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1328 Words
I should have known.
The moment I spotted Aaron standing there—arms folded, encircled by his usual group, his face impossible to read—I ought to have realized.
This wasn't a resolution; it wasn't him listening to me. No, I was on the verge of being embarrassed.
And I was the i***t who had stepped straight into it. Yet, a foolish part of me continued to hold onto hope.
For a short time, I allowed myself to imagine this was similar to the past. That he would observe me standing there—soaked in cafeteria food, utterly humiliated—and his initial reaction would be to show concern.
I put on a smile, raising my chin while I cleared unseen lint from my dirty sweater.
“I didn’t want you to see me like this,” I whispered, pouting a bit, hoping he would relent. To at least appear uneasy about how low I'd fallen.
Instead, he scoffed.
"You look disgusting."
I froze. The words struck deeper than they ought to have, cutting into me like icy metal.
Ethan laughed softly next to him. "Nah man, she is disgusting."
Laughter spread among the group.
I tightened my fists. It was happening again.
Just like in the cafeteria. Just like everywhere I’d turned today—people sneering, laughing, treating me like I was less than nothing.
But this time? It was Aaron.
Aaron, who once traced patterns on my palm when we sat in his car late at night. Who called me his lucky charm whenever his business deals went through. The man who softly said I love you near my temple when he believed I was asleep.
I gulped, warmth flushing my face.
“I can’t believe you mean that,” I murmured, my voice faint and shaking. “Aaron, I—”
Aaron's lips twisted in contempt.
"I ought to have realized that loving someone like you was a mistake."
The words struck me like a slap, chillier than the evening breeze stinging my skin.
I recoiled, the air taken from my lungs, yet he had more to say.
He moved closer, looming above me, his voice dropping deeper, more cutting—intended to hurt.
“You repulse me, Selena,” he stated, every syllable dripping with malice. "Jumping into my life, acting like the ideal fiancée while secretly betraying me."
I staggered backward. “Stop…”
A harsh sneer erupted from him. “Don’t pretend to be innocent. I know everything."
The grin on his lips wasn’t the one I once adored. It was neither playful nor loving. It was harsh.
He angled his head, examining me as if I were something insignificant under his shoes. "What was the amount he paid you?"
My stomach curled.
I gulped deeply. “Who?”
Laughter burst forth from the crowd behind him, as if this were the finest amusement they’d experienced in weeks.
“Cal,” Aaron hissed the name as if it were venom. “What was the amount he paid you to obtain my business secrets? Or were you simply yearning for a man’s touch?”
I looked at him intently, my breathing coming in quick, shallow bursts, my thoughts racing to understand his allegations.
“I—I didn’t—”
“Oh, give me a break, Selena,” Ethan said lazily, moving up next to Aaron. "The whole world knows. Just admit you’re a gold-digging w***e and—”
“I never—”
Aaron lifted a hand to silence me. I had seen Aaron angry before. I had seen him frustrated, annoyed, even livid. But I had never seen him look at me like this. Like I was nothing but trash.
I wanted to scream that it wasn’t true. That none of this was true. That I had loved him. That I would never cheat on him.
However, Aaron released a loud, derisive chuckle, shaking his head. "Wow, you truly have no idea, do you?"
His eyes brushed past me, icy and analytical, as if I were merely a sorrowful, pitiful joke he had finally become weary of.
"You really believed this was genuine, didn’t you?" He grinned, tilting his head. "That we were a remarkable love tale? That I accepted you?"
I gulped hard, yet he continued.
“Let me to get this straight something, Selena,” he stated, his tone infused with mockery. "The sole reason you were ever with me was that my grandmother felt sorry for your family."
The words struck like a blow to the stomach.
He moved in closer, his grin expanding. "That's the truth. She forced this match, because she felt guilty that your i***t father got himself killed saving her.” He scoffed. “She thought she owed you something. Thought you deserved a place in our world.”
He let out another laugh, shaking his head. “And you? You were so desperate, so damn starved for attention, you actually believed it. You convinced yourself I wanted you.”
My chest constricted, my nails pressing into my hands.
"But listen closely, darling," he murmured, getting closer, his breath soft on my ear. "She has left now. Two months in the grave, and nothing connects me to you any longer. No further responsibilities. No more forced smiles. It's over."
He moved backward, angling his head. "I've been anticipating this. Anticipating the moment I can be free of you."
I opened my lips, yet nothing came out.
What can I possibly say? He did not seek the truth. He came here to ruin me.
He grasped my hand—for just a moment, I believed he would hold it tightly as he once did.
Instead, he pulled off the engagement ring.
The metal dug into my skin before it ripped away, the absence of it feeling like a raw wound.
Then— He tossed it at my face.
The small, expensive band clinked against the pavement, bouncing once before landing in the dirt at my feet.
A final insult. A last, careless dismissal of everything we had been.
“We’re done,” he said simply.
All around me, phones lifted. Cameras flashed. Students whispered. Laughter rang in my ears.
I felt it completely—every pair of eyes staring, every slight smirk and quiet whisper, each moment of my embarrassment—but I was unable to shift.
I was unable to breathe.
My fingers clenched into fists, nails digging into my palms as I compelled myself to maintain my grip.
I needed to stay strong. I had to—
Aaron turned to leave.
No. No, this couldn’t be how it ended. I needed him to hear me.
“Aaron, please,” I choked out, reaching for his sleeve. “You don’t understand—”
He shoved me away. Hard.
I tripped, my ankle twisting underneath me, my knee crashing onto the ground with a painful, harsh scrape.
A sudden gasp escaped from my mouth.
Pain surged in my leg, but it paled in comparison to the throbbing sensation growing in my chest.
I was frozen from shock, my knees touching the frigid earth while Aaron looked down at me as if I were nothing.
He didn’t say another word. Didn’t look back, just walked away.
His friends followed, laughing as if nothing had happened, as if my entire world hadn’t just collapsed at their feet.
The crowd started to thin, people losing interest now that the show was over.
But the damage was done.
I stayed there, kneeling on the pavement, my hands shaking as I reached for my scraped knee.
I felt nothing. No pain. No anger. No sadness.
Just… numbness.
A gentle rain began, cool droplets hitting my arms, tangling my hair against my cheeks.
I hugged myself with my arms, clutching the material of my tattered sweater as if it could possibly keep me intact.
It couldn’t. Nothing could.
Because Aaron Carter had just destroyed me.
And I had let him.
- Writer
