Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem novel Chapter 1570

Keaton stopped again. Even after so many years, even though he had long since moved on, his heart still ached when he got to this part of the story.

After a long moment, he looked at Winona and managed a smile. "Surprised I had a moment of being such a pathetic loser?"

Winona's brow was furrowed, her expression shifting from shock to sympathy. "..."

Anyone else hearing this story would think the girl was trashy and stupid. To throw away a guy like Keaton for some low-life thug—she’d folded on a royal flush. They would think Keaton was lucky to be rid of such a thankless woman. But Winona saw something more: Keaton's pain.

How angry, how suffocated, how pained, how hopeless must he have been as a teenager? Other people's first loves were bittersweet; his was just bitter.

Seeing her silence, Keaton asked with a laugh, "No thoughts?"

Winona sniffled, then clinked her glass against his. She finished her drink before speaking. "Who wasn't an idiot when they were a teenager? Being a simp for your first crush is pretty standard. But damn, you had it rough. Serves you right for getting into a serious relationship so young, though. Puppy love never ends well. So what happened next?"

Her deliberately casual tone made Keaton smile. "Things got messy after that. My parents were furious. They called the police, who investigated the whole thing. The thug and his buddies, including her, were all arrested."

"After I recovered, I was sent abroad. And just like that, she was out of my world..."

"One heartbreak nearly cost me my life."

"Later on, I don't know if it was the more open-minded environment abroad or just time healing the wound, but I suddenly figured it out."

"Life is a journey. On this journey, you're bound to meet all sorts of people and go through all kinds of things."

"No matter who you meet or what you experience, there's no need to make a big deal out of it."

"If you deeply loved someone and then you broke up, it just means they weren't the right one for you. They were just a passenger on your life's journey."

"And how can you let a mere passenger derail your entire life?"

Winona nodded in agreement. "You're right about that." Just a passenger, not worthy of messing up your whole life.

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