He Watched Me Freeze Now He Begs For My Return Chapter 09
There was silence on the line for a few seconds.
It was as if Caleb was realizing for the first time that I wasn’t waiting for him to win me back.
“Fine, Nora,” he said with a cold laugh. “When you’re alone in Chicago with no one to turn to and your life falls apart, you’ll realize just how stupid you were tonight.”
“Don’t come crawling back to me then.”
He hung up.
I opened my photo gallery and selected every picture of myself with my parents, Paige, and Caleb.
Delete.
Then I emptied the Recently Deleted folder.
When the train pulled into Chicago, dawn was breaking. I dragged my luggage into the apartment I’d rented and set the key on the empty counter.
No orders. No mockery. No one waiting to watch me fall apart.
This place belonged only to me.
After I finished the move-in paperwork, I was so exhausted my body felt like lead, but when I lay down on the bed, sleep wouldn’t come.
The tension and exhilaration were still racing through my veins.
At one in the morning, my phone lit up.
It was Sarah, a former coworker.
She’d sent more than a dozen messages, ending with a video clip from the gala.
“You are literally my HERO!”
“Paige was still smiling when she hit play.”
“She’s not smiling now. It was better than any movie. I’ll remember your parents’ faces for the rest of my life!”
I put in my headphones and opened the video.
The shaky footage showed a ballroom packed with people. The big screen lit up. Paige stood at the edge of the stage, smiling as she waited for everyone to enjoy my humiliation.
Then the picture changed.
The unedited conversation from that GoPro clip came through loud and clear.