The screech of tires, the crunch of metal, the blinding pain – then, Isabella' s dying whisper: she' d run off with Julian, the starving artist, for a "real" life. My world was ending on the Brooklyn Bridge, yet her last words were a bullet to the heart, proving every sacrifice I made for her had been for nothing. The flash of emergency lights, the fading cold... and then I blinked. I was back, tuxedo-clad, at our engagement party in the Hamptons. A year ago. Julian, the artist, strode in, chaotic and loud, pointing dramatically at me, declaring my life a "golden cage." Last time, Isabella had clung to me, mortified. This time, she looked at him, then at me, tears in her eyes, a strange resolve on her face. She took off the diamond ring, letting it clink on a table, and walked straight to him, choosing him. My parents were aghast, the guests gasped, but I felt no pain, no shock. Just a clear, potent understanding. Life had given me a reset button, and I was done playing her game. This time, I' d make my own rules.
The screech of tires, the crunch of metal, the blinding pain – then, Isabella' s dying whisper: she' d run off with Julian, the starving artist, for a "real" life.
My world was ending on the Brooklyn Bridge, yet her last words were a bullet to the heart, proving every sacrifice I made for her had been for nothing.
The flash of emergency lights, the fading cold... and then I blinked.
I was back, tuxedo-clad, at our engagement party in the Hamptons. A year ago.
Julian, the artist, strode in, chaotic and loud, pointing dramatically at me, declaring my life a "golden cage."
Last time, Isabella had clung to me, mortified. This time, she looked at him, then at me, tears in her eyes, a strange resolve on her face.
She took off the diamond ring, letting it clink on a table, and walked straight to him, choosing him.
My parents were aghast, the guests gasped, but I felt no pain, no shock. Just a clear, potent understanding.
Life had given me a reset button, and I was done playing her game. This time, I' d make my own rules.
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