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Home / Romance Short Story / Proposal No. 18: Still Lost to Her Childhood Sweetheart / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Proposal No. 18: Still Lost to Her Childhood Sweetheart: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

11 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Say yes! Say yes!"I kneeled in the middle of the crowd, awaiting a response, as my friends' excited shouts drowned out the square."Enough. You're so annoying."Hailey Morgan, the woman I was proposing to, snatched the flowers from the ground and hurled them hard at me.Her expression was vicious as she exclaimed, "You're so selfish! What else do you know besides pressuring me into marriage? I've told you so many times that I can't get married right now."She couldn't get married, or she didn't want to?My throat felt constricted, and I was so upset that I couldn't speak.This wasn't my first time in this situation, but it was the most humiliating.We had been in love for eight years, and I had proposed 18 times but was rejected every single time. My reputation preceded me to a comical degree at this point. Who else but me could turn a marriage proposal into a full-blown quest?After taking a while to calm myself down, I lifted the ring with a cautious and pleading express

Chapter 2

My friends got up one by one and surrounded me to comfort me with complicated expressions on their faces.For eight years, they had grown used to seeing me get left behind by Hailey and had advised me countless times.Hailey's heart wasn't with me. She only liked Eric. Whenever he called, it didn't matter if it was a holiday, an anniversary, or even if I were deathly ill—she would give way to him.But I didn't understand one thing. How could someone who showed off all the time have depression? Even if he did, didn't he have family or friends?No. He was just purposefully seeking Hailey out and deliberately standing between us to humiliate me."It's okay. You guys can stop looking for it. It's not important. Tonight, we drink until we drop."I wiped the tears from the corner of my eyes, forced a smile, and led the group toward the bar.While everyone was laughing and making jokes, I looked down at Eric's Instagram post.Hailey had gone to see him. Unlike with me, she was alway

Chapter 3

"Daniel, I know my tone was harsh, but it's all for the sake of our future. And about yesterday… It was wrong of me to reject you so coldly. But you know how Eric is now."He can't handle stress, and I'm the only one he has. You don't want to marry someone who's always worried about someone else, right?"Once Eric gets better, I'll be at peace, and I can belong to you completely. Don't be angry anymore, okay?"She grabbed my hand and stiffly said a few words about it being for my own good.I just found it laughable. Rejecting me publicly again and again was for my own good, and so was leaving me to be with another man?She had used too many of these grand, empty excuses before, and now I no longer wanted to hear them. I shook off her hand forcefully."Got it. I'm going to work."Hailey stumbled from the force. She was clearly angry, but that vanished quickly when she met my icy gaze.I had never been this cold to her before. She felt a flicker of unease and could only let me le

Chapter 4

This was indeed an unusual thought process. I thought about it for a moment before opening the car door. A faint, familiar scent lingered in the passenger seat—it belonged to Eric.The seat had also been adjusted, probably to his preferred position. I felt uncomfortable because nothing there belonged to me.When she saw me fidgeting, Hailey opened the car's glove compartment and skillfully took out some motion sickness pills."Are you feeling unwell? Here, take…"She stopped mid-sentence as she suddenly remembered I didn't get car sick. Hailey laughed dryly. "If the seat's uncomfortable, you can adjust it."She moved quickly, but I still saw it. Inside the compartment, there was also a photo of Eric.I thought I could handle it, but when I faced the truth for real, my heart still couldn't help but clench in pain."There's no need."I looked out the window the whole way. Hailey kept trying to make conversation, but it always circled back to Eric before fizzling out.By the ti

Chapter 5

This time, Hailey actually left a rare comment on my Instagram post."Eric's stable now. Wait for me. The night view there is also really nice."The night view, huh?I frowned as I thought about it. What was there to see in a dark place with no light?Still, I replied with an "Okay". After eight years of being together, I wanted a proper ending.And so, I waited another three hours. All the guests had left by then, and the place was about to close.Sunset Villa was far from the city, with a long mountain road ahead, so I couldn't get a cab home. If something happened at night, there would be no help.I could only stand dejectedly outside the restaurant's entrance, waiting for Hailey to pick me up.To make matters worse, I hadn't brought a power bank, and now my phone was about to die. Hailey wasn't answering her phone either.The forest ahead seemed to stare menacingly at me. I frowned as I helplessly stepped into the darkness.I couldn't tell how long it would take to walk o

Chapter 6

Once those words fell, I felt the emotions pent up inside me instantly vanish.But Hailey was terrified. Her eyes widened in disbelief, and tears began to fall immediately."What do you mean? I've already said there's nothing between Eric and me. Why would we break up? Daniel, I know I was wrong. Please don't be like this!"We can discuss anything you want. Eric is just sick. He'll get better. When he's better, we'll get married."My hand tightened on the suitcase handle, but I said nothing.Hailey reached out to me pitifully. "Say something, Daniel. How can you just decide you don't want me anymore?"Who was really the one being abandoned?I coldly avoided her hand and said calmly, "Hailey, we were together for eight years. I proposed to you 18 times. Every time, you left me, humiliated me, and accused me of disregarding Eric's life. Now, I'm giving up. You should be happy."My throat felt hoarse. If you listened closely, you could tell my voice still carried a heavy nasal sou

Chapter 7

Hailey's face was visibly filled with regret. This was the first time in eight years that it happened, but I no longer needed it from her."We can't go back to how we were, Hailey."After so many rejections and abandonments, our love was no longer a complete piece. It was left with one deep crack after another.A broken mirror couldn't be made whole again, and neither could feelings."Hailey, you've never been the type who can't let go of things. I'm leaving tomorrow. Let's part on good terms."I didn't plan to tell her where I was going. After that, I forcibly pulled my hand from hers and moved into the guest bedroom.Muffled sobs came from outside the door, and she cautiously begged me to look at her one more time.I leaned against the door as I felt bitterness spread in my chest. If she had regretted it earlier, we wouldn't have reached this point.But there were no such things as "what ifs" in this world. Even if there were, people would still make different choices in

Chapter 8

That had once been my dream and my greatest temptation. But people would always eventually grow up."Hailey, I'm in a rush to catch a flight. We can talk about this some other time."I coldly pushed her aside, just as she had pushed me away countless times."I'm busy. We'll talk later.""Don't bother me. We can talk about it later."Those words had trapped me for eight years.Now, hearing them come from my own mouth, I realized how useful those excuses were. It was just a few simple words to dismiss everything.Hailey wasn't prepared for me to shove her. She stumbled and hit the wall, gasping in pain.I didn't look at her. I coldly opened the door to leave and immediately collided with a figure—Eric.He looked like he had gained weight, with his cheeks becoming fuller. When this was paired with the dark expression on his face, he didn't look depressed at all, but more like someone with a manic disorder.Hailey rushed out while holding her arm. I stepped aside and allowed her

Chapter 9

No matter how "perfect" one seemed, it was all the same. In the face of love, wasn't everyone equally pathetic?After I landed, my phone was flooded with notifications. As I looked at the glaring red alerts, I shook my head, feeling somewhat awkward.Hailey had never been someone who cared about me. This was the first time she had called and texted so much, all because she was afraid of losing me.But her affection that came too late was worthless to me.I deleted and blocked her number, then threw myself entirely into my work.Being busy helped with making me forget all the pain, but it could also bring about gains.However, the biggest surprise was that Hailey still came looking for meI didn't know how she found out where I was. When I encountered her, I treated her as a stranger and ignored her.After the third time I ignored her, Hailey asked me while crying, "Do you have to be like this?"She stood directly in front of me and acted as if she would start shouting the mome

Chapter 10

What was something I once regarded as a treasure now seemed nothing special.When I heard a commotion, I looked over. Heartbroken, Eric closed his eyes, took a small knife from his pocket, and stabbed it straight toward his heart.No one had expected this to happen, and I rushed forward at lightning speed to stop him.He couldn't get hurt, not at this critical moment. Otherwise, public opinion would be affected, and so would the project.Daisy cried out in worry behind me, "Security! Can't you see someone's trying to kill themselves? Stop him! Daniel, be careful!"Her tone was frantic, which made Hailey quickly snap out of it. As I grabbed Eric's hand, she also hectically tried to wrestle the knife away.It was a small fruit knife, so it wasn't very lethal, but there would be no saving him if it pierced his heart.I always knew part of Eric's depression was an act and an excuse to keep Hailey with him. I didn't expect him to go this far when she left."Eric, are you insane? D

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