Ch. Mr.chatterbox for her, Mr.Icebox for me? Ice melts and so did my love. 10 Mr.chatterbox for her, Mr.Icebox for me? Ice melts and so did my love. 10

Chapter 10 

Chapter 10 

Night before my fall-winter show. 

Ryan sends me an email with a video attached. 

I click it. It’s our wedding video. 

There I am in that cheap rented dress, grinning like the world’s biggest fool, looking so stupidly happy. 

Mason’s standing next to me with his face like stone, completely dead inside. 

The email says: “Sera, remember this? Look how good we were together.” 

I watch maybe five seconds. 

Hit delete. 

That “happiness” he’s talking about? Total fantasy. Just me living in my own pathetic little dream world. 

He felt guilty about what he did to Nora. Never felt guilty about destroying me. 

He did everything for her. Made a complete ass of himself in public, threw away his grad school acceptance, drank until his stomach started bleeding. 

Gave her his entire company stake. Everything. 

Meanwhile my wedding dress was a fucking rental. 

He had money and talent. Could’ve given us a real life. 

Instead he kept us rotting in that shoebox apartment, just existing, barely breathing. 

One failed relationship and suddenly he decided he was “incapable of love” forever. 

He buried himself alive and made damn sure I was buried right next to him. 

By that point I’d already been shattered into dust from years of being treated like furniture. 

Show day arrives and backstage is complete insanity. 

I’m fixing a model’s dress when my assistant practically crashes through the door: 

09:27 

Mr. Chatterbox for Her, Mr. Iceberg for Me? Ice Melts, and So Did My Love! 

7.6% 

Chapter 10 

“Oh my god, Ms. Parker! Mr. Hayes just showed up! We tried to stop him but he pushed right through-” 

My blood turns to ice. I start moving toward the door. 

Too late. Mason’s already barging in. 

I haven’t seen him in weeks. He looks like absolute hell, like something you’d scrape off the bottom of your shoe. 

“Sera! Look, I’ve been wearing it every single day!” 

He’s waving that jacket around-the one I made him, washed so many times it’s practically white now. 

“I know today’s everything to you! So I brought it! The clothes you designed just for me!” 

“Please, let me be here with you! Let’s celebrate together! Can we just-can we start over? Please?” 

The entire room freezes. Every model, every crew member staring at us. 

I take this really long breath and walk straight up to him. 

“Mason. When I made that jacket, I wanted you to see how much I cared, how hard I worked on it.” 

“You treated it like garbage back then. Now you’re dragging it out to manipulate me. That’s not love. That’s just selfish.” 

“You missed every big moment in my life. Every single one. You didn’t even show up when my dad died.” 

I point at the giant Bloom collection poster on the wall. 

“You know what these designs are about? Letting go. Moving forward. Finally chasing what I want.” 

“You’re not part of that story. You never will be.” 

His face goes completely white, like someone just sucked all the blood out of him. 

The jacket drops from his hands and hits the floor. 

Ryan walks in with security right then. He catches my eye and nods. Don’t worry, I got this. 

“Mr. Hayes. Time to go.” Security grabs both his arms. 

Mason fights against them, craning his neck to look at me: “Sera please! I was such an idiot before! I know I screwed everything up! I know-” 

I don’t even glance his way. I turn back to the model and keep working on her outfit. 

Chapter 10 

When the music starts and the models walk out wearing my designs… 

I’m standing behind the curtain with my eyes stinging, my heart pounding so hard I can barely breathe. 

This wave of emotion just completely overwhelms me. 

This is it. This exact moment right here. 

Blooming. 

After everything, after all that hell-this moment is mine. 

At the after-party, Ryan brings over champagne. 

“Hell of a show, Sera. Seriously. You absolutely murdered it out there.” 

I clink glasses with him and drain mine in one gulp. 

My phone buzzes. Random number. 

Mason. 

[I’m leaving] 

[Saw your show. I get it now. You really are better off without me] 

[I hope you’re happy. I mean that] 

I stare at the screen for a second. 

Delete. 

The champagne in my glass catches the light, little bubbles dancing. 

I take another drink. Sweet, bitter, perfect. 

All that garbage from before-the fighting, the pain, the slow suffocation-is finally over, dead and buried. 

And my life? It’s just getting started. 

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