When Sabrina looked up and saw Nester, the smile on her face instantly vanished and was replaced by cool indifference and unmistakable impatience.
"Mr. Blackwell? Is there something you need?" she asked in a calm, emotionless voice.
The words "Mr. Blackwell" stabbed harshly into his chest like needles. He opened his mouth, and his throat was dry as he croaked out, "I'm here for you… Come with me, and let's talk…"
"There's nothing left to talk between us, not after the divorce took effect," she replied and looked at him as if she was seeing a stranger.
"Now, please move. I'm in a hurry."
With that, she moved to walk around him and leave.
Nester abruptly grabbed her wrist. Her skin beneath his touch was warm and smooth, and the sensation sent his heart racing in panic.
"I'm sorry, Sab," he rasped in an almost begging voice. "I know that I messed up terribly. Look! I brought the wedding ring, so can we just start over?"
He pulled the wedding ring from his pocket, lay it flat in his palm, and held it out to her. He looked utterly pathetic, as if he were groveling in the dirt.
Sabrina looked down at the ring gleaming coldly in the evening sun and suddenly laughed in sharp irony. When she looked up at him, her gaze was as sharp and shot daggers.
"Nester, do you think that as long as you turn back, say sorry, and bring out this ring, I'd still be here waiting for you? Do you think that my life only ever revolved around you?"
Colors drained from Nester's face, and his hand holding hers trembled slightly. "No. I don't—"
"Too late!" she snapped, cutting him off and yanking her hand free as if she had just touched something filthy.
She enunciated every word clearly, "I don't want any of your apology, ring, or you anymore."
After a pause, she added, "Don't show up in front of me again. It's annoying and frankly pathetic."
Without sparing him another glance, Sabrina walked past him and headed straight for the subway station.
Nester stood frozen like a statue. The ring slipped from his hand and clattered onto the pavement.
The word "pathetic" seared his heart like molten iron at the thought of the woman who once saw him as her whole world now calling him pathetic.
He bent over, picked up the ring, and clenched it tightly until the metal bit into his palm. As he watched her disappear into the subway station entrance, a gaping hole seemed to tear in his chest, sending a cold wind howling through the void.
No. He couldn't give up just like that.
Dragging his suitcase, he started trailing Sabrina at a distance. He dared not rush forward again. Instead, he followed behind her like a shadow and maintained a distance.
He watched her tap her card to enter the station, board the subway, and get off. After exiting the station, he walked into a well-kept apartment complex.
He lingered at the gates for a long time until she vanished into one of the buildings before turning to leave. Then, he checked into a nearby hotel.
For the next few days, Nester waited outside Sabrina's office. When she went to work, he waited across the street, and when she got off, he followed from afar and escorted her home.

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