Ten Years of Love Wasted on Him

On graduation day, Darryl was set to propose to Harperuntil she vanished, leaving him a text and me a note: Im giving him to you.

Watching him frozen on the quad, ring in hand, I blurted out, Ive loved you since high school, even before Harper noticed you.

Admitting Id secretly followed his every move for seven years, I asked, "Could you please?"

Darryl stared, then took the ring meant for her and slid it onto my finger.

The next day, we moved into a damp basement. For three years, he worked himself to death, becoming CEO of Darryl Innovations.

But on move-in day for our new estate, he stood at the door, hand-in-hand with Harper, blocking me. "Im bored of you," he said flatly. "I slept with you for three years. Its over."

"What did you just say?"

I stood there gripping the handle of my heavy suitcase, staring at him in complete disbelief. The wind howled past my ears, creating a deafening buzz in my skull.

He squeezed Harper's hand tighter, his brow furrowing with obvious impatience.

"Over the last three years, I have wired a total of three million dollars into your bank account. We are done here. You are walking away a rich woman, so do not act like you lost out."

My vision blurred. It felt like someone had reached into my chest and ripped my heart out by the roots, leaving behind a bloody, gaping hole.

So my seven years of silent devotion and my three years of bleeding by his side to build his empire...

In his eyes, it was all a transactional service worth exactly three million dollars.

I lowered my head. Teardrops violently splashed against the hard plastic shell of my suitcase.

He had absolutely no idea. That suitcase held every single thing I owned in this world.

He also had no idea that just an hour ago, his executive assistant called me in a blind panic. Darryl Innovations had suffered a catastrophic break in their funding chain.

I had just wired every single penny of that three million dollars straight back into his corporate account to save him.

Harper stepped forward, a perfectly manufactured look of guilt plastered across her flawless face. She reached out to grab my wrist.

"Anna, I am so, so sorry."

"I just could not bear living my life without him..."

I violently yanked my arm out of her grip.

"Then why did you abandon him three years ago?!"

"Why did you text me saying you were giving him to me?!"

"Why..."

Why did you have to come back now?

Before the rest of my furious grief could leave my lips, a blinding, explosive sting erupted across my cheek.

My vision fractured into a blur of spinning colors.

It took several agonizing seconds for the world to pull back into focus. When it did, I saw Harper hiding her face against Darryl's chest, sobbing pitifully.

"I never should have reached out to you when I got back to the States. I just could not control my heart." She wept, her voice trembling. "This is all my fault. I should just leave."

Darryl gently cradled her face, his thumbs wiping away her tears as he whispered sweet comforts.

"How could this possibly be your fault?"

"I was the one who lost control the second I saw you at that hotel. I was the one who claimed you."

"I forced you to face your feelings for me, and I forced you to confront Anna. I do not love her. Why should we be miserable just to appease her?"

His naked confession felt like a poisoned arrow tearing straight through my sternum. The agonizing pain radiated down to my fingertips.

All the blood drained from my face as I stumbled a step backward.

Darryl shot me a look of pure, venomous disgust.

"Get lost."

Just like that, I was tossed out like a piece of garbage he no longer had any use for.

The light drizzle quickly morphed into a violent, freezing downpour. I stood on the pavement until my entire body went numb, before finally dragging my suitcase away in absolute disgrace.

Without even realizing it, my feet carried me straight back to the damp basement apartment we rented three years ago.

I collapsed onto the cheap mattress, completely stripped of my strength.

I do not love her.

I do not love her.

Those words circled my brain like a relentless, mocking curse. My fingernails dug so deeply into my own arms that they left bloody trails across my skin, but it was not enough to distract me from the suffocating agony in my chest.

Just as I felt like I was literally going to die, my phone buzzed. It was my mother.

"Anna, sweetheart. Stop wandering out there on your own."

"I found a really nice young man for you to meet. A blind date. Are you willing to give it a try?"

I gripped the phone like a drowning woman clinging to a life raft, swallowing hard to force my voice steady.

"Okay. I will come home as soon as I can."

Sometime later, a thick, burning haze completely took over my mind. Through the violent fever dreams, I felt a pair of strong, familiar arms wrap tightly around my shivering body.

Darryl's smooth voice drifted into my ear.

"I knew you would come hide here."

"Does your face still hurt?"

He tightened his grip, burying his face into the crook of my neck, inhaling deeply.

"Anna, I just cannot swallow my pride. Give me three months. In three months, I am going to make her deeply regret the way she abandoned me without a word."

"When those three months are up, I will clear all this toxic garbage out of my heart, and I will marry you."

His body was radiating heat, but hearing those words made my blood run entirely cold.

Darryl was raised by a widowed mother who collected scrap metal just to put him through college. After graduation, this miserable basement was the only place we could afford.

Every single item in this room was something I had hunted down on clearance.

I remembered the day I managed to snag a bulk pack of toilet paper on a massive discount. I showed it to him like I had just won the lottery.

"Look, Darryl! I saved us another eighty cents today!"

His eyes were glued to a coding interface on his laptop. He suddenly turned, grabbed my waist, and buried me in a fierce, crushing hug.

"Anna. Harper didn't believe in me. Do you?"

"I swear to god, I am going to build an empire and give you the life you deserve."

His embrace back then was scalding hot. It felt like it could burn me alive.

"I believe in you, Darryl. I only believe in you."

His kisses came down like a violent, desperate storm. "My sweet Anna. You are too good to me."

We were dirt poor, but the sheer sweetness of those days felt like it was overflowing from my heart.

I honestly believed he worked himself to the bone for three years just to fulfill the promise he made to me.

Now, the humiliating truth finally set in. He was just biding his time. He was waiting for Harper to come back so he could stand before her as a king.

Silent tears slipped from the corners of my eyes, soaking into the cheap pillowcase. A violent shudder ripped through my spine.

Darryl anxiously pressed the back of his hand against my forehead.

"Did you catch a fever in the rain?"

Watching him climb out of bed with that familiar urgency, digging through the cabinets for the first aid kit and plugging in the electric kettle, a heavy sense of disorientation washed over me.

Over the last three years, aside from proudly introducing me as his girlfriend to the public, he had played the role of the perfect partner.

When we were starving, he would pick the only pieces of meat out of his soup and place them in my bowl.

When my heels were covered in bleeding blisters from running across the city to promote our startup, he would carry me on his back all the way home, carefully apply ointment, and soak my feet in warm water.

When he stayed awake for three consecutive nights to finalize a pitch deck, he still forced himself out the door to buy me a birthday cake.

He was always making promises.

"Anna, the second my business stabilizes, I am putting a ring on your finger."

But when that day actually arrived, all I got was the brutal truth.

"Slept with you for three years. Bored of it."

"I do not love her."

"Get lost."

My vision was swimming.

Was he truly putting on this cruel act just to punish Harper, or was he just completely, hopelessly still in love with her?

Darryl's phone shattered the silence.

He was just about to hand me a mug of hot water. Hearing that specific ringtone, he immediately set the mug down on the nightstand, practically ripping his trench coat off the hook as he yanked the front door open.

"Anna, there is a thunderstorm outside. You know Harper gets terrified of the thunder when she is alone in that massive house."

I clung to my last, pathetic shred of hope.

"Darryl... I am scared too."

I wanted to scream that I was the one who was terrified of thunder.

Back in high school, during a massive summer storm, I hid under my blankets, shaking like a leaf. Harper had laughed at me, purposely throwing the bedroom windows wide open so the thunder clapped right next to my ears.

"Do not be such a coward," she had teased. "It sounds just like war drums."

But hearing my plea, Darryl's face darkened with severe disappointment. He only paused for a fraction of a second.

"Anna... I always thought you were the understanding one."

Understanding.

That single word violently shoved all my desperate hopes right back down my throat.

Hearing the heavy metal door slam shut, a broken, bitter laugh escaped my lips.

My body was burning with a dangerously high fever. I weakly reached out to grab the mug of water he left behind.

My trembling fingers slipped. The ceramic mug crashed to the concrete floor, shattering into a dozen jagged pieces. Just like the ten years of love I had completely wasted on him.

Staring at the angry red blisters rapidly forming on the back of my scalded hand, I murmured to the empty room.

Darryl.

You abandoned me twice in one day.

I do not want you anymore. I am done taking care of you.

Using the absolute last ounce of strength in my body, I unlocked my phone and dialed my bank's elite client hotline.

"I need to issue an immediate freeze on the five million dollar corporate wire transfer I authorized earlier today."

The next time that rusted metal door opened, three days had passed.

Harper stood in the doorway, her eyes scanning the cramped room with undisguised disgust.

"Anna, do you want to know the real reason I dumped Darryl back then?"

"I just refused to rot in a dark, pathetic little hole like this."

My fever had finally broken. I calmly shut my laptop and met her arrogant gaze with eyes made of ice.

"You got exactly what you wanted. You are back in his bed. There is absolutely no need for you to come slumming down here just to mock me."

She stepped forward, seamlessly slipping into her old, manipulative habits. She looped her arm through mine, pouting her lips like an innocent child.

"Oh, Anna, do not be mad at me."

"I am actually saving your life. Can you imagine how miserable it would be to spend the rest of your life married to a man who does not even love you?"

I let out a harsh scoff and physically ripped my arm away from her.

She did not even flinch. She just stared at me, her eyes dancing with wicked amusement.

"Do you want to know why Darryl suddenly agreed to date me in high school? You know how intensely private and cold he used to be."

Ignoring my darkening expression, she clamped her hand around my wrist and practically dragged me toward the door.

"Come to the college reunion with me tonight, and I will tell you his deepest, darkest secret."

I did not fight her.

I was leaving this city in a few days anyway. I was leaving the battleground where I had bled for three years.

Consider this my final goodbye.

Sitting in the backseat of Darryl's luxury SUV, I watched Harper claim the passenger seat. She spent the entire drive happily chirping at Darryl, weaponizing our shared past.

"Darryl, do you remember when you forced Anna and me to stay after school for tutoring? God, we complained so much back then."

"And in college, every single time you bought me a gift, you always included a little greeting card for Anna. You were so terrified I would annoy my own roommate."

Darryl gazed at her with sickening tenderness. Every few minutes, he would take one hand off the steering wheel just to press her fingers against his chest.

Sitting in the back, I was treated like an absolute ghost.

A heavy, suffocating acid burned the back of my throat. I turned my head to stare out the tinted window, letting my mind drift back to those school days.

A secret crush is a teenage girl's most delicate treasure.

And I had only shared that treasure with one person. Harper.

I remember blushing furiously as I confessed my feelings. Harper had rolled her eyes, her face twisting in utter disdain.

"Anna, what is wrong with your taste?"

"Sure, he has a pretty face and gets perfect grades. But have you seen the absolute dump he lives in? His family cannot even afford a basic television."

When I frantically tried to defend him, she just covered her mouth and laughed.

"Alright, alright. Your best friend will help you get your man."

Under the guise of helping me pursue him, she began aggressively inserting herself into his life.

Then, out of absolutely nowhere, she walked up to me in the cafeteria, her fingers perfectly entwined with his.

"Anna, Darryl and I are officially together."

There was no apology in her eyes. Only the thrilling rush of a victory lap.

The sun was shining brilliantly that day, but my entire world plunged into an endless, freezing winter.

During high school, I eagerly looked forward to the tutoring sessions Harper constantly complained about.

During college, I worked double shifts at a cafe just to help Darryl afford Harper's lavish birthday surprises.

I was like a starving beggar, greedily collecting whatever pathetic scraps of time I could spend near him.

"Anna, we are here."

Harper's voice snapped me out of my trance.

She linked her arm through mine, playing the role of the sweet best friend as we walked toward the private dining room. Darryl trailed closely behind us, the silent, devoted protector.

Right before we reached the heavy mahogany doors, she leaned in close. Her voice dropped to a sinister, triumphant whisper.

"Anna, do you remember a secret you told me a long time ago?"

"In high school, you used to sneak up to the side wall of the rooftop every single afternoon to write anonymous messages to a boy you had never spoken to?"

"That boy was Darryl."

"He thought the girl he was sharing his soul with... was me."

Her words were light as a feather, but they hit my eardrums like a detonating bomb.

"That was the only reason he ever agreed to date me."

"Anna."

"I stole him right out from under you."

"And after tonight... you will never, ever get him back."

My entire body locked up. My legs suddenly felt like they were cast in solid concrete.

I remembered a conversation Darryl and I had late one night in the basement. We could talk for hours without ever running out of things to say.

He had looked at me with a strange, melancholy expression.

"You know, I always feel this unexplainable sense of familiarity with you."

"Anna, if only the girl from back then was you..."

It took ten years, but the horrific truth behind those words finally clicked into place.

I wanted to scream at her. I wanted to grab her by the throat and ask her why.

We grew up together. We shared everything from elementary school to college.

When she skipped out on the bill at a restaurant, I was the one who rushed over to empty my wallet and apologize to the owner, and she never even thanked me.

When she complained she had nothing to wear for a date, I handed over the brand new dresses my mother bought for me, and she never returned a single one.

When a girl from another class insulted her, I was the one who kicked the classroom door off its hinges to defend her honor, earning myself a permanent strike on my academic record.

I could not fathom why she felt the need to destroy my life like this.

But before I could speak, she pushed the heavy doors open and strutted into the private room.

Darryl stopped right beside me. His voice was a low, freezing warning.

"Anna. No one in there knows we ever dated."

"Do not do anything to embarrass Harper tonight."

A broken, pathetic smile stretched across my lips.

Any lingering desire I had to expose the truth about the rooftop messages instantly turned to ash.

He walked inside and naturally took the seat directly beside Harper.

The room erupted in loud, obnoxious cheering from our old classmates.

"Look at Mr. CEO! You and Harper have been going strong for ten years now! Now that you are sitting on a tech empire, when are we getting the wedding invitations?"

"Right? You guys were the ultimate power couple on campus. Everyone was insanely jealous of you."

Harper cast a shy, demure glance at Darryl.

"I am in no rush. Whatever Darryl wants."

She took a delicate bite of fish, then suddenly covered her mouth, letting out a violent, dramatic gag.

The entire table gasped in collective excitement.

"Oh my god! Are we celebrating a wedding and a baby tonight?!"

Darryl grabbed a napkin, gently wiping the corner of her mouth with sickening devotion.

"If that is the case, you all better double your wedding gifts. I will be checking the envelopes."

I sat directly across the table, watching their sickening display of domestic bliss. My stomach violently churned.

I thought about the last three years.

Even when my face was flushed red with desire and the mood was perfect, he would always pull away at the last second to grab protection.

"Anna, it is not the right time for a baby."

"Just wait a little longer."

I waited for years, and he never gave me an inch. But the second Harper returned, he planted a child in her without a second thought.

Sarah, my old college roommate, nudged my arm with a sharp elbow.

"Anna, you are obviously going to be the maid of honor and the godmother. They are dragging their feet, why aren't you pressuring them to lock down a date?"

Harper's eyes drifted down to my hands. I had forgotten to take off the cheap silver ring Darryl bought me two years ago.

"Do not put too much pressure on Anna, guys. She has had a rough time. She has been hopelessly in love with Darryl for a decade."

"She even snatched the prop ring Darryl used for his proposal, claiming she wanted it as a keepsake to mourn her broken heart."

That single sentence was a nuclear bomb. The entire table went dead silent.

Dozens of eyes snapped toward me, dripping with absolute revulsion and contempt.

"Wow. No wonder she was always trailing behind them like a pathetic lost puppy during college. She was waiting for a chance to strike."

"Harboring filthy thoughts about your best friend's man for ten years? That is absolutely repulsive. She does not even deserve to sit at this table."

While I was paralyzed by the shock, Sarah aggressively grabbed my hand and yanked it up for the entire table to see.

"Look! The inside of the band literally has Harper's initials engraved on it."

"I cannot believe Anna is this much of a shameless, desperate homewrecker."

The insults rained down on me like toxic acid, burning away whatever dignity I had left. The blood entirely abandoned my face.

A guy from our graduating class stood up, a sleazy smirk on his face, holding a shot glass brimming with cheap liquor.

"Anna, are you really that desperate for a man? Drink this, and I will do you a favor and be your boyfriend for the night."

Without waiting for my answer, he grabbed my jaw and tried to force the burning alcohol down my throat.

I shot a desperate, pleading look at Darryl.

He knew my stomach lining was entirely destroyed from drinking with aggressive clients to secure funding for his company. One shot of hard liquor could land me in the emergency room.

But Darryl just gave me a flat, apathetic stare.

"Let her get a boyfriend. It will stop Harper from feeling insecure."

My heart plummeted straight into the abyss.

The burning liquid flooded my mouth, violently searing my throat and setting my damaged stomach completely on fire.

Right at that exact second, the heavy mahogany doors were violently kicked open, slamming against the wall with a deafening crash.

A furious, dangerously low voice echoed through the room.

"Who says Anna doesn't have a boyfriend?"