All Chapters of Outside the Lines You Drew: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

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 stick

Chapter 2

By the time I returned to my apartment, it was almost eleven.I had bought this apartment myself.Simon had never once been here.Even when my period cramps were so bad that I couldn't get out of bed and I called him, asking him to buy me a box of painkillers, he only said calmly over the phone,"Maren, we're not married yet."If an unmarried man and woman are alone together, it's the woman's reputation that gets damaged."Back then, I was foolish enough to feel touched.I thought he respected me. I thought he was thinking of me.Only tonight, after seeing Ivy wearing his T-shirt, curled on his couch with her legs across his lap, did I realize those words had been nothing but an excuse.I stopped thinking about it and opened my suitcase to pack.Halfway through, my hand brushed against the garment bag in the very back of the closet.I froze for a moment.Inside was the wedding dress I had paid for in full.During the wedding preparations, Simon had been completely hands-of

Chapter 3

The dishes had been ordered in advance.Once the server saw that everyone had arrived, food began coming to the table.After more than half the dishes were served, I gradually felt something was off.Most of the table was seafood.Steamed sea bass, lobster baked with butter and cheese, seared scallops in scallion butter...The menu was almost identical to our wedding banquet.When we had chosen the menu, I had asked Simon,"I'm allergic to seafood, and you don't really like it either. Why did you order so much?"He didn't even raise his head."The guests like it."I hadn't thought much of it then.Now I finally understood.The "guests" he meant had been one person in particular: Ivy.Throughout the meal, I barely touched my fork. I only picked at a few stalks of blanched greens on my plate, chewing without tasting anything.Ivy, on the other hand, ate happily.She peeled shrimp while chattering about their childhood.When she got excited, she naturally placed a piece of

Chapter 4

"The entire chat is gone. What happened?"Ivy hurried over from Mrs. Carver's side, pressed her hands together, and smiled at Simon in apology."Sim, I'm sorry."I used your phone to play a game last night and accidentally deleted Maren's chat. It shouldn't matter, right?"Simon laughed helplessly."If it's deleted, it's deleted. What's the big deal?"You accidentally formatted my whole phone before, and I didn't say anything then either."Ivy giggled and hid back beside Mrs. Carver.I sat there as my fingertips slowly went cold.This was the man who wouldn't even let me pick up his phone to check the time.Yet now he could casually hand his phone to another woman to play games.Even when all his phone data had once been wiped by mistake, he had brushed it off with one light sentence: It's fine.Simon turned to look at me."What did you send last night? Say it now, since we're here."Suddenly, I changed my mind.For three years, he had never once given me the treatment a

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

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

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

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

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

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

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP