After Nathan Seville stands me up for the seventh time we're supposed to register our marriage, I finally cut all ties with him—completely and on my own terms.

If he shows up at a gathering, I don't go.

If he's invited to perform at the college anniversary, I leave early.

The moment my company decides to work with him, I resign on the spot.

Even on Christmas Eve, when he shows up at my house with gifts, I make up an excuse about needing to visit someone.

Calls? Blocked. Socials? Deleted. My strategy is simple—cut it all off.

I don't reach out, and he has no way of finding me.

For the first 30 years of my life, I spent most of it loving him with everything I had.

I cared for him, supported him, and waited for him.

But after being left hanging for the seventh time at the City Hall, I finally wake up. I don't want to live like this anymore.

Even if I end up alone, it's still better than spending night after night waiting in an empty house that never feels like home!

I waited for Nathan Seville at the City Hall for hours until it was time for even the staff to get off work.

At first, when I called him, he said that he was busy and told me to wait.

I waited for another two hours. When I called him again, the call wouldn't go through.

His line was constantly busy.

I gripped the marriage registration form in my hand so tightly that it had crumpled into a ball.

"Miss, we're about to close for the day. Are you still planning to file your marriage registration?" One of the staff members couldn't help but ask. She had seen me waiting there all day.

Snapping back to my senses, I shook my head lightly. "Thank you. I'm not doing it today."

…

As I walked out of the City Hall, a few staff members passing by after getting off work whispered to each other, "I think I've seen her a few times. She always comes here alone, trying to get married."

"Now that you mention it, I remember her, too. She's always waiting for someone who never shows up."

I kept my expression blank, but on the inside, I was dreadfully embarrassed. Shame overwhelmed me to the point where I couldn’t lift my head. Instinctively, I picked up my pace.

This was the seventh time I had come to the City Hall just to wait for Nathan.

Just as I walked out and was about to hail a cab home, he appeared.

He jogged toward me, panting slightly, with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Yvonne. Something urgent came up at work today. I hope I'm not too late."

I scoffed silently.

The last time we were supposed to register our marriage, he told me that something had come up at work, so he didn't turn up.

The time before that? He was also late because of work.

The past was in the past, but he was now using the same excuse again.

I didn't even bother calling him out. Shaking my head, I answered, "You're too late. The staff just left."

Nathan looked indignant at that. He glanced at his watch before accusing righteously, "Damn, these people really clock out on the dot every day, don't they? Can't they wait just a few minutes?"

He stepped forward and grabbed my hand, placing it on his heaving chest. "There was traffic congestion earlier. Feel this—I ran all the way here. I'm exhausted."

I stared at him blankly, doing my best to hold back my tears.

No one was that stupid.

I could easily tell if he really ran all the way here.

Biting my lip, I questioned him for the first time ever. "If you really ran all that distance, why aren't you sweating at all?"

His forehead was completely dry, with no hint of sweat at all.

Nathan's expression changed abruptly. He frowned, his gaze filling with anger, and asked loudly, "What do you mean by that? Are you saying that I'm lying to you? That I don't want to marry you?

"I ran so hard to get here, yet you don't believe me. I can't believe you're such a heartless woman, Yvonne!"

It was impressive how easily he turned the tables on me.

Unfortunately for him, his hysterical outburst made him look guiltier.

I rubbed my temples, suddenly losing the urge to argue with him. "You know better than anyone else whether that's true or not, Nathan."

With that, I turned to leave.

His cold voice sounded from behind me. "Fine, then. I know that well. Don't ever look for me again. Stop pestering me and begging me to marry you!"

This time, I did not turn back, but I bit my lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

I had barely taken a few steps when a text popped up on my phone. "Yvonne, you didn't manage to get married again, did you? What a pity. It's okay, though. You can beg Nathan to marry you again later. The eighth time is the charm, right?"

I read the text message thrice.

I might not be the brightest, but even I could tell that this woman was taunting me.

Even though I had already guessed why Nathan was late, Lucille Young's text still left me feeling suffocated.

Nathan and I had grown up together. We were childhood sweethearts, practically inseparable. When I was little, I had vowed to marry him and become his wife when I grew up.

I had just started elementary school when I made that declaration. It also made our parents elated.

Nathan had always been close to me, too.

That was until we went to college.

For the first time ever, he brought another woman home—Lucille Young. I realized from their interaction that Nathan's closeness to me wasn't love.

That realization made me panic.

After we graduated from college, I jokingly suggested that we officially get married.

Our parents agreed to the idea, but Nathan did not—he turned me down mercilessly.

For the next eight years, I had asked him to get married dozens of times.

He had only agreed to seven of them—and every one of those seven times, he stood me up.

Every time, Lucille would send me a perfectly-timed text to taunt me.

Just then, my phone buzzed again.

Thinking it was Lucille, I instinctively moved to reject the call, only to see that it was a friend, Julia Hart, calling.

I was apparently invited to a gathering that evening.

Without thinking, I asked Julia whether Nathan was going to be present.

"Don't worry, Yvonne. I know about your relationship with Nathan. I've already talked to him ahead of time—he'll be there!" she said happily.

"Never mind," I replied. "If he's there, I'll give it a miss. Maybe next time."

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the line, as if Julia had been startled by what I said.

Everyone knew that I had been wooing Nathan for years.

I had shamelessly given him flowers at our graduation ceremony, did everything I could to get him a good job, and devoted my days to cleaning his house and cooking for him.

Once, at a friend's birthday party, someone said he was lucky to have found someone like me.

However, Nathan scoffed coldly at that. "She's annoying as hell. Who cares about what she does?"

Back then, I didn't care either. I thought he'd eventually change for me.

But now, I cared.

After ending the call, I sent a group message to our mutual friends. "From now on, don't bother inviting me to a gathering if Nathan is going to be there."

Then, I hailed a cab and went back to my rented apartment.

After taking a shower, I started sorting out Nathan's things. I packed them all into a suitcase and called a courier service to send them back to him.

My best friend, Anne Woodward, showed up at the same time as the courier, having heard what was going on.

When she saw the packed suitcase, she blurted out, "Yvonne, are you leaving?"

I laughed and opened the suitcase to show her what was inside. "What are you talking about? These are Nathan's things. I'm sending them back to him."

Anne stood there stunned for a while. After the courier took the suitcase away, she looked at me in disbelief. "Didn't you say you were going to register your marriage with Nathan today? Why the sudden change…"

Halfway through her sentence, she paused.

She knew about all the previous times that Nathan had stood me up, so it didn't take her long to put the pieces together. Practically vibrating with rage, she asked, "Did Nathan ditch you again? No wonder you sent that message to the group! Lucille must be behind him. Come on, let's confront her and get some answers!"

Despite my protests, Anne still dragged me to the gathering.

We had just reached the door of the private room when I heard Nathan's voice coming from the inside. "Oh, stop making a fuss. It's been so many years. Yvonne has said many harsh words, but in the end, she never really left me. She's just angry right now.

"Once she calms down, she'll come running back to me like always."

Outside, I bit the inside of my cheek so hard that I could taste blood.

Over the past years, I'd devoted myself to him and cared for him with all my heart, yet in his eyes, I was worth nothing.

Seeing my reddened eyes, Anne gently tugged on my hand.

Just as she was about to open the door, I stopped her.

At this point, I didn't even want to see Nathan again.

Grabbing Anne's hand, I turned to leave. Just as we rounded the corner, Nathan and Lucille walked out of the private room.

Lucille spoke. "Nathan, you're drunk. You should stop talking. If Yvvy heard you, she'd be heartbroken."

"Isn't that what you want?" Nathan retorted. "You were the one who made me agree to marry her, only to stand her up at the last minute. You're so mean, Lucy!"

I couldn't hold back my tears any longer when I heard what he said.

It turned out that they were just playing with me, making me out to be a joke. No wonder Nathan did not seem happy at all the first time he agreed to marry me.

I had been too caught up in the joy of the moment and failed to notice the disdain in his eyes.

Lucille leaned against Nathan, hitting his chest playfully. "I'm so mean? You came up with this idea!"

"I only did so to amuse you!"

As they bantered, they began kissing each other, completely ignoring their surroundings.

I was numb all over as Anne pulled me out of the restaurant.

The cool night breeze whipped against me. My heart felt like it was frozen.

"Yvonne, you've been too kind. That's why those two losers messed with you like this!" Anne ranted, still furious.

All I could do was smile faintly. When I opened my mouth, I could taste blood. "It's all in the past now. From now on, I have nothing to do with Nathan Seville."

…

Once I finally managed to convince Anne to go home, I returned to my apartment.

Right before I arrived home, the courier called me.

He told me that he had arrived at the destination, but the recipient wasn’t answering the phone and couldn’t be reached.

It was then that I remembered that Nathan never picked up calls from strangers. I told the courier to wait a while before hanging up. Then, I called Nathan.

From the noise in the background, he was probably at a club. Still, I could hear the smugness in his voice. "Calling me so soon? Where did all that attitude from earlier go, when you left me standing alone in the street?"

If this were before, I would've swallowed my pride, apologized to him, and sweet-talked him a little.

All I did now was say calmly, "I've gotten someone to leave your things at your door. Make sure to grab them when you get home."

Nathan sounded even more smug at that. "What did you get me this time, Yvonne? Trying to butter me up again? You sent a message to all our friends saying that you wouldn't join any gathering if I were there, didn't you? What's this now, trying to win me back?"

Instead of answering, I just hung up.

Before I ended the call, I heard him asking again what I had bought him, and that he'd only decide to forgive me based on whether or not he liked the gift.

I scoffed, speechless.

After all these years of chasing after him like a fool, he probably thought that I had no dignity, but that was alright. One day, he would realize that he was wrong.