Chapter 5
The other end of the line fell silent, a long, heavy pause.
After a while, he simply said two short words: "No."
I looked out at the deepening night sky, then replied, "Then can I come tomorrow? It’s pretty late now."
Adrian forced the words out, his teeth practically grinding: "Iris Clarke, I was in the ER."
I nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see me, so I added, "Oh. So you’re out now, right?"
After a moment of dead silence, a violent crash erupted, the sound of something being brutally smashed.
My hand, resting on my violin, trembled.
After the commotion subsided, his voice came through, cold as ice: "I’m out."
"So, you’re still planning to come tomorrow?"
I thought about it: "Tomorrow afternoon, maybe. I still have…"
He cut me off abruptly, his voice chilling: "Iris Clarke, did you ever love me?"
My expression froze in an instant.
I heard Adrian’s voice, filled with crushing disappointment:
"Why are you always so calm?
"Why, when it comes to everything about me, everything about *us*, are you always so collected?"
He paused, then let out a soft, mirthless laugh: "No, not calm. It’s cold. You’re cold."
I opened my mouth, but my throat felt choked with cotton. No words came out.
Time stretched on, feeling like an eternity.
Finally, I heard Adrian calm himself, letting out a sigh: "Iris Clarke, let’s break up."
With a sudden *thump*, my violin slipped from my grasp and hit the floor.
I scrambled up, bending to pick it up, only to find my hands shaking uncontrollably.
The call duration was still ticking. I picked up the violin, sat back on the sofa.
Outside, the night was a suffocating, impenetrable black, as if all light had been swallowed whole.
After a long, drawn-out moment, I softly said, "Okay."
On the other end, Adrian laughed, a hollow, bitter sound: "Okay, hahah, okay."
"Iris Clarke, Iris Clarke, what is your heart made of?"
After that, Adrian left the country, and we never saw each other again.
Two years of a relationship, and we didn’t even have a face-to-face goodbye.