All Chapters of I’m Done Waiting for Your Reply: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

The landlord and the new prospective tenant exchanged an awkward glance, mumbled a polite goodbye, and hurried off.I curled up on the couch, staring at their latest posts on social media.Right after landing, Adrian and Maya went straight to the exact coffee shop from the food reel, laughing hysterically into the camera. The Airbnb they booked was even the same one I had shared in the group chat days ago.So, they had seen my messages. They just didn't want to reply.I frantically wiped away the moisture welling up in the corners of my eyes, blocked their feeds, and stood up to pack my things for the move.Four days later, Adrian called me."Emery, are you off work?"Maya and I just landed, and we brought you back some souvenirs. Let's go check out the new place together. Didn't you say you had something important to tell me?"I glanced out the window at the pouring rain."Yeah. But it's hard to catch a ride in this rain. Swing by and pick me up on your way."Silence on the

My chest burned with a sharp, heavy ache, and I let out a light laugh.Right in front of both of them, I picked up the gift box and tossed it straight into the trash can."I don't want the gift."And I don't want the key, either."I looked at Adrian and Maya one last time."As for the two of you, I don't want either of you anymore."With that, I grabbed my bag, yanked open the apartment door, and walked out.Adrian acted like he couldn't handle it anymore, chasing after me and yelling at the top of his lungs, “Emery, what exactly do you want? We've begged you this much, isn't that enough?"I threw a cold look over my shoulder at him.My heart had turned so cold I didn't even have words left to say, so I just kept walking.After that day, Adrian and Maya didn't reach out to me again, not even through private messages.In the three-person group chat, the two of them were still chatting up a storm, but my name was never brought up again. I didn't send another message either.W

I never thought Adrian and Maya would actually track me down, probably after pressuring my parents to tell them where I was. When I pushed open the courtyard gate and saw the two of them standing there, I let out a heavy, helpless sigh, but still led them over to sit at the wooden table under the veranda.Adrian spoke up first."I'm sorry, Emery. I know I did a lot of things that upset you, and I've really done some reflecting."With that, he pulled a key out of his pants pocket and slid it across the wooden table toward me."I got this key back from Maya, and now it's yours."I'm going to keep a proper distance from her from now on and stop crossing any lines. Take the key, and when this trip is over, let's head back and get married and make it official. Okay?"As soon as he finished, Adrian turned sideways and gave a sharp nudge with his elbow to Maya, who had been sitting in dead silence beside him.Maya's complexion was awful, clearly showing how reluctant she was to have

For my next travel destination, I told no one.I went to Tibet.In that place closest to the sky, I witnessed the most devout prostrations and gazed at the towering, endless snow-capped mountains. Under the heavy red walls of the Potala Palace, I listened to the deep, resonant chanting and the turning prayer wheels.I suddenly felt that those lingering grudges over jealousy and betrayal were as insignificant as dust.I knew what I needed to do when I got back.Instead of returning to my hometown for a safe, steady job as my parents expected, I reorganized my resume and applied to cities much further away.About two years later, during an industry collaboration exhibition, I ran into an ex-colleague, Nicholas West, from my former company.We exchanged a few pleasantries and chatted about our current work.He suddenly brought up Maya."Do you remember that vendor complaint right before you left? The one Maya handled."I paused for a second, somewhat surprised.To be honest, I