When Love Withered

"But the VIP room upstairs must cost a fortune," Shawn Jamison thought.

As a smile slowly spread across his face, another young woman spoke up from behind him.

"Jenna's ruthless. For Leo, she had that lovesick valedictorian completely wrapped around her finger.

"She actually got him to willingly turn down Velmont University for a less prestigious college.

"You should've seen our homeroom teacher's face today. He looked absolutely furious!"

Shawn started to turn around, but froze.

"Jenna's done so much for Leo. She even used her looks to win Shawn over."

"Luckily…"

The young women's voices faded into the distance.

The beer bottle slipped from Shawn's hand and shattered on the floor, spraying beer all over him.

He barely noticed.

Wait. Could the "Leo" they were talking about be his best friend, Leonard Fletcher?

Before Shawn could process what he had heard, the club manager heard the commotion and pushed open the door, scowling at him. "Shawn, what are you doing?"

Shawn quickly apologized.

The manager, Scott Wells, was about to dock Shawn's pay, but then changed his mind.

"Now that school is out, we're short on servers tonight. Finish your shift, and I'll pay you in full.

Before Shawn could refuse, Scott shoved a huge bouquet and a gift box into his hands.

Shawn changed into a server's uniform and carried the enormous bouquet to the VIP room.

Just as he reached for the door, he caught sight of the person sitting in the middle of the room through the glass panel. She was curled up shyly in the arms of the man beside her.

It was his girlfriend, Jenna Sharp!

And the man holding her with an affectionate smile was none other than his best friend, Leonard Fletcher.

Jenna's friends were all cheering them on.

"Leo, a bet's a bet!"

"You made a bet with Jenna that she couldn't get you into Velmont University. You didn't believe she could do it.

"Now you know she's serious about you, right?"

"She comes from one of Kingstown's richest families, and she pretended to be broke just to get close to Shawn for your sake. She's been waiting for this moment!"

Outside the door, Shawn went completely numb with shock.

Leonard smiled. "Jenna, I concede. You win."

Jenna, who rarely smiled, finally broke into a grin as she gazed at him.

Her friends started cheering even louder.

"Jenna, tell him how you feel!"

One of them spotted the bouquet outside and excitedly opened the door. She snatched the flowers and gift from Shawn and handed them to Jenna.

Everyone's attention was focused on Jenna and Leonard. No one even noticed Shawn standing there.

Jenna held the bouquet and looked up at Leonard while one of her friends opened the gift box. Inside was a sapphire bracelet.

"We've known each other since we were three years old," Jenna said. "That's almost 16 years, and nearly a fifth of our lives. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.

"Leonard, I love you."

She looked completely serious.

Jenna sounded so sincere that even her friends fell silent and waited for Leonard's answer.

A flicker of emotion crossed Leonard's eyes. He was about to nod and accept when he spotted Shawn standing nearby.

Leonard froze. "Shawn?"

Jenna turned and met Shawn's eyes. Her expression was frighteningly calm.

Without a word, she slipped the sapphire bracelet onto Leonard's wrist. Then she took a ruby bracelet from the gift box and clasped it around her own.

The silent declaration of her relationship with Leonard made Shawn's whole body go rigid.

Without realizing it, Shawn traced his fingers over the wooden-bead bracelet on his wrist.

He had made the matching bracelets himself and given one to Jenna, but he had never once seen her wear it.

Yet today, she was wearing matching bracelets with Leonard.

"Don't you have something to tell me?" Shawn's voice came out hoarse and broken.

"I…" Leonard faltered.

Before Leonard could say anything, Jenna stepped in front of him.

Her voice was cold and dismissive. "What's there to say? I love Leonard, and I just confessed my feelings to him. Isn't that clear enough?"

A wave of dizziness swept over Shawn. Those words were the final blow.

He couldn't stop thinking about that moment during their happiest days together.

Shawn was smart, good-looking, and kept to himself. Because of that, a delinquent often picked fights with him on his way home from school, leaving him bruised and battered.

So he often took a longer route to avoid him.

Then one day, his grandmother, the only family he had left, passed away. He was so devastated that he forgot to take the longer route.

He ran straight into the delinquent who tried to rob him, demanding all of Shawn's money.

That was when Jenna came to his rescue, slamming a brick into the delinquent from behind and knocking him down.

Shawn still remembered the fury on the delinquent's face when he got back up.

The delinquent pulled a knife from his pocket and snarled, "You stupid witch! Do you have a death wish? This has nothing to do with you.

"You'd better explain yourself, or I'll gut you right now!"

Jenna stared at the blade. Her whole body was shaking, but she stood firmly in front of Shawn and said, "I like him. Isn't that reason enough?"

Those words made Shawn fall hopelessly in love with her.

Even when his biological parents found him and wanted to take him away, Shawn chose to stay in Kingstown for Jenna.

But now, Shawn felt like his heart was being torn apart.

He grabbed her wrist. His voice trembled with desperation. "No, it's not enough! Jenna, you can't do this to me. I'm your boyfriend!"

"Since when were you my boyfriend?" Jenna scoffed. Looking at him with contempt, she pried his fingers off her wrist one by one. "When did I ever say that?

"Or did you take something I casually said about liking you as a confession?

"I like flowers by the roadside, the clouds in the sky, and even stray cats too. Does that mean I want to date all of them?"

She leaned closer to Shawn, her tone icy. "Shawn, wake up. We were never dating. You were just a doormat."

Her words struck Shawn hard enough to leave him stunned.

Leonard looked at him apologetically. "Shawn, I'm sorry, but you can't force someone to love you.

"Jenna has done so much for me. I can't let her down now.

"When school starts, Jenna and I will be going to Velmont University. I hope you can move on from her at your new school."

Shawn looked up in shock, unable to believe what he had heard. "What did you say? Jenna's going to Velmont University too?"

One of Jenna's friends explained, "Jenna's the Sharp family's heiress. Her parents donated a building to Velmont University, and she got special admission. She only took the SAT for fun."

Shawn felt cold all over, the chill sinking deep into his bones.

When the SAT scores came out, Jenna did shockingly bad. Her score was barely high enough to get into a decent college.

He thought she wouldn't be able to afford the high tuition fee.

That's why he had given up his special admission into Velmont University and chose a college with a huge scholarship. He had done it so he could help Jenna pay her tuition!

But now they were telling him that her poverty, her SAT score, and their relationship were all lies.

Everything had been a lie.

All of it!

Tears welled up in Shawn's eyes. His voice shook. "This was all a setup, wasn't it? You wanted me to give up my special admission into Velmont University so Leonard could take my spot?"

Jenna said nothing.

Shawn's raised hand stopped midair, inches from her face.

His voice was hoarse. "Jenna, we're breaking up! I'm going to tell Velmont University I changed my mind."

Jenna grabbed his wrist. Her voice was gentle, but her words were cruel. "The application deadline is tonight at midnight. You're not going anywhere before then."

As she spoke, she forced his mouth open and poured the liquor down his throat without a second thought.