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?"

"Who the hell parked the car here, blocking the alley? Didn't you see the road is narrow enough

Murray was silent.

instantly realized the car that caused

reasons for showing up. After disposing of her trash, she turned to him. "Whether I see someone new, one or two, or even three or four guys, it's none of your business. We're over, Murray. You know what 'breaking up'

out of 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 the wrong idea. After all, since you chose to be with her, I hope you'll

had weathered her storms and endured her wounds, so she didn't wish the same

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

stood frozen, unable to

first time. It seemed something he owned was slipping away, and he couldn't

She didn't even

"You've said that before..."

their ups and downs, but Murray had

"breaking up" calmly

reached out, wanting to hold her back, but he was speechless. The breakup was his idea. He was

her

the