Chapter 4

Aiden's POV

Bridget, standing behind me, froze at once.

"Since when?"

"Since birth."

She then raised her voice at me and spoke sharply. "Then why didn't you say so earlier? Don't you know that Daryl purposely bought this cake for you? And now you've gone and wasted his good intentions!"

I turned around and saw her holding the cake and a fork in her hands. My face was dark, and she could immediately tell that I was annoyed, so she softened her tone with me.

However, her words were still condescending toward me, and she sounded helpless as she said, "Fine, fine. We won't buy anything peach-related for you anymore next time. Are you happy now?"

She then sighed long and hard afterward, as if she were the one being charitable to me and I should be thankful to her for her compromise and know when to stop.

From the very start, she still thought that I was simply throwing a temper tantrum and that things would all blow over if she just played along with me this once.

I simply hummed and turned back around to put my documents into my bag.

She sat at the table, eating the peach cake, before suddenly looking up at me.

"Where are you going? Business trip?"

"Back to my hometown."

She nodded. "I guess you haven't gone home for a long time. It's good to go back for a visit once in a while.

"By the way, Daryl said that the yogurt candy from your hometown is really good. He's also a huge fan of the local hot sauce there. Remember to bring some back as souvenirs for him.

"And make sure you read the label on the hot sauce before bringing any back. He's allergic to nuts."

I didn't respond, and she just took my silence as a yes. She then got up and dug in her snack drawer, brought out a small pack, and handed it to me.

"Eat this on the way back. Don't starve to death."

The pack she gave me was actually a small ziplock bag. There was a pack of opened, half-eaten Oreos and half a bar of chocolate.

Daryl had come over to spend the day at our apartment a few days ago, and she'd bought him hundreds of dollars worth of snacks and chips to munch on, and this was all that was left over.

I didn't take it from her and circled around her instead, grabbing some wet wipes and stuffing them into my bag.

Bridget's tone turned icy. "Are you seriously still mad? You already got the cake. And I've already apologized to you. What more do you want from me?

"Fine. It's good that you're going home. You need a few days to cool off. Once you're back, we will have a proper talk in Grand Sky Dining. Daryl's already booked a table for us next week."

I shook my head, my back still turned toward her.

"No, thanks. I'm scared of heights."

A split second later, she grabbed me harshly by the arm and forced me to look into her eyes.

"And since when have you ever been afraid of heights? Aiden Rosario, do you even think of me as your girlfriend? Why the hell didn't you ever tell me about your peach allergy or your fear of heights?

"How could I possibly know if you never told me about them? And now, you still have the nerve to get mad at me for getting them wrong?"

I faced her anger head-on, looking into her eyes.

Back when we were still dating in college, she kept telling me that I was as easy to read as an open book. She said that she could easily tell what I was thinking, whether good or bad, with just a single look.

But now, she couldn't see anything about me either. She couldn't even remember a thing about me anymore.

The phone kept ringing on the table.

Bridget let go of me and went to answer her phone. Daryl's voice was loud and clear.

"So, how was the cake, Bridget? Is Aiden enjoying it? I bet you've both made up already, right?"

She just massaged her temples in frustration and said, "No. He said that he was allergic to peaches."

"Wait, what? I'm so sorry! I didn't know that he was allergic! You guys fought again, didn't you? It's all my fault…"

He sounded panicked as he kept apologizing on the phone over and over again. I glanced at Bridget's back and saw her inhale deeply.

"It's not your fault. He never told any of us about it, so he only has himself to blame."

Of course. It was my fault once again.

I crouched over to put on my shoes and tie up my shoelaces.

"Why are you so anxious about it? I already told you that it's not your fault. You had good intentions in the first place. Besides, even I had no idea that he was allergic to peaches. How could you have known either?"

I dragged my suitcase out. While she was still comforting Daryl on the other end of the line, I spoke up, saying, "When you took me to your friends' gathering three years ago, you were the one who told everyone that I was allergic to peaches and even warned them not to order anything with peaches in it.

"And when Francis wanted to spend his birthday bungee jumping, you were also the one who told him that I wouldn't be joining because I had a fear of heights. But I guess it now seems that Daryl remembered it more clearly than you ever did."

Bridget completely froze. Her lips trembled, but she couldn't say a single word.

I opened the door and dragged my suitcase out, wheeling it to the elevator doors.

"Bridget Ellison."

I turned to face the door, where she could still see me. She was still holding the phone in her hands, but it was so far from her ear that she couldn't hear anything that Daryl was saying.

"I'm not coming back anymore," I continued. "Let's break up."