13
EMILIA
And then, finally, I said, “No, I don’t want to get dinner with you.”
He blinked once. No outburst. No resistance. Just a subtle shift in his face like he’d been expecting it, and maybe even knew he deserved it.
I stood before he could say anything else.
“I needed to say everything I said,”
I added. “And I meant it.”
He nodded, just once, then I got up and I walked to the door.
I left.
Not with anger, and not with regret. Just…clarity.
That was the last honest conversation we had.
For the next month, I kept everything strictly professional. Mechanical, even. I arrived at the office early, headphones in before anyone had a chance to ask me how I was doing or what I thought about anything beyond the task at hand. I answered emails. Sat through meetings. Delivered on deadlines. I did everything I was supposed to—efficient, composed, unreadable.
Dean and I shared space again. That was unavoidable. But I kept it clean. Cordial. Distant. I didn’t flinch when I saw him. I didn’t falter when we crossed paths or got stuck next to each other in meetings. I didn’t shrink under his gaze.
He didn’t say much. I think he understood the rules I’d drawn. Or maybe he just didn’t have anything left to say.
He stopped trying.
Stopped pausing too long when we passed in the hallway.
Stopped finding excuses to be near my office.
And slowly, I let myself breathe.
It wasn’t easy, though. People around the office started to whisper when they thought I wasn’t listening. Not cruel gossip, just the quiet curiosity of people who sensed something had happened but couldn’t piece it together. I ignored it. I didn’t owe anyone a narrative.
There were days it still hurt. Like when I stayed late finishing something and saw the light still on in his office across the floor. Or when I caught the faintest note of his cologne in the elevator. There were moments where I missed him, even if he never treated me the way I deserved. The way I used to feel seen by him, even when it had all been a lie.
But I held it together and didn’t break.
I remembered what it had cost me to get back to myself.
I stopped trying to rewrite what happened between us into something softer. I didn’t make excuses for him anymore. Didn’t twist his regret into romance. Because regret wasn’t the same thing as love. Regret was easy. He could live in it for as long as he wanted. That wasn’t my responsibility anymore.
Instead, I focused on me.
I started working out more. I read more. Ate alone without feeling lonely. Reconnected with college friends I’d distanced myself from. I even started hanging out with Leann almost every weekend, but I never told her about Dean and me. I didn’t want to talk about what happened between us. I stopped giving him space in my head. At least as much as I could. It wasn’t perfect. Healing never is.
There were nights I’d still wake up remembering the way he looked at me that last day. Honest. Open. And I’d wonder if I’d made the right call.
But those thoughts never lasted long.
Because deep down, I knew he only opened up once it became clear I wasn’t waiting for him anymore. He only stepped forward once I stopped holding the door open for him. And I couldn’t be with someone who needed to lose me before they realized I was worth keeping.
So I didn’t return his gaze in meetings. I didn’t ask how he was doing or wonder what he did on the weekends. I let him live with the silence he created, and I got used to the sound of my own voice again. My real one. The one that didn’t shrink around his silence or soften around his approval.
I remembered what it was like to feel whole without being wanted.
The month went by fast. And with every passing day, I felt a little stronger. A little more certain that walking away was the best thing I could’ve done.
He stayed on his side of the line, and I stayed on mine.
And maybe that’s how it had to be.
Maybe some people only come into your life to teach you where your boundaries should be.
Dean taught me what I’d let slide for too long. And now, finally, I wasn’t letting anything slide anymore.
Your decision led to Emilia and Dean not ending up together.
If you want to explore the other outcomes and see how the story could have unfolded differently, go back to Chapter 7 and make a different choice.