Chapter 4The Ten-Year Red Thread Burns to Ashes

Leo clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “You should have your own style, man. Why do you have to listen to her on everything?”

“With our place, my wife lets me handle all the design choices. It looks great. I even make her sleep on pink bedsheets every night.”

I didn’t say anything, my mind drifting back to three years ago, when we first lived together. I had loved the color pink, bought everything in pink.

Even her underwear. She never wore it.

The sheets, too. She would rather sleep on the floor than in the bed. I finally gave in and bought dark gray sheets, and only then did she come back to bed.

I let out a self-deprecating chuckle. “Really? And she doesn’t just sleep on the floor?”

Leo snorted, glancing at Ava. “She wouldn’t dare.”

“Even her underwear is pink now.”

Ava’s lips twitched. She gently tapped his head, a silent plea for him to stop.

“What’s wrong with pink sheets?” he continued, oblivious. “If your girlfriend refuses to sleep with you over something like that, it just means she doesn’t love you enough.”

“And to think you spent all those years looking for her. What a bitch.”

After a long silence, I nodded slowly.

“Yeah. You’re right.”

“Maybe she really didn’t love me enough.”

The moment I said it, I felt Ava’s gaze sharpen, raking over me.

Her voice was cold. “In that case, Mr. Evans, you should know when to back off.”

“Don’t disturb other people’s lives. And if you can, it would be best if she never had to see you again.”

“Your self-pity is just pathetic to everyone else.”

Her words were direct and brutal.

Self-pity… so that’s all it was…

My eyes turned red, and my voice trembled. “Are you so familiar with her because you’re just the same?”

“You like to disappear, to make people wait, to crush every last bit of their hope without so much as an apology. And then you have the nerve to call their pain self-pity. All I ever wanted was an explanation. Do my three years just count for nothing?”

Ava’s brow furrowed in anger.

“No one asked you to wait. Love and hate are choices. You chose to wait, so you have to bear the consequences!”

“Or what? You think just because you waited three years, she owes you something? That she should be grateful and marry you?”

Her words were merciless, absolute.

I stood there, stunned. The last flicker of hope in my heart was extinguished.

Tears streamed down my face. Every word she spoke was a knife, twisting in my gut.

She was right. Love and hate are choices.

No one forced me. No one asked me to wait. The outcome was mine, and mine alone, to bear.

A love that had once felt so unbreakable had become a hollow lie.

“Fine,” I choked out. “I’ll make sure she never sees me again.”

Leo, sensing things were escalating, quickly stepped in, pulling Ava into another room.

I heard his warning, his voice just loud enough for me to hear.

“Are you trying to get punched? You know Liam has depression, and you’re still talking to him like that?”

“Stop provoking him. Do you hear me?”

Ava’s cold laugh drifted back, dripping with scorn. “He’s just putting on a show.”

I stood there, numb, for a long time.

After a while, Ava left on her own. I couldn’t stop myself from asking Leo, “Where is she going?”

“She hasn’t been back in the country for over a year, right? She has a lot of work to catch up on at the office.”

I froze. “Ava came back a year ago?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Why didn't I know?

“Yeah. To plan our wedding.”

My mouth fell open. The light in my eyes died.

My mind, numb and slow, could only process one phrase, over and over. She came back. She came back.

An icy chill spread through me. I wanted to scream, but the words were lodged in my throat.

Leo’s casual remark was like a slap across the face.

“Come on, let’s go! My wife’s done for the day. Go change, we’re heading to the club.”

He grabbed my arm, trying to pull me out the door.

“You go ahead. I’ll clean up and meet you there.”

“Okay, but be quick!”

He left without a second thought.

As I watched his car drive away, I took out my phone and made a call.

“I’ve decided to come home. Please arrange for me to meet my fiancée.”

An excited voice came from the other end. “Brother! You’re finally willing to come back! The family has been so worried about you being in Northwood all alone. We just want you home…”

The dam inside me broke. Tears streamed down my face.

I took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll come home. And I’ll try to get to know the woman you’ve chosen for me. I won’t make you worry anymore.”

My sister, Grace, was overjoyed. “Oh, Liam, that’s wonderful! Just tell me when you want to meet her, and I’ll set it up.”

“Whenever. I’ve booked a flight for tonight. I’m coming home today.”

I grabbed my suitcase and left for the airport.

Before the plane took off, I blocked everyone connected to Ava.

I turned off my phone. As I watched the lights of Northwood shrink below, I made a silent promise.

Goodbye, Ava.

Forever.