He Forgot My Birthday for Her Anniversary Again Chapter 06
Earlier that year, my mom had brought it up.
Five years together. Time to get serious.
Pick a date for both families to meet. Even if we weren’t ready for marriage, at least get engaged.
I used to dream about walking down the aisle with Brady. Dream about our future kids. Dreamy about the three of us, happy.
But when she asked this time, I went quiet.
I didn’t want to marry him anymore.
I couldn’t picture a future.
Something inside me just… shut down.
So I said, “Let’s wait. We might not even have a future.”
Mom noticed my resistance and dropped the subject.
But she said, “When you go back, have Brady pick you up from the airport. I haven’t seen him in She was testing him.
I called Brady. Told him what she said.
He promised to come. Said he’d be there on time.
My parents woke up early to cook all his favorite dishes. They waited from morning until eight at night.
No Brady.
I called again.
“Skyler’s parents asked me to have dinner with them. I can’t get away. Just fly back yourself. I’ll visit another time.”
I waited all day for him.
In the end, I booked the earliest flight out the next morning.
Before I left, I told my mom, “If you stop seeing his name or his face on my social media, that means I’ve really let him go.”
Now, on the phone, I said softly, “We broke up.”
She sighed. Sad. Wistful.
“The first time he came to visit us, he was so nervous he tripped on our front step/He held your hand like he’d never let go.”
“Back then, you were all he saw. What happened in five years?”
My parents were each other’s first love. Married for decades, still head over heels.
When Mom first met Brady, she told me, “The way he looks at you-it’s the same way your dad looks at me. He really loves you. Don’t break his heart.”
Neither of us ever thought some people’s love burns out like fireworks.
Bright for a second. Then gone.
We talked for a long time. Until she got sleepy and hung up.
I cleaned the leftover food off the table, got ready for bed.
Just as I was about to turn in, Kevin texted.
[Hey, your ex asked if you’d contacted me. I said no. He’s looking for you everywhere.]
[Ignore him.]
I put my phone on silent and went to sleep.
I thought I’d made myself clear.
But the next afternoon, Brady showed up outside my office.
“Paige. We need to talk.”
He walked fast, eyes locked on me. Dark. Intense.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
I tried to step around him. He grabbed my arm.
His face was tight, barely controlled anger.
“What did I do wrong?” he demanded, voice low. “You just cut me off out of nowhere.”
Out of nowhere.
It took me a year to fall out of love with him.
A year of gradual withdrawal.
He just never noticed because his attention was never on me.
“Brady. You came all the way here because you want to know what you did wrong?”