Stranger With a Ring

He asked as if he was certain I would say yes.

I let out a dry laugh. "And what if I say I don’t want to?"

He knew I was upset about what happened yesterday, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to use me one last time.

Suddenly, I saw Jim in a new light—and he didn’t look so great anymore.

Without the rose-colored glasses, he just wasn’t the same.

Jim thought I was joking and reached out to tousle my hair.

"I get it, you’re upset. However, listen, I’ll plan a nice fake engagement."

"And if you play along, I’ll be your boyfriend for a month, okay?"

He acted like he was doing me a huge favor.

I scowled. "Jim, what do you take me for?"

"When you need me, you’re all friendly, but when you don’t, you just ignore me. Did you ever think about how that makes me feel?"

"I’m not agreeing to some fake engagement. Go ask someone else."

Jim froze, clearly not expecting me to refuse.

He stared at me, searching my face. When he realized I wasn’t joking, his expression darkened with panic.

"Ella, you know I’m not like that. You’re the one who matters most to me."

"Besides, Grandpa only asked me for this one thing. If you turn me down, I’ll be out of the Larson family!"

I didn’t flinch. "I’m not trying to be cruel, but haven’t you always said you could stand on your own two feet without the Larsons? I just want to see you make it on your own."

Jim fell silent, visibly frustrated.

"Ella, it sounds like you just don’t want to help me. Fine. If I have to leave the Larson family, then you won’t see me again."

He turned to walk out dramatically—only to catch a glimpse of something in the trash can.

His footsteps stopped cold.

Jim stood frozen, staring at the pendant I had thrown away.

"Ella, why did you throw away the pendant I gave you?"

He knew how much it had meant to me.

I used to guard it like it was a piece of my heart. No one could even touch it without me giving them the cold shoulder.

Jim’s eyes welled up with tears.

"You’ve been acting strange since last night. What did I do wrong? Don’t I have the right to turn down your confession of love for me?"

"You promised me that if I said no, you wouldn’t get upset. That we’d still be good friends!"

Watching him fall apart didn’t move me.

"Jim, stop it. I never said we weren’t friends."

"I was the one who crossed the line. I shouldn’t have kept bothering you. Let’s just go back to being friends. I won’t step over the line again."

He didn’t need to keep pretending anymore, but somehow, Jim looked like he was the one being wronged.

"Ella, are you trying to get me to confess or something?" he asked. "You’ve become so tricky, I hardly recognize you."

I almost laughed in disbelief.

I was finally being honest, and he thought I was playing games?

Jim let out a long sigh.

"We should both cool off. I’ll think about your confession... I’ll come see you in three days."

Then, without another word, he turned and left.