Chapter 2

At 1:00 am, Edward returned home to see me packing up his things.

After three years together, bits and pieces of him were everywhere. His sneakers were by the door, his razor sat in the bathroom, and I could always find a lighter buried somewhere in the couch. Even the pillows I'd bought had been replaced with his favorite gray ones.

The sound of the lock clicking came just as I was placing the last book into a cardboard box.

Edward stood in the entryway as the night wind carried a faint scent of perfume into the house. It was the same one that Renee always wore.

His expression darkened when he spotted the box. "Pulling this stunt again?"

I started sealing the box. "Have someone come pick it up tomorrow."

Edward walked over to stop me. "Tanya, I've already given you a way out over what happened earlier. How much longer are you going to act out?"

I looked up at him. "I'm not acting out. I'm clearing out your things."

Edward sneered. "It was just a movie with Renee. Do you have to take it so far? You were there too. You know everyone voted for it."

I stopped what I was doing. "So you think you've done nothing wrong?"

A frown crossed his face. "I'm just following the rules."

Rules again. That was how the first poll came about three years ago.

Edward had promised me that day that we would finally go public with our relationship. Then Renee sent a poll to the group chat. "Would Edward going public with his relationship now affect our friendship?"

15 voted yes, while only 2 voted no.

When Edward saw the results, he patted my head. "We'll make our relationship public later, okay? Everyone thinks now isn't the right time."

I waited three months for it to happen.

When Renee's birthday arrived, he posted multiple photos in celebration, with the first being a photo of them together.

Then came the New Year celebration, the passenger seat, the anniversary, and the first cake. They kept putting me on the list of choices, only to cross me off every time.

I opened the folder on my old phone, the backup I kept around. Three years of screenshots stared back at me—1,276 in all.

Edward was stunned. He asked, "Why did you save these photos?"

I turned the screen toward him. "I'm afraid I'll change my mind one day and forget why I need to leave."

His expression stiffened. "Tanya, why are you becoming so mean?"

"Mean?" I smiled. "Compared to making me watch the vote count again and again, I think I'm being quite reasonable."

Edward averted his gaze and said in a low tone, "You never used to be this petty."

"I always thought you'd choose me eventually."

He fell silent.

I pushed the cardboard box toward his feet. "That vote tonight wasn't mine."

Edward looked up in surprise. "If it wasn't you, then who was it?"

I didn't answer him because I had no idea either. All I knew was that when the countdown began, my hands were hanging at my sides. I didn't even touch my phone.

Perhaps whatever little self-respect I had left prevented me from begging for a vote in front of everyone.

Edward studied me for a long moment, then suddenly kicked the box aside. "Fine! Make sure you do a thorough job of clearing my things out."

Just then, his phone lit up with a message from Renee.

"Edward, has Tanya calmed down yet? Should I treat her to dinner tomorrow and apologize?"

Edward made no attempt to hide the screen from me. He quickly replied, "She's still making a fuss. We'll see about tomorrow."

I stared at his message, and a wave of absurdity washed over me. He didn't think I was hurt or disappointed. He assumed that I was just making a fuss.

I bent over to take the box and taped it shut again. "Edward, let's break up."

With his back to me, he scoffed. "You've said that many times. Since when did you ever follow through?"