As I passed through the living room, Abner was murmuring softly, coaxing Pansy.
Hearing my footsteps, he sneered:
“You walk out that door now, and don't expect me to ever come crawling back to smooth things over with you.”
I didn't slow down. I grabbed Letitia and slammed the door hard behind us.
Downstairs, Letitia's eyes were red as she gripped my hand tightly:
“Trudy,”
“My dad's been wanting me to take over the overseas branch for ages. Come with me.”
“Leave this whole mess behind. We'll start over.”
I nodded without a moment's hesitation.
The next three days, I was busy sorting out my visa.
Sure enough, Abner didn't reach out to me even once.
His social media, though, was buzzing—every post a photo of him and Pansy.
The day before I left the country, I got a text from Pansy.
【Come by Abner's apartment. There's something I took from you back then. Time to give it back.】
I pushed the door open. Pansy was lounging on the living room couch, wearing Abner's shirt.
Smiling, she tossed a yellowed diary onto the coffee table.
Before I could even reach for it, she suddenly flipped it open to a page and started reading aloud:
“Today Abner smiled at me. I really hope he can keep that smile forever.”
“Oh my, how touching.”
I held out my hand.
“Give it back.”
Pansy yanked the diary back, her eyes turning vicious.
“What's the rush?”
“Trudy, look at all this groveling garbage you wrote. Honestly, it's so pathetic it makes me sick.”
“You guarded him like a dog for five years, nursed him through his illness, and what did it get you?”
“No matter how much you like him, all I have to do is crook my finger and he comes crawling right back to my side.”
“Just accept it. All you're good for in this life is being my stepping stone, picking up the trash I throw away.”
Watching her smug, sneering face, I felt not a single ripple inside me.
“Are you done? Because if you're done, I'm leaving.”
Just then, Pansy's eyes darted, and she suddenly grabbed the coffee off the table and splashed it all over herself.
I watched this clumsy little performance:
“Such a tired old trick. Aren't you embarrassed by how stupid it is?”
Pansy tilted her head up and gave me a triumphant smile.
“I said I bullied you both because I liked him, you told him you two were together, and he believed it, didn't he?”
“So you see, who cares how clumsy the trick is? Guess who Abner's going to believe when he walks out here.”
The words had barely left her mouth when the door was flung open.
Abner came rushing out like a madman.
The moment he saw Pansy drenched in coffee, he whipped around and stared me down:
“Trudy, if you've got a problem, take it out on me! Why would you throw coffee on her?”
“You always said you hated people who bully others. How are you any different from them right now? Apologize to her, now!”
I didn't argue. I didn't bother to defend myself.
“Apologize?”
“The only thing I need to apologize for is being blind these five years, actually treating a piece of garbage like you as something precious.”
With that, I ignored Abner's stunned look, picked up the diary, turned, and pulled open the apartment door.
I never looked back.
……
Half a month later. London.
My phone suddenly rang—an unfamiliar number from back home.
“Trudy, you actually had the nerve to block me?”
“All right, you've calmed down by now, haven't you? Enough is enough.”
“Which hotel are you at? Send me your location and I'll come pick you up.”
Listening to that familiar voice, I let out a soft laugh.
Abner froze:
“What are you laughing at? Where are you?
“Abner.”
“I'm not in the country anymore.”
The line went dead silent in an instant.
Then came Abner's voice, the words tumbling out far too fast:
"You... what did you say? You went abroad? Where? When are you coming back?"
I didn't answer.
I just hung up and pried the domestic SIM card out of my phone.
In this life, we would never see each other again.
