Chapter 4
“Hold your glass and I apologize to you,” Sheryl said with a smile.
་་
“Lana, don’t worry about the last game. We were just playing around. Don’t blame them. We’re used to playing like this. So it’s not serious or serious at the moment.
You’re so generous and you won’t be angry with us. After drinking this glass of wine, you’ll be a member of our small group from
now on.”
After she finished speaking, the others also raised their glasses and apologized to me one by one.
I smiled and drank the wine in my hand, accepting it happily–not to become a member of their small group, but as a symbolic farewell banquet they had unknowingly given me. From now on, I wanted nothing to do with them.
Usually, I didn’t drink, but after just one
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glass, I felt extremely uncomfortable. The others were still drinking, laughing and enjoying themselves, but Calvin and Sheryl had disappeared.
I didn’t care what they were doing. But staying in the private room felt suffocating -the alcohol’s scent was making me
nauseous. I stood up, swaying slightly and staggered toward the door.
The moment I opened it, a cool gust of wind hit me, clearing my head a bit. I pulled out my phone, intending to message Calvin that I was leaving. But then, I heard voices–Calvin’s and Sheryl’s–coming from nearby.
Curiosity got the better of me and I followed the sound to a dimly lit corner. It was definitely them. The dim corridor lighting cast shadows, but I could see them hugging, oblivious to my presence.
“Sheryl, why have you refused me all these years? Doesn’t that ring prove my heart?” Calvin asked softly.
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Sheryl replied with equal softness, “Calvin, don’t be like this. I just want to treat each
of
you equally. Why don’t we just keep this relationship as it is and stay good friends for life?”
Their words were like those of close
friends, but their actions spoke of something far deeper, something meant only for lovers. My heart twisted with anger and disbelief at their blatant
betrayal, but it was Calvin’s next words that truly broke me.
“Sheryl, if you agree to marry me, I’ll cancel the wedding again for you. Can you promise me that?”
Sheryl shook her head. “Calvin, if I agree,
it’ll be unfair to the others. If we are
successful, then we’ll be together. But
how can I face them if we fail? I don‘ t want our small group to fall apart because
of us.”
I couldn’t listen anymore. I turned and walked silently toward the other corridor,
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swallowing my tears and fury.
When I got home, I threw my things into a suitcase, changed my plane ticket and decided to leave a day earlier than planned. Calvin had rescheduled the wedding for the day after tomorrow and my original. flight was for tomorrow. But staying near him even one more second made me sick.
By the time I arrived at the airport, it was still hours before my flight at six in the morning. I hailed a taxi and left in the dead of night, hoping to leave all the pain behind me.
Not long after settling into a chair at the airport, my phone buzzed with a call from
Calvin.
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