A Second Chance At Broken Love

dull ache. It wasn't a source of fear anymore, but a catalyst. I

step was to make the end of the engagement permanent and official. The

ompson. He was in his study, a cavernous room lined with books and mil

said, my voice steady. "I'm

he other night had been replaced by a weary disapp

ngagement proposal," I said. "And I want

ond head. "Enlist? You? Don't be ridi

gree in psychology. I can work in support services, counseling, something. There are

teered for that dangerous mission to escape me. If I removed myself from the

ubbing his temples. "Sarah, this is an extreme,

ver made. I've been living in your shadow, under your protection, my whole life. I need to do something on my o

ty to let me find my own way. I could see the conflict in his eyes. He was a man who believed in order and arranged fut

by my persistence,

en. I will tell him the engagement is off, permanently. And I will make som

made me dizzy washed over me.

"I don't understand yo

he secret knowledge of my own mortality. For the first time, I wasn't just

in my apartment when my phone buzzed. It

t off. Didn't thin

David. Who else could it be? The Gener

backhanded compliment, dripping with his usual cynicism, but it was communi

other text came through a few mi

this chang

Of course it didn't. Not for him. Bu

ing my apartment to grab some dinner when he stepped out

"My father is furious. My mother is heart

" I said with

, his eyes narrowing. "You look... reliev

ed, I did feel a strange sense of joy. The

David," I said, smiling at him. A genui

he knew was desperate and clingy, not decisive and serene. My happiness didn't fit the narrative

ettled. It was bette