After Ninety-Nine Times
Once upon a time, Leonard truly loved me.
In order to establish a Mate Bond with me, he confessed 99 times. On the 99th time, I was finally moved.
On the day of our Marking Ceremony, I gave him 99 forgiveness coupons. I promised him that I would forgive him 99 times. As long as he still had coupons left over, I would forgive him and stay with him no matter what he did.
We were bonded for six years. In the first five years of our Mate Bond, I rarely ever used the forgiveness coupons. Since his childhood friend Judy returned, however, I started burning through the coupons.
When I tore up the 98th coupon, Leonard noticed that I had changed.
I no longer made a fuss or fought him over Judy. I simply asked him calmly, “If you go to Judy, can I use up one forgiveness coupon?”
Leonard paused and then recovered his cool. “Sure. I only used up slightly over half, so use another if you want.”
I stayed silent as he left the house.
As it turned out, he had no idea he had just lost his 98th coupon.
He only had one chance left.
After that, I would leave him forever.