Winning My Ex-Crush

Fenella’s POV

Back to present day…

My mouth hung open after hearing all of Alan’s story. His life journey from the time he met Amy until now could be described as a curse. I hadn’t realized that there was someone more unfortunate than me dealing with Amy.

Imagine your own identity being stolen by someone you despise. Just because of a fleeting moment of desire, Clark Thomson disappeared, replaced by Alan Schmidt. I found too many differences between Clark and Alan. That’s why I never suspected they were the same person!

But what’s worse than all this is the reality that Alan had prepared everything! He changed himself and then started a business just to attract my attention. I didn’t want to be full of myself, but this was obsessive!

My heart pounded, and I stared at Alan intently. I knew there were no more lies he was hiding. Everything had been explained in detail by him-even too detailed!

So now what?

I moved awkwardly in my seat, unsure of what to say about all these revelations. My hands were still in my pockets as I tightened my jacket to find more warmth.

Truly, this was not part of my plan at all. I thought I would scold Alan and send him away because his explanation would be unacceptable to me. I imagined myself insisting that Alan was a psychopathic, evil, and cunning person. But now, I didn’t know how to act toward him.

All that remained was pity.

Unknowingly, my body had tensed up while listening to his story. Now, my back ached from the tingling and had frozen after more than an hour of listening to his story. After everything Alan had been through, it was truly incomparable to my own efforts. He had done more than I could ever do.

“I don’t want to become full of myself, but are you sure you did all this for…?” I lost my words.

“For getting your attention,” Alan whispered with his eyes locked on me.

“But Alan, Laird, and I-”

“Yes, I know. He was the only one not in my calculations. I didn’t expect Laird to meet you again just before I entered Gene. I didn’t expect Laird to confess his feelings to you.” Alan sighed deeply and rested his temple on his hand.

Hearing that, my cheeks warmed. My mind immediately went back to Laird, wondering if he had ever done anything to get me. Oh, yes, I remembered he said he moved to New York right after graduating from law school to find me and left his father in Boston.

Suddenly, I felt that everything I had done, everything Laird had done, could not compare to the effort Alan had made. I mean, had he gone mad?

“Why me? I’m not as great as you think,” I said softly, my brow creased.

“I don’t know, Fenella. Maybe it’s because your appearance is similar to my anime idol from childhood. Maybe it’s because you were the only one who was willing to talk to me in class. Maybe it’s because you are the only one I could never let go.” Alan’s forehead wrinkled, and a look of sadness appeared on his face.

“You were the only hope I clung to during my dark times. I endured facing Amy because I believed that one day I could stand before you with confidence. I changed for the better because of you.”

Once again, my face warmed upon hearing that. My heart raced, and the cold wind blowing couldn’t stop the warm pounding in my chest. Perhaps I was lulled by the fanatic devotion Alan had poured out for me.

“I think this is the time. Fenella, I know this isn’t ideal, but I promised myself.” Alan stood up from his seat. With his limp leg, he walked towards me.

Then he kneeled with one healthy leg, supporting his body on the wet ground. While his injured leg was bent towards his chest, supporting his hand.

“Alan? What are you doing?”

Oh no!

“Fenella, I promised myself. When I told you all the truth, that’s when I would reveal everything in my mind and heart to you.”

Alan reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a small red velvet box. My hands covered my gaping mouth. Oh no, no, no! Alan opened the box, and a diamond ring with a famous jewelry designer’s logo stamped in gold ink was inside the box.

This is crazy! This one ring could cost tens of thousands of dollars!

“Fenella, will you marry me?”

My mouth hung open with a loud gasp. My eyes widened, and I blinked repeatedly to make sense of everything in my head. Not a single scene in my mind imagined that a man with a limping leg from a burn injury would propose to me in an open park in the winter.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“Alan, I-”

My words were cut off when I heard a commotion from afar. I turned towards the bazaar stand and saw my mother standing in front of the stand with her mouth wide open. Women were chattering, and the bazaar visitors were now watching us as if we were a cheap street theater. They raised their phones as if they were recording or photographing us.

“Just accept it! Kiss him!”

“Say yes!”

I huffed, rolled my eyes upward, then blinked. What do those people know about us?! Ugh, I hated the idle women who liked to meddle in other people’s affairs like this!

“Fenella.”

Alan called me again. I then cleared my throat slightly because my throat had suddenly dried. Maybe it was because I had left my mouth wide open. All because I was shocked by this increasingly chaotic turn of conversation!

“Alan, please. Don’t make me the bad woman again. Wasn’t it enough that I rejected you at prom night?” I put my hands on my hips, paced back and forth, then brushed my hair.

If I were Amy, the materialistic one, I might have jumped into Alan’s arms by now, but I wasn’t Amy Schmidt! I was just an ordinary, naive girl who believed that true love stories could still be trusted in this modern age.

“Fenella, I can wait. Just take this ring for now; I promise I won’t ask for it back.”

“You’re not serious, Alan.”

“I am serious, Fenella. Accept this ring, and don’t return it to me. Whenever you’re ready, you can come to me wearing this ring. But if you don’t want to accept it, you can even sell it at any donation bazaar.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Yes, Fenella. I’m out of my mind. I just want you to accept this ring and keep it. That’s all.” Alan remained kneeling on one knee. Everyone still thought this was a touching romantic movie scene, but for me, it felt more like a horror movie full of nightmares.

“So what? If I take this ring, you’ll wait for me until death. Is that it?”

“Yes.” Alan nodded with a steady gaze.

“No. Stop all this madness, Alan. I can never accept it. I love Laird Evans.” I shook my head with the same firmness as his.

I knew Alan’s efforts might be greater. Maybe he would love me as vast as the world and as deep as the ocean, as people sang about true love.

Unfortunately, my heart had made its choice.

“Sorry, Alan. I can’t accept it.”