로그인My mother explained that Darrel had been out of town for work, and she had gone clubbing with some of her girlfriends.“I hadn't planned to do anything wrong. I wanted to have fun, dance, and enjoy myself. I thought a night out would help me relax.”She looked away.“But David was there.”I sighed.“Of course he was.”My mother gave me a small, apologetic smile.“I know. It sounds ridiculous when I tell the story now. But there he was, standing with some of his friends, and when our eyes met, I felt that same familiar pull.”She paused.“At first, we didn't approach each other. We just kept seeing each other across the room. Then, at some point, we ended up on the dance floor together.”She shook her head slowly.“I don't know how to explain what happened that night. Maybe it was because we had history. Maybe it was because we had never really dealt with our feelings for each other. Or maybe it was simply because we were both making a terrible decision.”She looked at me.“But when we
“Several months later, I married Darrel.”My mother gave a small, distant smile as she remembered the day.“The wedding was beautiful. Our friends and family came, and everyone was happy for us. Darrel looked at me as though he couldn't believe he was finally getting to marry the woman he loved.”She swallowed.“And when I walked down the aisle, I smiled at him. I said my vows, and I promised to love him, to stand by him, and to build a life with him.”She looked at me.“I meant to keep those promises, Rosalie. I really did.”I believed her.She had convinced herself that she could leave her past behind and become the wife Darrel deserved.But David had never really left her mind.“After the wedding, we went on our honeymoon, and I tried to enjoy every moment. Darrel was wonderful to me. He did everything he could to make me happy, and I wanted to be happy with him.”She paused.“When we returned, I thought I was finally ready to move on with my life. I stopped asking about David, and
My mother wiped her tears before continuing.“The next morning, David was furious.”She let out a tired sigh.“He was pacing around the room, running his hands through his hair and asking himself how something like that could have happened. He kept saying we were stupid, that we had both made a terrible mistake, and that he couldn't believe we had allowed things to go that far.”I sat quietly, trying to imagine David in that situation.“He was panicking, Rosalie. I had never seen him like that before. He was supposed to marry Mabel in a few weeks, and now he had slept with his ex-girlfriend. He didn't know what to do.”She paused, then continued.“But after a while, he stopped pacing and took a deep breath. He looked at me and said we needed to calm down.”My mother gave a sad smile.“He said we had both been drunk, that it didn't mean anything, and that we could pretend it never happened. According to him, we could go back to being friends, act as though nothing had happened, and con
I already knew who she was going to mention.“Mabel?”“Yes.”My mother closed her eyes briefly.“She came over and sat beside him as if that was exactly where she belonged. David turned towards her immediately, and the way he looked at her told me everything I needed to know.”She shook her head.“I had spent so much time trying to get him to look at me that I had forgotten something important. He had loved Mabel before, and whatever happened between them, he had clearly found his way back to her.”I frowned.“Wait. They got back together?”“They did. Apparently, after a long period apart, they had found their way back to each other. I don't know all the details of how it happened, but by the time I saw them in Florida, they were together again.”She looked at me.“And they were engaged.”I stared at her.“Engaged?”“Yes. David introduced Mabel to me as his fiancée.”She let out a shaky breath.“I remember forcing myself to smile. I congratulated them and tried to act as though the ne
My mother took a deep breath and continued.“After everything that happened with David and Mabel, I tried to focus on my relationship with Darrel. I told myself that perhaps I needed to stop chasing the past and appreciate what I had in front of me. Darrel was a good man, Rosalie. He loved me, he cared about me, and he never gave me a reason to doubt his feelings.”She paused, then a sad smile appeared on her face.“But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get David out of my mind.”I shifted in my seat, listening carefully.“I kept checking on him through mutual friends. I wanted to know how he was doing, whether he was seeing anyone, and whether he had finally moved on from Mabel. I told myself I was only curious, but deep down, I was still waiting for an opportunity to get close to him again.”She shook her head.“Then a year passed, and Darrel proposed to me.”My eyes widened.“He proposed?”“Yes.” She laughed softly, but there was no happiness in the sound. “It was a beautiful
The room suddenly felt too quiet.“We knew David trusted Mabel. He loved her, Rosalie. Maybe not in the same way he had once loved me, but he loved her enough that he was making plans for their future. They were in their final year, and they had talked about moving in together after graduation.”She paused.“They were serious about each other.”I swallowed.“And you wanted to destroy that?”“Yes.”The answer came so quickly that it caught me off guard.My mother lowered her eyes.“We found a guy who had piercing green eyes, just like David's. He wasn't someone Mabel knew well, which made it easier for us to put the plan together. We wanted to create a situation that David wouldn't be able to explain away or forgive.”I felt sick.“You mean…”“We got Mabel drunk.”She stopped for a moment, as if the words themselves were difficult to say aloud.“And then we made sure she ended up alone with that guy. We wanted her to be in a state where she wouldn't be thinking clearly, and we made sur
The first thing I saw was the steady rise and fall of his chest as the morning light filtered through the blinds, painting stripes across Noah. He was still sleeping peacefully beside me and a stupid smile touched my lips. For a second, it just felt… good. Calm.Geez, I shouldn’t be here smiling at
My eyes widened at the words that came out of his mouth. What he said wasn’t what shocked me, it was the way he said that so easily. After holding his stare for a few seconds, I turned to the window. The silence engulfed us, before I decided to break it.“Well, it’s my turn.” I said opening the do
I woke up to a pounding headache that followed me all the way to school. Maybe it was from the lack of sleep as my mind was racing all night. Or maybe from all the tears I’d shed into my pillow.After Noah kissed me yesterday, his hand was trailing down to my breast when he suddenly pulled back and
I continued to walk, burning off all the rage still boiling inside me. Home was the last thing I had in mind. My feet just kept moving until I found myself at the edge of the woods.The lake.The lake that started this whole mess in the first place. If I hadn’t come here that night, I wouldn’t have







