Her reddened eyes widen, tears spilling down her cheeks. I wipe them away with my thumb. “I’m breathing because you’re breathing in front of my eyes. The day you go away from them, I won’t be able to breathe.”
“This is not true,”she whispers.
I take a deep breath and nod. She doesn’t need to believe it. She will marry Roxion and live happily ever after.
She punches my chest. “Liar!” Then my shoulder. “You’re a liar!” she cries, her voice breaking. “You said everyone forgets the person they love when they find a new one.” She sobs, hitting me again with her small fists. “You were never planning to forget me.”
She looks up into my eyes. The sight of her tear-stained face and red eyes clenches my gut, twists my heart—and I feel the pain of it. I lift my hand to wipe her tears, but she slaps it away.
“You were planning to die since the beginning!”
“I hate you!” she shouts, before collapsing against me, her head falling onto my shoulder as she cries loudly.
I wrap my arms around her trembling body.
“How could you even think of doing this to me, Zoan?” she sobs.
She pulls away, wiping her face, then gets off my lap. “Get out.” She points toward the door.
Avira
He was planning to die. What would I have done if he had actually killed himself? This motherfucker neverthought about me. After crying my eyes out the whole night, I don’t have any tears left now.
After showering, and without putting a single second of effort into hiding the swollen-as-hell condition of my face, I walk out of my room. I’ve texted everyone to meet me in the living room. Everyone except him.
Daddy gets up from the couch as soon as he sees me. He holds my chin gently when I reach him. “What happened?”
“I broke up with Roxion.”
His frown of worry shifts into a frown of anger. “What has he done?”
I sit down on the couch near Mama. She’s also looking mad. Leo watches me with narrowed eyes, and Wen has worry written all over her face.
“We’re not compatible with each other. He likes Tom Harmon, and I like James Mialid.”
Mama frowns. “You can’t break up with him just because he doesn’t like the singer you like.”
“There are more things as well,” I explain. “I talked with him last night, the whole night, and we decided to break up. We don’t have anything in common, and we don’t respect each other’s choices.”
I’d called Roxion last night to tell him about dropping the marriage act. He said the same things to his family that I’m saying to mine.
“This is bizarre. You look like you’ve cried the whole night,” Daddy says, sitting down beside me.
“I genuinely liked him, so it’s natural to feel sad over the breakup.”
Leo gets up. “So, there’s no wedding. Let me inform everyone.”
Wen looks at me, concern still on her face. “What’s your plan now?”
“I’ll go with you to Ma and Pa’s house,” I say quietly.
“You’re not going back to San Diego?” Daddy asks.
I shake my head. “I’m missing Ma and Pa. I’ll go live with them again.”
He exhales, concern deepening in his eyes, and pats my head. “I want you to come with us instead, pumpkin. You’ve been behaving strangely lately. We could consult a good psychiatrist. And if you don’t want to talk to a stranger, you could have sessions with your aunt.”
Mama nods in agreement. “Yes, Avi. We’re very concerned about your mental health.”
