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I whirled around, my eyes meeting
Karry’s dark, stormy gaze. He stood at the
doorway, Celia was beside him.
I quickly looked away, offering
casual excuse.“I’m planning a trip.”
a
In Karry’s mind, my two favorite pastimes were sleeping with him and gallivanting around the globe. His
expression softened slightly; he didn’t
press the matter, smoothly taking a seat next to his mother with Celia. Subtly, they relegated me to the corner of the
room.
“Mom, you wouldn’t believe how stingy Karry is. On the way here, I wanted a pastry, and he wouldn’t let me have one!
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You have to talk to him!”
Celia had barely sat down when she started acting cute, complaining about
how “harsh” Karry was to her.
Karry shot her a look, his retort laced
with a familiar tenderness.“Says someone
who last had a toothache from dessert and
asked me to make sure she never eats it
again, huh?”
Celia giggled, batting her eyelashes.
Squeezed into the corner, I watched
their cozy interaction with a
self–deprecating chuckle. The same
scene, again. I was always the outsider.
But this time, the familiar sting was
absent. I’d let go of Karry, and all my love
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for him. I was returning him to his true destined love, the heroine.
Mrs. Gatesby noticed the fleeting sadness in my eyes. She glanced at Karry, who pointedly ignored me, and sighed.
softly. “Emily, Karry, I’d like an apple.
Could you get me some?”
Neither Karry nor I would refuse. I
picked up the fruit basket, and we left the room. I walked slightly behind him.
As soon as we stepped out, he
grabbed my hand. I was startled; he rarely initiated physical contact with me. Then
came his icy words.
“Stop visiting my mother. I may have
sold myself to you, but she’s free.”
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His words shattered my carefully
constructed plan. A bitter taste rose in my
throat.
The old me would have scrambled to
explain that I simply wanted to keep Mrs. Gatesby company and make her feel less
lonely.
But now, I only lowered my head and answered calmly,“Okay.”
Without waiting for him, I headed straight for the kitchen. I didn’t walk
beside him, as I always had.
Watching me go, Karry felt a strange
unease. Since yesterday, he’d sensed something different about me.
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4
SINTION
