Independence

Hansel was in the middle of a candlelit dinner with Ingrid at an upscale restaurant. When he saw the messages, his face fell.

Ingrid saw how his expression turned dark all of a sudden. “What’s wrong?” she asked. cautiously.

Biting back his anger, Hansel said nothing. He unlocked his phone and typed out a concise reply. “What does it have to do with me?”

Sam smiled as he read the chat. He replied thoughtfully, “It seems like you and Miranda are over for good this time.”

Hansel gritted his teeth, but his answer sounded casual. “Yes. Do you have an opinion

on that?”

Sam: “No, I wouldn’t dare.” Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

He also attached an emoji of a white flag.

Sam: “So if someone wanted to pursue Miranda, you wouldn’t mind, I guess?”

Zach suddenly jumped in. “What? Do you want to pursue her?”

Sam’s gaze dimmed. He replied with a gif of someone nodding.

Calvin: “Hahaha,”

Zach: “You’re really something.”

No one really believed him.

When Hansel saw the gif, he didn’t take it seriously either. He replied, “Sure, go ahead.”

After getting what he wanted, Sam put his phone away. He didn’t know whether Hansel was going to regret this in the future or not.

Dear, thanks for giving me the best birthday celebration ever.”

At 9:00 pm, Hansel dropped Ingrid off at the college dorms.

Ingrid held onto his hand, reluctant to part. “I wish I didn’t have to leave your side,” she said with a grin, revealing her canine teeth. Leaning close to him, she put on a teasing. pout and continued, “How are you so calm? Won’t you miss me?”

Ingrid’s gaze was clear, and her smile was sweet. She spoke in a cutesy voice that

pulled at one’s heartstrings like a gentle breeze.

Hansel blinked. Gazing at her upturned face, he stroked her head and said, “You have class tomorrow. After a tiring day out, you should go and get some rest.”

Ingrid pursed her lips, and a flash of disappointment crossed her eyes. Finally, she agreed obediently. “Alright. Well, I’ll be heading in now.”

This little hold–up ended up taking half an hour.

After driving out of the National University of Technology, Hansel would have to turn left. to head home.

All of a sudden, the photo that Sam sent of Miranda’s back suddenly popped into his mind. As if he were possessed, he turned the steering wheel the other way and made a right turn.

Along the way, it began to drizzle. Raindrops beaded on the glass window, blurring the red and green lights outside into a colorful smear.

In

in the

the rear view mirror, he saw a checkered blanket made of sheep’s wool backseat. Ingrid must have used it earlier and forgotten to put it away after getting out of the car.

Hansel suddenly remembered how Miranda used to complain that he set the temperature in the car way too low and that it would always be too cold when she got in.

After her complaints had fallen on deaf ears, she’d dragged him to the mall and bought. a light brown checkered blanket.

Since their breakup, that blanket had sat unused and neatly folded in the backseat until today.

A sudden round of honking dragged him out of his reverie. The red light had turned green. He stepped on the gas and shot forward.

When he arrived at the bar, he gave his keys to the valet. Then, he made his way across the first floor with ease and a sense of familiarity.

He was a regular, so the manager immediately went over to attend to him.

“Where’s Sam?”

“Mr. Cooper and the others are in the private room on the second floor.”

Ignoring the manager’s eagerness to serve him, Hansel made a beeline for the second floor.

Inside the private room, the small group of people had drunk quite a bit. They were swaying left and right and had begun slurring.

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When Hansel entered, he swept his gaze over the room. Miranda wasn’t here, and Sam was still quite sober.

“What are you doing here?” Sam asked with shock in his eyes. “Weren’t you on a date with your girlfriend?”

“I just dropped her off at her college dorm,” he replied indifferently before taking a seat.

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