I Stopped Waiting and Started Loving novel Chapter 3

It was late into the night by the time Bonnie returned to her cramped apartment in the old district.

She stood in the narrow doorway, staring down at the worn, misshapen gray men's slippers by her feet.-

They belonged to Parrish, the soles still stained with water from when she mopped the floor earlier that day.

On the bathroom counter, two plastic toothbrush cups—one blue, one pink—sat side by side. On the nightstand lay the razor she had scrimped and saved to buy him. His faded jacket still hung on the coat rack...

Every single item was a glaring reminder that a man named Parrish had once lived here.

But she and Parrish could never go back.

Her phone suddenly vibrated.

Bonnie mechanically pulled it out and saw a message from Parrish.

[I have an important client to entertain tonight, so I probably won't make it home. Go to sleep first, I'll explain everything tomorrow.]

An important client?

Or was he entertaining Seraphina?

Or maybe the Xavier heiress he was about to marry?

She had witnessed his lies with her own two eyes, yet he still had the audacity to lie as if nothing had happened.

Bonnie rubbed her stinging eyes and replied with just three words.

[Let's break up.]

...

Early the next morning, Bonnie headed out for work as usual.

However, reality slapped her in the face much faster and harder than she could have ever anticipated.

In the morning, the pharmacy owner blocked her at the door, telling her not to come back.

At noon, the diner manager paid her remaining wages and told her to find work elsewhere.

By the afternoon, when she arrived at the office building, the cleaning supervisor crossed her name right off the schedule.

She had lost three jobs in a single day.

Unable to hold back any longer, Bonnie grabbed the cleaning supervisor's arm.

"Chloe, tell me the truth. Is someone blacklisting me?"

Chloe glanced around nervously and lowered her voice. "Bonnie, my hands are tied. Word came from the top. Everyone knows you offended Mr. York last night. Hiring you means crossing the York family. A small company like ours can't take that risk."

With that, she hurried away, looking terrified that Bonnie's mere presence would drag her down.

Bonnie stood outside the office building, a cold dread washing over her.

Parrish had lied to her, cheated on her, and now he was actively cutting off her every means of survival.

It rang endlessly before automatically disconnecting.

She took a deep breath and dialed again.

On the fifth attempt, the call finally connected.

"Parrish, the money I sent you the other day—"

"Ms. Hayes, are you ever going to give it a rest?"

The voice on the other end wasn't Parrish's; it was a young man sneering impatiently.

"Now that you know Mr. York's true identity, you should have the self-awareness to back off. Stop clinging to him like a leech! Mr. York is busy enjoying French cuisine with Ms. Miller and doesn't have the time to entertain gold-diggers like you!"

"I'm not clinging to him! I just want my own money back!" Bonnie screamed into the phone, her voice trembling uncontrollably. "That's my mother's life-saving money! Tell him to give it back!"

But the man didn't listen and abruptly hung up.

Bonnie stood at the noisy intersection, surrounded by a sea of people, but the world around her faded into deafening silence.

She never could have imagined that the man she had loved and provided for with her very life for five years would turn into a poisonous blade, stabbing her right in the heart.

When she was twenty, she had been gathering herbs in the mountains when she found Parrish covered in blood, clinging to his last breath. She carried him home, staying awake for three days and nights to snatch him back from the grim reaper.

When he woke up, he claimed he couldn't remember anything, and she believed him.