Chapter 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
A message notification chimed inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ashton picked it up and sent a voice message.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHey Mom and Dad. Got this international deal I\u2019m closing tonight. Can\u2019t make it home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I\u2019ll let you know when I book my flight back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He put the phone down. That was it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I waited.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then it hit me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t pinned, and he\u2019d muted me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We were long-distance, miles apart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sometimes he wouldn\u2019t reply to me until the next day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I always told myself he was just swamped with work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Turns out he just didn\u2019t want to deal with me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tears hit my screen one by one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I called him anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This time Ashton glanced at his phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then he muted it and tossed it back onto the table.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like it didn\u2019t exist. He pulled out a deck of cards and started dealing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStella. Calls me nonstop. It\u2019s annoying as hell.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Someone frowned. \u201cWhy not just hang up?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ashton kept shuffling, didn\u2019t even pause.\u00a0<\/p>\n
10:07\u00a0<\/p>\n
Surprise Visit Gone WRONG-Not Him Crying About Loneliness After Calling Me Dirty Sir???\u00a0<\/p>\n
11.1%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I hang up she\u2019ll spam me with texts. I\u2019ll let it ring out. Tell her later I was too busy to notice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHahaha, damn Ash you\u2019ve got her trained.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t listen anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I staggered away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New Year\u2019s Eve. The streets were packed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Couples everywhere, loud and cheerful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I dragged my suitcase through the crowd, completely out of place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A young couple walked past carrying grocery bags. A long scarf wrapped around both of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The girl looked worried.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just us tonight. Think we can pull off a New Year\u2019s dinner?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The guy ruffled her hair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll order takeout if it flops. Long as we\u2019re together, it doesn\u2019t matter what we eat.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before coming here, that\u2019s what I\u2019d imagined too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t understand it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why was Ashton being so heartless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We were fine. We were so good.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m twenty-eight this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And we\u2019ve known each other for twenty-eight years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At four years old, on our first day of kindergarten, he grabbed my hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStella, when we play house, you\u2019re the only one I want as my wife.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At twelve, clueless about love, he\u2019d rush over to me every recess, ignoring all the teasing around him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At fifteen, puberty hit hard. Acne everywhere, bottom of the class, parents disappointed, confidence shattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStella what if I\u2019m a total failure?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
10:07 Surprise Visit Gone WRONG-Not Him Crying About Loneliness After Calling Me Dirty Sir???!!\u00a0<\/p>\n
14.8%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
I held his hand, told him the secret I\u2019d buried deep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to die back then.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I got through it. And it wasn\u2019t the end of the world. You\u2019ll get through this too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The shock and pain in his eyes, the way he broke down and cried while holding me-I still remember it clearly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On my eighteenth birthday, just after midnight, he confessed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStella I\u2019m gonna treat you right forever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Later we both got into New York for college.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was in NYU. I was in Columbia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He made the trip every single week just to see me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After graduation we were still solid. He stayed in New York to start his company. I went home to find work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year, our families had already started planning our wedding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I quit my job before New Year\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was gonna move to New York after the holidays. We\u2019d finally be together for good.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now it was all gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ashton had someone else he wanted to bring home to his parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was disgusted by me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Took the worst wound I ever told him and turned it into a party joke\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2661 (0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
(0)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dister Ci-222\u00a0<\/p>\n
18.5%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joseph King is an editor and storyteller who ensures every chapter is clear, polished, and engaging for readers.<\/p>\n
Princess Without Pack by Mark Twain 2 Chapter 2\u00a0 Chapter 2\u00a0 A message notification chimed inside.\u00a0 Ashton picked it up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-year-celebration-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22861\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}