Chapter 90
Joanne’s POV
After the food deliveries stopped being effective, Derek changed his approach. He began bribing the renovation crew at our dessert shop by sending crates of fruit, cases of drinks, and sometimes even slipping them cigarettes. As long as I wasn’t around, he would find a way to sneak in through the cracks.
Eventually, I hit my breaking point.
I agreed to meet him.\
When Derek arrived, it was clear he wanted to impress. His hair was neatly styled, and he wore new clothes with a noticeable cologne. He resembled a peacock displaying its feathers, trying to regain lost ground.
“Joanne,” Derek started, voice dripping with that faux–remorseful tone guys use when they think they’re being deep, “I’ve done a lot of reflecting. I know I messed up big time. But there’s one thing I need you to believe. My love for you? That was always real.
Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. When he opened it, he revealed the ring we had picked out when we first got together.”
“Remember this?” Derek said gently. “We chose it together. We even had our names engraved inside. You told me that when we finally got married, we’d trade this for a diamond. I’ve kept it safe all this time. I swear.”
That ring…
That
Derek bought it with his very first paycheck from tutoring high school kids. He didn’t wait long and took me directly to the jewelry store that same day. I still remember how he held it up, smiling like he’d just conquered the world.
“Joanne,” Derek had said proudly, “I’m gonna trap you with this ring. From now on, you’re mine. Mine alone.”
We were both too stubborn and proud to rely on anyone else.
Derek would always say, “One day, I’ll buy you the biggest diamond with my own two hands. No handouts, no shortcuts.”
And I believed him.”
God, I believed in him with all my heart, even looking forward to a
future with him.
Even when his startup failed and the money disappeared overnight, I stayed by his side. Every dollar of my savings went into helping him fix the problems. I endured those sleepless nights, comforted him during his breakdowns, and pushed him forward when he couldn’t see the way.
I watched him pull himself together, inch by inch. I even gave him my time, love, energy, and money because I truly believed that when we finally succeeded, he’d remember who stood with him in the trenches.
People always say: ‘To help a boy become a man, you ha
I never believed that. Not until I lived it.
to pay a painful price.”
Now, sitting across from the man for whom I once gave up everything, I watched him try to resurrect something that had long since died. Gently, I pushed the ring back across the table.
“What’s in the past can’t be chased,” I said.”
I’ve always admired the kind of love my parents shared. They never raised their voices at each other, not even in front of me. They were each other’s first love, and somehow, they became each other’s last as well:
That kind of love shaped my beliefs about what love could be. How they also shared something else with me-
something I didn’t truly understand until now.”
“People have to look forward. If you keep staring at the rearview mirror, you’ll crash headfirst into what’s ahead.“”
At that time, I constantly wondered what Melody had that I lacked. I fell into a spiral of thought and became stuck.N
So I looked Derek in the eye and said, “No matter what you do, or how much you try, there’s no going back. Don’t make me lose the last shred of respect I still have for you, Derek.“”
I watched the light in his eyes go dim, flickering like a dying match, but he still couldn’t let go.
Derek looked at me desperately and asked, “Joanne, is there really no chance for us?”
I held his gaze and asked softly, “Do you remember what we talked about the day we first got together?”
Back then, we didn’t rush blindly into things. We sat down with notebooks and wrote out what we needed from each other, including what we couldn’t tolerate and the flaws we were willing to accept.W
I had written
[I can’t be with someone who has divided affection or who tells me he loves me, but keeps space open for someone else.]
And I remember clearly that Derek placed his hand on his chest and looked me directly in the eye,\
Joanne, trust me, he’d said. “I never will. As long as you’re here, I won’t even see other girls. To me, they’ll be invisible. You’re the only one who shines. You’re the star I want to hold onto.“%
