The next evening. Byron told Adele he had a surprise planned She didn’t ask estions, just grabbed her coat and followed him out.
They pulled up to a high end restaurant, all soft lighting and valet service. A fost greeted them and guided them straight to the rooftop suite without a word.
When the door opened, Adele stopped cold.
The entire room was glowing–candles flickering, flowers everywhere. It was romantic cliché come to life.
Byron pulled out a chair with a flourish, that proud simile still on his face.“So? What do you think?”
Adele didn’t answer.She just stared for a second, then slipped silently into her seat.
He picked up the menu and ordered nearly everything she used to love. When the food arrived, he even peeled shrimp and cracked crab shells for her, dropping them gently into her plate.
All night, he kept the conversation going–bringing up old memories, trying to get her to laugh.
Remember when we first started dating? You used to walk me to class every day. He actually pulled me aside one day and joked, Usually it’s the boyfriend sitting in on the girlfriend’s classes–what’s going on with you two?”
Adele gave him a strange look.“What’s going on with you?”
Byron shrugged. “You’ve just seemed… off lately. I wanted to cheer you up. There’s another surprise coming too.”
He checked his watch, then got up and drew back the curtains.
Boom.
Fireworks erupted outside the window, lighting up the sky in bursts of color.
Adele turned to look. Thousands of tiny explosions shaped like hearts glittered over the city.
She stared, stunned.“You arranged all this?”
Before Byron could answer, the door burst open.
Scarlett stormed in, followed by a group of friends. Someone had a camera, snapping shots like they were covering a tabloid scandal.
Scarlett’s voice rang out, full of smug delight.
“So? What do you think of tonight’s date? Pretty dreamy, right? This whole setup was my idea. Feeling moved yet?”
Adele’s expression froze.
She turned to Byron again, her voice tight.
“Did you plan this?”
Byron didn’t catch the shift in her tone. He laughed lightly and glanced at Scarlett.
“Nah. It was her idea. Why?”
Scarlett beamed.
“Yup. He told me he forgot your anniversary, so I helped him fix it. The candles, the food, the fireworks–I picked everything. I wanted to make sure it was a night you wouldn’t forget. Oh–and the perfume. You got it, right? That took me forever to choose. You like it?”
So it was all Scarlett.No wonder Byron had suddenly turned romantic overnight.
Adele sat there, not saying a word, her mind spinning backward to college, when Scarlett had “helped” them get together too.
Noort · The Love That Never Been Chosen
4.2%
Chapter 8
She was the one who told Byron to bring her flowers. The one who told him to take her to Hyde parks The one who told the same time every evening.
Byron had followed every instruction like a machine–down to the way he consed his feelings. Flat. Rehearsed.
Now, listening to everyone praise Scarlett for how perfect tonight was, a wave of quiet despair washed over Adele.
Scarlett hadn’t arranged this dinner to be kind.
to serut goodnight texts at
She’d done it to remind her that no matter how far this relationship had gone its beginning, its end, even its so–called happiest moments–none of it had ever truly belonged to her.
It was Scarlett’s story all along.
And Byron?
