Chapter 9

"You—" I hadn't expected Isabelle to say something like that. Since I met her, she had always presented herself as smart and capable, handling any issue with a smile and finesse. While her career wasn't particularly remarkable, she navigated it effortlessly. Yet, here she was, cornered by me, resorting to childish vows. I couldn't help but sigh lightly. "Isabelle, even if there really isn't anything going on between you two, as your boyfriend, I don't want to see you spending so much time with him. You two have no boundaries." They ate together and even had sleepovers together. No guy could put up with that. "I know! I won't do it anymore. However, if you're asking me to cut ties with him completely, I can't do that, Bryce. We've been friends for so long. To me, he's like Emma. But I can promise you, I won't cross any lines in the future." She buried her face in my chest, speaking in a muffled but determined voice. "From now on, I'll love you and only you." I decided to give her another chance. Patting her head, I asked, "Have you had breakfast yet?" She shook her head, looking pitiful. "I came early to wait for you. I went to your place first, but you weren't there, so I figured you'd be at Jerome's." "Come on, let's get you something to eat." After breakfast, I dropped her off at her office and watched her go inside before pulling out my phone to call Jerome. We talked so much last night, and I told him I was ready to walk away. Yet here I was, reconciling with her. He was going to be pissed and call me weak. Fortunately, Jerome wasn't angry. When he answered the call and heard me out, all he said was "Got it" before going back to sleep. Sometimes, I envied the guy. He inherited his family's company, and all he had to do was show up once in a while. The rest of the time, he just enjoyed life. Unlike the rest of us, as employees, we were tied to the clock, clocking in and clocking out. Still, my side gig was doing well. Once the timing was right, I would quit my job and focus on my own business. Around 10:00 am, I had just finished a meeting and was back in my office when I got a call from an unfamiliar number. Seeing that it was from a local number, I thought it might be an unsaved client contact, so I answered. "Bryce, right? It's Sean." I paused. "How'd you get my number?" "Don't worry, it wasn't from Isabelle." His tone was cocky, the kind that immediately rubbed me the wrong way. "I'm at Harmony Cafe. Could you come over for a chat?" Harmony Cafe was a cafe near my office, just 50 yards away. He had come here specifically to look for me. Nothing good could come of this. It was probably about Isabelle, and I didn't feel like dealing with it. "If you've got something to say, just tell me over the phone. I'm busy." "No problem. I've got all the time in the world. I'll be here waiting for you. Come when you've got a minute." He had nothing better to do, clearly. I sneered. "Fine, I'll swing by if I'm free." I hung up and got back to work, going about my business until lunchtime. I called Isabelle, and when I found out she was having lunch with some female friends, I decided not to meet her and instead grabbed a quick bite with a couple of colleagues at a nearby fast-food place. As we passed Harmony Cafe after lunch, I suddenly remembered Sean. "You guys go ahead. I'm going to grab a coffee." One of my coworkers laughed. "That place is overpriced, and the coffee's awful. Come back to the office, and I'll share some of my private stash with you." I chuckled. "This cafe has been around for a while, but I've never tried it. I'll give it a shot this once. You guys head back." After they left, I walked into the cafe. I wasn't surprised that I spotted Sean right away. He had the bulky, gym-bro physique typical of foreigners, and he had deliberately worn a T-shirt a size too small. His muscles strained against his tight T-shirt, and combined with his six-foot frame, he was hard to miss. I walked over and sat across from him without hesitation. "You actually showed up," Sean leaned back in his chair, sizing me up from head to toe. "To be honest, you do kind of look like me—well, like how I used to look before I started working out. Now, I could take on three of you at once without breaking a sweat." I chuckled. "Oh, really? Maybe we should test that out sometime." I might not look as buff as him, but that didn't mean I didn't exercise. I had played soccer since I was a kid, and I even served in the army for a year, so I was confident in my physical fitness. Sean folded his arms, flexing his biceps on purpose. "I'm not here to pick a fight. I just want to clear something up." "Go on." "Isabelle and I met in middle school. However, it wasn't until high school, when we ended up in the same class and sitting next to each other, that we started dating." Did he wait for me just to tell me about his history with Isabelle? What was the point of this? Did he think I would clap my hands and applaud their true love, then step aside and give up on her? If he did, he severely underestimated the rationality of a grown man. I'd already forgiven Isabelle for calling me a stand-in, so I could handle these insignificant bits of the past. After all, she had chosen me. She chose to spend her future with me. That assured me greatly. "Back then, she was the school belle, and I wasn't bad either. Out of all the top contenders for school heartthrob, I made the list." I smirked. "Thanks for the compliment." He shot me a glance and kept going. "When we got together, it didn't take long before the whole school knew. Not only did our classmates admire us, but even the teachers didn't want to break us up. We weren't the kind of couple that let our relationship affect our grades. In fact, we both improved." That was a pretty solid high school romance. No wonder Isabelle couldn’t let him go. We all had our first loves. Even I had a faint shadow of someone lingering in my heart. But the past was the past. Seeing I wasn't reacting much, Sean continued, "You're probably wondering, if things were going so well, why did we break up, right?" I chuckled. "Actually, I'm not curious at all." "The turning point came during finals. I got sick but didn't want to worry Isabelle, so I didn't tell her. She got into a top university, but I didn't even make the cut for a regular one. "I thought about repeating the year, but Isabelle insisted on repeating it with me. How could I drag her down like that? So, I convinced her otherwise and accepted my family's suggestion to study abroad. When Isabelle found out I was leaving, she was disappointed in me. That was our first big fight, our first cold war. "Then, my mom arranged for me to have surgery abroad. I was going to tell Isabelle that I was going abroad for treatment, but she misunderstood me before I could. She thought I'd lost interest and suddenly blew up at me, breaking up with me."