Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

"Look at you, Roseanne, moving up in the world," the man sneered, his tone dripping with venom. "Jumping from one guy to another, quite the party girl, aren't you?"

His voice suddenly turned icy. "Who was that guy? What were you two doing upstairs?"

Roseanne's smile vanished as her hand throbbed in his tight grip. She tried to pull away, but he was using brute force.

The more she struggled, the tighter his grip became.

Roseanne shouted, "Murray, let go!"

Murray refused to let go. "Answer me first!"

Roseanne frowned, enduring the pain. "What's it to you?"

"As an ex-boyfriend, I think it's only fair I take an interest in my former girlfriend's love life, huh?"

A laugh escaped Roseanne, a hint of sarcasm in her gaze. "Oh, so you admit you're the ex-boyfriend. What brings you here, then?"

Murray got momentarily choked up. "Can't I just be passing by?"

into the alley, cursing, "Who the hell parked the car here, blocking the alley? Didn't you see the road is narrow enough without your car clogging it

Murray was silent.

car that

less about his reasons for showing up. After disposing of her trash, she turned to him. "Whether I see someone new, one or two, or

my present and future. Let's just be strangers from here on out. And don't come to my place anymore. I wouldn't want your girlfriend getting

storms and endured her wounds, so she didn't wish the same for Millie. Life in its prime should be about blossoming freely,

chose Millie, and she decided to break up. It was time for each to be

stood frozen, unable to

panic for the first time. It seemed something he owned was slipping away, and he couldn't grasp it back. "Are you

She didn't even look

"You've said that before..."

had their ups and downs, but Murray

calmly as if she

but he was speechless. The breakup was his idea. He was the one who let go of

at her place,

on the