A Reluctant Promise

"Mom, Dad, I’ve decided to come home for the blind dates you mentioned. I’ll be back by the end of the month."

In the early spring, with the lingering chill of winter in the air, Valerie Stonecutter pushed open the door while speaking softly into the phone. Her gentle voice drifted through the rain like a thread weaving through the mist.

Pulling her collar tighter against the cold, she heard her parents breathe a sigh of relief on the other end.

"Val," her father began, his voice heavy with age. “Your mom and I haven’t been in good health these past few years. So now that you’ve made up your mind, that’s good. When you’re back, I’ll have your Aunt Laura arrange a few suitable candidates for you to meet."

Hearing that her parents were already making arrangements for her future, Valerie’s gaze flickered, her emotions momentarily unsettled. After a few more words of small talk, she ended the call.

She glanced around her home with a heavy heart, her thoughts tangled in a quiet storm. Then she retreated to her bedroom and began to pack.

In the drawer lay a thick stack of love letters, albums of candid photos hidden in the cabinet, and journals filled with years of musings. Every single piece centered on one person—a man named Dominic Parker.

Without hesitation, she threw them all into a box, carried it downstairs, and set it all aflame.

Orange flames flickered and danced, crackling softly in the damp air. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps behind her broke her reverie.

She instinctively raised her head and saw him—Dominic.

He stood tall, dressed impeccably in his pilot uniform, his figure striking against the muted backdrop.

He had just returned from a flight.

Seeing her by the fire, his lips curved in the faintest smile. "What are you burning?" he asked, his voice calm yet curious.

He bent down, picked up a half-burned pink letter, and raised an eyebrow. "Love letters? You wrote love letters? Who were they for?"

Valerie froze and stared at him.

She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could speak, he chuckled and tossed the letter back into the flames. Then, with a casual gesture, he ruffled her hair.

"Alright, just teasing you. Why are you so serious?" he said, his tone light.

"I don’t mind your past, and I won’t dig into it either. Once you’re done burning this, you should get inside. It’s cold out here."

He didn’t linger. He turned and made for the elevator.

As his figure disappeared behind the closing doors, Valerie dropped her gaze and a faint, bitter smile twisted her lips.

Did he truly not mind, or did he simply not care?

Her name was written right there on the envelope, along with his own. If he had bothered to look closely, he would have seen it. But in the end, he chose to throw it into the fire.

She had loved her boyfriend in secret for ten long years. And yet, he had no idea.

At fifteen, because of her excellent academic achievements, Valerie had been accepted into a prestigious high school in the city.

She was an ordinary girl, plain and unassuming. She didn’t know how to dress up and had little presence—an invisible figure in the crowd.

Dominic had been her classmate.

He was like a bright moon in the night sky, untouchable in his brilliance. With his extraordinary family background and striking good looks, he was someone she could only admire from afar.

The first time she met him was on the first day of school. She had boarded the bus only to realize her transit card was missing. The students in line behind her started grumbling impatiently.

"If you don’t have money, walk!" one sneered.

"It’s bad enough you’re holding up the line, and then wearing such a ridiculous dress? Seriously, what an eyesore," said another.

Their words burned her ears, and her face flushed with humiliation. Just as she was about to step off the bus, a pair of slender hands reached out from the front and swiped a card for her fare.

Startled, she looked up in gratitude at a face so striking it felt unreal, but her words caught in her throat.

Her cheeks grew hotter, and she stammered awkwardly, "Th-thank you. My name is Valerie. May I know which class you’re in? I’ll pay you back."

His voice was deep and pleasant, but his reply was distant. "No need for that."

Later, she learned that his name was Dominic. He was the most popular student at Person High School—its legendary campus heartthrob.

Not surprisingly, he also had a notorious reputation as a player, changing girlfriends every three days.

From that day on, her eyes couldn’t help but follow him every time he entered a room.

She noticed how his desk overflowed with love letters, yet it didn’t stop her from writing her own—pouring her growing affection into the words under the faint glow of her desk lamp.

She knew he liked girls who were both beautiful and accomplished, so she pushed herself relentlessly. She studied harder, lost weight, learned how to apply makeup, and worked to shed her timid, self-doubting demeanor.

She strived to become better—not only for herself but to be someone worthy of standing by his side.

Finally, they were admitted to the same university. By then, her transformation was so complete that Dominic finally noticed her.

In their sophomore year, he approached her. He didn’t recognize her as his high school classmate, but he smiled and asked casually, "Want to be my girlfriend?"

Her chest tightened, and she fought back the urge to cry. With trembling hands and a pounding heart, she nodded and said yes.

She became his seventy-eighth girlfriend—and his last.

After getting together with her, Dominic didn’t break up after three days like he did with the other girls. Instead, he stayed, committing to a serious relationship that lasted six years.

Everyone said he had finally fallen for someone, that the notorious heartbreaker had changed his ways.

Valerie believed it too. She thought she had finally won the love she had chased for so long.

There were countless nights where she lay beside him and watched his sleeping face, her heart brimming with quiet joy.

But three days ago, everything fell apart.

Dominic had been drinking, so she went to pick him up. She didn’t expect to overhear his drunken conversation with his friends.

One of them, slinging an arm around his shoulder, teased, "Well Dom, you’ve been with this girl for six years. Isn’t it time to call it quits?"

Dominic’s voice was hoarse, thick with alcohol. "Not yet," he slurred. "She’d think I’m not patient enough."

The friend laughed and added, "You’re still hung up on Camilla Baldwin, huh? Back in the day, when you confessed to her and she turned you down, you just lost it.

“You turned into a player, cycling through girlfriends every three days, trying to forget her. And when she came crawling back but said you weren’t dependable enough, she told you to try a long-term relationship to prove her wrong.

“So you randomly picked someone and stuck it out for six years. Man, she’s got you wrapped around her finger."

The room was noisy, filled with laughter and drunken banter. No one noticed Valerie standing outside the door, frozen to the spot, her heart sinking into an icy abyss.

She had heard Camilla’s name before—a girl from the neighboring high school. But she had never imagined that Dominic’s heart had always belonged to her.

She had never imagined that she was nothing more than a tool in his grand display of devotion.

Her youth, her ten years of love and longing, collapsed at that moment.

The young girl who had once blushed severely at the thought of him could never sway the heart of the boy she adored.

The person who had kept her tied to the past, to her endless yearning, had never once turned back to truly see her.

That night, she finally understood. She decided to let him go.

That’s when she agreed to her family’s plans.

'Today marks ten years since I first fell for you, Dominic.

It’s also the first day I decided not to love you anymore.'