Sean still doesn't know the real reason why I broke up with him years ago.
That year, after achieving success, he returned to propose to me. I owed him a thorough explanation and had planned to tell him everything.
I wanted to confess that all the harsh words I had said during our breakup were lies.
He is a wonderful man, deserving of the best woman. They could have a happy family, healthy children, and a life free from the burdens of poverty and disease.
I had rehearsed those lines countless times, hoping to tell Sean to find happiness with a smile. No one knows about the many nights I spent crying in the dark. It pained me that I couldn't be the woman who would spend her lifetime with him.
On the day I finally felt ready, I went to see Sean. He was at a club conducting business, and it seemed unlikely we could have a proper conversation.
After hearing his slightly inebriated voice over the phone, I decided to go to him despite my concerns.
After he stopped answering my calls, I arrived at the club and started searching for him room by room.
When I finally spotted him through a glass door, he was in an intimate embrace with another woman. I entered abruptly, and he looked up at me, completely composed.
I suppressed my tears and asked, "Sean, do you want me?"
He pushed the woman away and stumbled toward me, reeking of alcohol, cornering me against the wall.
As he wiped away my tears, he taunted, "I was just playing with you, but seeing how pitiful you were, I felt a bit of pity."
"What if I really marry you, Annie?"
"Just remember, I don’t love you anymore. So be good—no crying, no fussing. I have many lovers, and if you get jealous, it will annoy me."
Hearing Sean confess he no longer loved me brought tears to my eyes.
I took a deep breath, striving to remain composed, and softly said, "Sean, I came here to tell you that I don't intend to marry you."
"Our breakup was because of my mother..."
Before I could finish, he abruptly grabbed my chin, angrily cursing, "Don't you dare mention your mother. Don't push all the blame onto her; you and your mother are alike—both greedy. No one is better than the other."
He threatened, his breath heavy with the scent of alcohol, "Annie, my proposal isn't a suggestion. You'd better appreciate it and accept."
He expressed no interest in my explanations. He wanted to make me suffer more than he had, believing it would even the score. Staring at his face, I suddenly saw a stranger.
Perhaps he doesn't worth my mother and I had been unconditionally kindness. Maybe I should have clung to him that year and asked money from him, letting the harsh realities of poverty crush him. I was foolish back then, so foolish that I now pity myself.
He continued, "I heard Lily once worked here as hostess. Lucky for her, she found a decent boyfriend. What do you think—would he still want her if he knew about her past?"
Enraged and trembling, I slapped Sean and called him a bastard. With a smirk, he tightened his grip on my chin, "Annie, to get back at you, I can sink even lower. Don't believe me? Just try me."
Sean was merciless, and I didn't dare challenge him, fearing it would ruin Lily's hard-earned good life. I convinced myself that, given my doomed fate, it didn't matter where I ended up. If marriage was the solution, then so be it.
This cycle of revenge lasted a long time until Sean, tired of the game, wanted to reconcile. By then, I no longer loved him.
