The 99th Time He Gave Up On Me Novels & Stories

"Listen to me...this is the last time. I already tried when I confessed to you, and I repeated it again when I said I'll court you. I'll try again and this is the last time I'll be trying. .." He paused and looked me directly into my eyes. "And if you'll shut me down again, I won't bother you anymore. Because I am getting tired already." ---

I couldn't allow myself to take advantage of her, especially since I had lost her trust. I tried over and over again being this close yet no release came. Eventually, I gave up. I threw my shirt onto the floor and crawled onto my bed, pulling my phone out of my pocket and dialing a number. “Hello?” An exhausted voice replied.

“Please don’t leave me. Not now. Not after all this.” My voice cracked, a strangled sob tearing from my chest. “I did everything I could. Don't you understand? I gave up everything that mattered to me. I let that monster own me. I gave him the only thing I had left to give. My dignity, my freedom, my very self. Just… just so you could live. Just so you could have a chance.” My sobs were silent and raw, shaking my entire body, a tremor that started in my core and rippled outward. My forehead pressed harder against the cold metal, knuckles white from clinging to him, as if my grip alone could pull him back from the precipice.

His voice was very soft as he said, "Clare, you weren't always just a tool to me." Through the glass, he slowly raised his hand, as if he was trying to touch my face. He went on, "I'm not here to ask you to get me out. I'm just telling you how I truly feel." This time, I didn't avoid him like before. Or rather, there was no need to avoid him anymore because he would never be able to touch me. I looked calmly at the man I had once loved, who had later dragged me into the mud and completely destroyed me.

To every time he put me first, even when I spat in his face. I wasted it. I wasted him. And now, I burn. A sob tears through me, my vision darkening as the smoke chokes the last of my air. If there is anything—anyone—listening… Give me another chance. Let me love him first this time. Let me make it right.

“A mistake is still a mistake. If you cross a line, you live with the consequences. “If apologizing fixed everything, there wouldn’t be a need for law. “Yvette, we’re done.” With that, I walked past her into the law firm. She did not try to stop me. She knew my nature. Once I made a decision, I never looked back. Still, I saw her standing outside the building all day. She ignored the curious eyes of others, along with the harsh wind and sun. But what did it matter? Some love, once lost, was lost forever. Over the past two years, I had given her ninety-nine chances. She had missed them all.

“Get out!” I let the tears fall, not caring about my pride anymore. My hands went to my stomach. I had been so excited to tell him about our little one. Now, I don't think I ever will. I found the strength to leave the room, each step feeling like climbing a mountain. The second I reached my personal bedroom, my legs gave out beneath me and I sobbed uncontrollably. For the first time in three years, I gave up. For the first time in three years, this was me understanding that I could never win Micheal's love. Nothing I did was enough. I was never enough. Maybe, it was me. Maybe, I'm the problem.

How many times he let me down. I shook my head, meeting her soft, worried eyes. "Please... don't tell anyone. I'm leaving." My eyes landed on the last page. Page 99. Three years. Ninety-nine chances. That was it. I was done waiting.

I gave a soft, bitter laugh and slowly slipped our documents back into my pocket. “This makes ninety-nine.” “What?” “This is the ninety-ninth time we’ve tried to get our marriage registered.” I turned toward the subway entrance. “And the ninety-ninth time you’ve left me hanging because of him.” I heard her heels stop on the pavement, then suddenly start running after me. “The first time, you bailed on our trip because he was on the night shift and scared of the dark. You took a red-eye flight just to be with him. “The second time, we were practically at the door of the courthouse. You heard he fainted from overwork and left me standing in the snow alone for an entire day.”

After Isak's old flame, Julia, came back to town, she made a bet with me: he gets nine chances to choose between us in life-or-death situations. The one he abandons for the ninth time has to walk away. I agreed. The ninth time, a single phone call from Julia was all it took for Isak to leave me on the side of the road again. "Drive! Go!" Isak's voice was sharp, laced with a panic I'd never heard before. I clutched the gunshot wound in my stomach, blood seeping through my fingers, staining my white silk shirt.