“Come help me pack up my ce,” I interrupted.
She gave me a surprised look. “Wait, are you already prepared for this?”
“Not exactly prepared, but I started thinking about it the other day,” I said, pointing to the back seat where I had left the bed linens I hadn’t even bought yet.
“I bought them with Thea yesterday,” I added, and Jasmine’s eyes widened with shock, clearly
curious.
On the drive to my ce, I exined everything to Jasmine. She was fuming, shaking her head. “Good thing you didn’t go through with the marriage.
“Alvin is just another one of those selfish, modern men who want it all-he has his foot in one door and his hand in the other.”
“A scumbag is a scumbag, doesn’t matter what century we’re in,” I teased, half-smiling.
Jasmine nced at me seriously. “Zoe, if you’re upset, you don’t have to put on a smile for me.”
“Really, I’m not upset,” I said, my gaze fixed on the road. “Maybe my feelings for him are just like his for me-so familiar that they’ve be indifferent.”
I truly felt that way. Butter, I’d realize that the love I thought had faded was like an old wine-it had only matured into something stronger. And if it was true for me, it was definitely true for Alvin.
Jasmine didn’t know about my parents’ house. We’d met after I moved into the Dolton family’s ce for school.
“This ce isn’t bad. A little old and far from everything, but still nice,” Jasmine said, as straightforward as always.
“Yeah, it’s where my parents and I lived. I don’t want to change anything,” I said, setting the new bed linens on the couch and heading to wash the kettle I had bought.
Jasmine wandered around, then leaned against the kitchen doorway, looking at me. “It’s cozy, even if it’s a bit outdated. I can tell your family was really happy here.”
I thought, ‘If only things had stayed that way. If not for the ident. Even now, I still felt like it was all a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from.
My parents had dropped me off at school that morning, saying they were going to close a business deal. Eliseo even promised me that if the deal went through, they’d build a theme park for me. But they never came back.
“Zoe, Zoe,” Jasmine called, pulling me out of my thoughts. “What’s wrong? You’re so quiet.”
I looked up at her. “What?”
Jasmine could see the shift in my expression. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, just… missing my parents,” I said, my voice catching in my throat. A wave of sadness and heaviness rose in my chest, but I pushed it down.
Even though I’d always known Alvin would be my boyfriend one day, we only officially got together
three years ago.
It was on the anniversary of my parents’ death. I was crying at their graves when he held me and promised that from now on, I’d have him by my side.
He swore in front of their tombstones that he would love and take care of me. Back then, I thought I had found someone I could depend on, just like my parents.
“What’s the point of thinking about them now? You should focus on what you’re going to do with your future,” Jasmine said, noticing the pain in my eyes. She deliberately changed the subject to distract me.
“Now that you’ve broken up with Alvin, why even bother with him?” Jasmine asked.
The kettle finished boiling, and I poured us both cups of coffee. “I’ve already sent all the handover materials to the person in charge, and I’ve written my resignation letter. Once the amusement park’s inspection is done, I’m out.”
“Resigning is definitely the right choice. ‘Let’s just be friends’ is all nonsense after a breakup. The only way to move on is to get some distance-out of sight, out of mind.” Jasmine fully supported my decision.
“Yeah.” I nodded.
Jasmine could tell I didn’t want to keep talking about it, so she changed the subject.
Looking around my ce, she added, “By the way, doesn’t your ce need some newer appliances? Like a washing machine, a coffee maker, maybe a robot vacuum?”
“I’ll get to that when Ie back,” I said, noticing her looking at me expectantly.
“Where are you going?” she asked.