Chapter 4

With a hand on my suitcase, Ashley spoke as though she were only trying to smooth things over.

"I know you're uncomfortable with the fact that Preston and I grew up together. But you can't assume he'll always indulge you just because he cares about you. We're really just friends. There's absolutely nothing going on between us. I don't even see him as a guy, I swear."

Her innocent act made my blood boil.

"You don't see him as a guy?" I scoffed. "Then why is it that every time you ask him out, you show up in a miniskirt with that 'no-makeup' makeup look? And the second I call you out on it, you go crying to him about how I'm restricting your freedom to dress?

"And wasn't it you who insisted he buy you a Valentine's Day gift? Wasn't it you who asked him to hike up a mountain with you in the middle of the night to watch the sunrise?

"Ashley, if you really think men and women are all the same, then why don't you ask your other guy friends to do those things with you?"

Ashley went pale upon being called out like that. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

She kept her eyes down and stayed quiet for a long time. But when she looked back up at Preston, her expression suddenly shifted to a mix of resolve and grievance.

"I don't even know how to defend myself… Preston, your girlfriend is being so hostile to me, probably because she thinks I'm trying to come between you guys.

"I don't want to put you in a tough spot… You guys should just focus on your relationship. Just pretend we were never friends."

With that, she turned to leave.

"Ashley!"

Sure enough, Preston panicked. He looked at me with anger and resentment in his eyes.

Seeing that Ashley was actually walking away, he exploded at me. "Are you happy now, Danielle? How many times do I have to tell you? There's nothing going on between Ashley and me!

"If there really had been, do you think you ever would've had a chance? You're always alone and can't make friends, so you just can't stand seeing me with mine, is that it?

"I'm only gonna say this one last time. If you still want to be with me, you need to apologize to Ashley. Otherwise, you can forget about us ever getting back together!"

After yelling at me, he took off after her without so much as a backward glance.

I just stood there, watching him run after her. The key I was holding dug painfully into my palm. And with that, the very last ounce of care I had for him completely disappeared.

From then on, Preston and I stopped talking entirely. And of course, Ashley was thrilled. She posted about the two of them on her social media every single day.

"He came to a haunted house with me just to cheer me up, but he ended up scaring himself half to death. Who knew a big tough guy like him was so afraid of ghosts?"

The picture attached showed Preston looking pale and terrified in the haunted house, clinging to Ashley for dear life.

Their mutual friends quickly flooded the comments. "Wow, Preston actually went to a haunted house for you! That's true love if I've ever seen it!"

"Right? We could never get him to go before, but he folds the second you get mad. You guys are literally made for each other!"

I didn't bother scrolling any further, nor did I care how Preston reacted to the post. I just clicked on her profile, hit block, and deleted her contact.

I was done paying attention to anything related to Preston. For the next two days, I focused entirely on preparing for my new job.

And true to his word, Preston didn't reach out once, all for the sake of his "friend", of course. That was fine with me. He was irrelevant to my life now anyway.

It wasn't until the very last second before I powered off my phone to board my plane that a text from an unknown number popped up.

"You've thrown your tantrum long enough. I hope you've reflected on yourself by now. Ashley said she isn't mad at you anymore, so I've decided to forgive you too. We're at Macklow Street. Come pick me up. I'll give you a chance to make it up to me tonight."

That arrogant and condescending tone was classic Preston. He sounded like he was doing me some kind of favor.

If this were the old me, back when I still hadn't given up on him, I probably would've replied with a quick "Okay" and dropped everything to run to him.

But now, I simply deleted the message, like it was nothing more than spam. Before heading through airport security., I turned off my phone.