My Fiancé Chose Her So I Chose Myself Chapter 41
“Not even considering it?” Marissa asked.
“There’s no need.”
Lakecrest finally changing its rules did not mean I had to go back to prove I had won.
My membership insignia belonged to Thames Riverside.
Outside the conference center, the snow had stopped.
As Marissa and I came down the steps, Travis was standing by the curb. He didn’t come closer, and there was no velvet box in his hands.
Security looked to me.
“Let him speak from there,” I said, staying inside the safety line.
Travis heard and took half a step forward, then stopped himself.
“I just wanted to thank you.”
“The rules weren’t changed for you.”
“I know.”
He lowered his eyes to the damp ground.
“At the hearing, they asked who made the decision that night at the airport. I used to think it was because Jenna was weaker, because there weren’t enough blankets, because you didn’t say anything.”
I did not finish the thought for him.
“But if there were only four blankets, I could have given you mine. If there was one sandwich too few, I could have bought another. If the luggage was too heavy, I could have turned back.”
His voice dropped softer and softer.
“There wasn’t a single rule stopping me.”
“No,” I said.
That was the last fact between us that needed to be spoken aloud.
Travis looked up, deep fatigue in his eyes.
“If I’ve really changed now… you still wouldn’t come back, would you?”
“I wouldn’t.”
He nodded once.
This time, he didn’t kneel. He didn’t reach for me. He didn’t ask me to look at the ring.
“I’m leaving Lakecrest,” he said. “Not to follow you to London. It’s just… staying there, I still imagine that one day I might get my old life back.”
“That’s your decision.”
“I know.”
A taxi pulled up behind him.
Travis opened the door, then looked back at me one last time.
“Goodbye, Natalie.”
“Goodbye, Mr. Vale.”
After the cab drove away, I didn’t watch where it went.
When some people truly learn to bear the consequences, there is no reward waiting for them.
His change belonged to him.
My life belonged to me.