Chapter 4

My chest burned with a sharp, heavy ache, and I let out a light laugh.

Right in front of both of them, I picked up the gift box and tossed it straight into the trash can.

"I don't want the gift.

"And I don't want the key, either."

I looked at Adrian and Maya one last time.

"As for the two of you, I don't want either of you anymore."

With that, I grabbed my bag, yanked open the apartment door, and walked out.

Adrian acted like he couldn't handle it anymore, chasing after me and yelling at the top of his lungs, “Emery, what exactly do you want? We've begged you this much, isn't that enough?"

I threw a cold look over my shoulder at him.

My heart had turned so cold I didn't even have words left to say, so I just kept walking.

After that day, Adrian and Maya didn't reach out to me again, not even through private messages.

In the three-person group chat, the two of them were still chatting up a storm, but my name was never brought up again. I didn't send another message either.

We just kept up this bizarre, heavy silence.

The day I resigned, I finished my final paperwork at the office and headed downstairs, ready to leave for the airport.

Seattle or anywhere else, I could go by myself.

Adrian was waiting for me downstairs with Maya, who was weeping.

I glanced over, planning to pretend I hadn't seen them at all.

I called an Uber but the two of them hurried right over to block my path.

The second Adrian opened his mouth, it was an immediate accusation.

"Emery, aren't you taking things way too far by doing this?

"Just because we had a fight, you have to ruin Maya's career out of spite? Call the vendor right now and make them withdraw their complaint."

Maya started sobbing and begging me too.

"Emery, I was wrong. My job was so hard to get, please just let this go.

"If that vendor keeps complaining, I'm actually going to get fired."

I stared right at them.

"I didn't tell anyone to do this. The mess she made at work isn't something I should have to clean up for her every single time. If she messed up, she needs to fix it and apologize. Standing here crying to me is completely useless!"

Hearing that only made Maya freak out even more.

She lunged forward, grabbing at my clothes as if she wanted to drop to her knees in front of me.

"Emery, I get it now. I'll make it up to you, I'll apologize. Do you want me to beg on my knees?

“Just let me off the hook. I promise I'll never talk to Adrian again. But I really can't lose this job. I don't want to go back home."

Adrian grabbed her and pulled her back up to her feet, the two of them stumbling and tangling together.

Once Maya managed to steady herself, Adrian glared at me with pure venom.

"Emery, have you completely lost your mind? Do you have to force all of us to crawl on the ground and beg before you're happy? Fix Maya's problem right now and give her a proper apology. Maybe we can still salvage this.

"Otherwise, there’s no way I'm marrying you!"

I suddenly burst out laughing.

"Then don't marry me."

With that, I pulled open the door of the Uber, slid inside, and the car sped away into the traffic.

In the rearview mirror, Adrian stood frozen in place, looking like he couldn't process that I was actually leaving.

Right after, he reached for his phone to call me, but Maya grabbed his arm and stopped him.

The two of them started tugging and pulling at each other again.

I looked away.

There was no pain left in my chest, only the heavy, clean weight of absolute release.

A little while later, Adrian sent me a few texts: [Where did you go?]

[Maya hasn't stopped crying. Her issue still isn't fixed. Where are you?]

[Emery, stop being so willful. Let's both just cool off. I'll come over to your place later tonight!]

Come over to my place? Where was he even going to look for me?

I smiled, shaking my head as I tucked my phone away, refusing to reply.

As I buckled into my seat on the plane, my phone buzzed with an incoming call from Adran.

He had probably just figured out that I had moved out.

I ignored the call, snapped a quick photo of the airplane wing outside my window, and posted an update to my feed: [Adrian and I have officially broken up. Please don't ask about it.]

Then, I put my phone straight into airplane mode.

None of it mattered anymore.

A relationship meant for two people was way too crowded when there were three.

From here on out, I would be walking this path alone.