that means, in his heart, someone else matters more than I do."
Silence on the other end of the line.
I kept going.
"These past five years, do you think I haven't had better opportunities? More tempting offers that were harder to turn down?"
"But every single time, I chose him."
"I was willing to give things up. Why couldn't he follow through on his promises?"
I let out a quiet laugh.
"At the end of the day, I just wasn't worth it."
"So he doesn't deserve my love anymore, either."
"Marcus, stop pushing me. He and I are done."
"From now on, let someone else write his scripts."
Right then, the boarding announcement came over the speakers.
Marcus heard it, and his voice went tight with alarm.
"Rosalie, are you at the airport? Where are you going?"
I didn't want to answer. I moved to hang up.
But he seemed to anticipate it, calling out before I could.
"Don't hang up! Rosalie, don't hang up!"
"There has to be a misunderstanding between you and Noah. Just wait. Let me get him to talk to you himself!"
But before the phone could even be handed over, Noah's cold voice cut through.
"Didn't I say not to bother me unless it's life or death? Kate got a bad scare and just fell asleep. If she wakes up, it'll be impossible to get her back down."
Marcus said my name.
"It's Rosalie. She's at the airport right now. She says she wants to break—"
"Not even for Rosalie."
His voice turned weary.
"Tell her I'm dealing with something urgent. Whatever she needs, it can wait until I'm home."
Marcus tried to speak again, but Noah pushed him out the door.
"Marcus, Rosalie will understand. I'm exhausted. I just want to rest. Stop making things more complicated, alright?"
Through the phone came the sharp sound of a door slamming shut.
That sound hit me like a slap across the face, my cheeks burning.
So that was how little I mattered to Noah Henson.
The last shred of sadness in my heart evaporated.
All that remained was the sheer absurdity of it all.
Five years.
I had spent five years giving up better opportunities, again and again, for a man like that.
But not this time. I was done being a fool.
I whispered a quiet goodbye, powered off my phone, turned around, and walked toward the boarding gate.
