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Outside the Lines You Drew
Outside the Lines You Drew
Author: Fortune Paws

Chapter 1

Author: Fortune Paws
I tapped accept.

A line appeared on the screen.

[Assignment term: three years. Destination: Havenmist branch. Please report to your assigned location by this Saturday.]

Today was Wednesday.

There were three days left before both my wedding and my departure.

Simon Carver saw me looking down at my phone, and his frown deepened.

"Maren, I'm talking to you."

I locked my phone and looked up at him.

"Mm. I heard you."

He probably hadn't expected me to be so calm.

The reprimand he had prepared got stuck in his throat instead, and his expression grew even uglier.

Ivy, who had been sitting beside his lap, finally bothered to pull her legs back.

She gathered the black oversized T-shirt that belonged to Simon around herself and looked at me timidly.

"Sim, is this Maren?"

Sim.

In the three years Simon and I had dated, I mostly called him by his full name.

When we first got together, I had suggested we make up private nicknames for each other.

Simon didn't like that.

He said sticky, clingy nicknames gave him goose bumps and made him uncomfortable.

So it wasn't that he was uncomfortable.

It just depended on who was saying it.

Ivy steadied herself against the couch and stood.

"Maren, don't misunderstand. I twisted my ankle, and Sim was only helping me rub it."

I looked at the cotton slippers on her feet. Pink, with little bunny ears.

On the table, the cup of milk had a cute star-shaped figure on it.

The cushion she had been leaning against on the couch was a Disney collaboration.

None of those things belonged to Simon.

And none of them belonged to me.

I found it almost funny.

The first time I entered my fiance's home, it felt as if I had stumbled into a love nest he shared with someone else.

When Ivy saw that I wasn't speaking, the smile on her face started to falter.

"Maren, Sim and I were born the same year, and we grew up together. This is how we've always been. There aren't really any boundaries between us."

I looked at Simon.

He was frowning, completely unable to see anything wrong with Ivy's words.

Yet in the three years we had dated, he had demanded boundaries from me to an almost brutal degree.

I couldn't go to his home.

I couldn't touch his phone.

I couldn't enter his circle of friends.

Even when I accidentally touched the air freshener in his car, he would frown.

"Maren, I don't like other people touching my things."

All the rules and lines he drew for me became meaningless when they reached Ivy.

I smiled and looked at Ivy.

"Ivy, I've heard so much about you."

Simon's face darkened.

"Maren, why are you being so passive-aggressive?"

I looked at him in mild surprise.

I really wasn't being passive-aggressive.

I truly had heard her name many times.

The first time was on my birthday.

I had booked a restaurant half a month in advance.

Simon suddenly said Ivy had watched a horror movie and was too scared to sleep, so he had to go comfort her.

The second time was when I had a high fever and went to the hospital.

I called Simon and asked him to take me.

He said Ivy wanted pastries from the bakery across town, and he had to buy them right away, or the little girl would cry.

The third time was when we went to try on wedding dresses.

He was two hours late.

I sat outside the fitting room in a gown, waiting from hope into humiliation.

When he arrived, there were milk-tea stains on his shirt cuff.

He said Ivy's cat had gone missing and she had cried too hard, so he had spent the whole day helping her search.

I never truly got angry on any of those occasions.

Because I had always thought that the girl who could make someone as cold and boundary-conscious as Simon repeatedly break his own rules must be a much younger, clueless little sister.

I had even thought that after the wedding, if Ivy really relied on him so much, I would be kind to her too.

Simon had so few people close to him.

I didn't want to make things difficult for him.

But it wasn't until I saw her in person today that I realized Ivy was no little sister at all.

She was the same age as Simon.

She was two years older than me.

Ivy bit her lip, her eyes turning red.

"Sim, Maren doesn't seem to like me very much."

She lowered her head and reached for the jacket on the couch.

"Maybe I should leave first, so you don't fight because of me."

Before her hand could reach it, Simon stopped her.

"Why should you leave?

"The person who came uninvited is the one who should go."

My eyes stung. I pulled the corners of my mouth into a dry smile.

"Fine.

"Then I'll go."

With that, I turned, opened the door, and left.

As I waited for the elevator, I thought:

This was the first time I had ever come to Simon Carver's home.

And it would be the last.
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  • Outside the Lines You Drew   Chapter 10

    I didn't stay any longer. I turned and ran into the park's greenway.This time, he didn't follow.By the time I finished my run and came back, dusk had nearly fallen.I walked into the apartment lobby and, without meaning to, glanced at the place where Simon had stood that morning.It was empty now, with only a patch of floor tile bleached pale by the sun.After that day, Simon didn't appear again.I went to work, got off work, occasionally had dinner with coworkers, and went grocery shopping on weekends to fill the fridge.Then, on Wednesday afternoon, my phone suddenly received a bank transfer notification.The note attached to it had only one sentence.[The wedding was canceled because of me. The penalty should be paid by me.]The amount wasn't small. It was several times more than the penalty the hotel had deducted.I accepted it without any psychological burden.It was what he should have paid.The extra could count as buying out the three years of misplaced sincerity

  • Outside the Lines You Drew   Chapter 9

    Ivy's face turned deathly pale. Her lips trembled as if she still wanted to argue.But I had already turned away and stopped looking at them."Maren!"Simon called my name behind me, his voice hoarse.I didn't turn back.The night wind lifted the hem of my shirt, and the noise of the food street fell behind me.The next day was Saturday.I slept until I woke naturally. When I opened the curtains, the sunlight outside was blinding.I made simple coffee and toast, then sat at the little table by the window and ate slowly.My phone was quiet, and even the work group was peaceful.In the afternoon, I changed into workout clothes and prepared to go downstairs for a jog in the park.The moment I pushed open the glass door downstairs, someone blocked my path.It was Simon again.This time, he was alone.He was still wearing yesterday's shirt. It was badly wrinkled.There were heavy dark circles under his eyes, and stubble had grown along his jaw.He looked like he had stood th

  • Outside the Lines You Drew   Chapter 8

    He couldn't answer.Because he had never gotten used to my existence.My obedience, my waiting, my compromises...In his eyes, all of it was only natural.Only Ivy's dependence was worth maintaining carefully and protecting gently.Simon spoke with difficulty."On the wedding day... I looked for you all day."I called you countless times. I went to your company, your apartment, and even your hometown."Maren, were you really that cruel? Three years together, and you could throw it away just like that?"I looked at the face that had once made my heart move, a face that now felt only unfamiliar."Yes. I threw it away."Just like you once threw away the birthday date I prepared so carefully, hung up on me when I asked for help while running a high fever, and arrived two hours late when I was trying on wedding dresses."What you didn't want, I picked up and cherished for three years."Now, I don't want it either."That's fair, isn't it?"Simon looked as if all the strength h

  • Outside the Lines You Drew   Chapter 7

    I didn't know how that wedding ultimately ended.I didn't ask.Instead, I threw myself headfirst into my new life and work in Havenmist.I took over a difficult project and was busy every day until I was run off my feet.No one here knew me. No one knew my past.Occasionally, when coworkers I had grown closer to asked about things back home, I only smiled and said, "It's all handled."They didn't ask further.Three months later, on a Friday, I worked overtime until nine at night.When I walked out of the office building, the humid wind of a tropical night brushed my face.I took a deep breath and rubbed my sore neck.To get from here to my apartment, I had to pass through a lively food street.I was looking down, replying to a work message, when out of the corner of my eye I spotted two people standing across the street. My steps stopped short.The neon lights were dazzling, but I still recognized that figure at a glance.Simon Carver.He wore a neatly pressed shirt and s

  • Outside the Lines You Drew   Chapter 6

    Simon was silent for a long time on the other end.Long enough that I could almost hear the guests murmuring around him."Come back now."He finally spoke, his voice pressed very low."Maren, whatever temper you're throwing, finish the wedding first."I laughed once."Simon, do you still not understand?"This wedding was already canceled yesterday."There was the sudden sound of a chair being knocked over.It was as if Simon had finally reacted."What did you say?"I lowered my eyes and looked out the window.Havenmist's streets were clean and bright. Downstairs, someone dragged a suitcase quickly into the hotel.And on the other end of the phone was the wedding scene I had fantasized about countless times.At this moment, it was probably a complete joke."I personally signed the hotel cancellation agreement yesterday."The banquet, venue, and decorations were either refunded where possible or deducted where they had to be."As for the flower stands and backdrop you're

  • Outside the Lines You Drew   Chapter 5

    More than five hours later, the plane landed at Havenmist International Airport.Outside the window, the sky was just beginning to brighten, and a thin mist hung at the end of the runway.I took down my suitcase and followed the crowd outside.The company had booked a hotel for me in advance.When I gave my name at the front desk, the staff handed me a room card."Ms. Royce, your room is on the twenty-sixth floor."I thanked her with a nod.The elevator rose slowly.My face was reflected in the mirrored wall.I hadn't slept all night. There were faint shadows under my eyes, and my hair was a little messy.But looking at that face, I felt lighter than I ever had before.When I reached the room, I pushed my suitcase against the wall. I didn't even change before collapsing onto the bed.Before falling asleep, I glanced at the time one last time.Saturday, 3:47 a.m.Back home, it was almost four.If nothing had changed, in a few hours, I should have been wearing my wedding d

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