Who's Crying Now, Ex-Husband?

Chapter 304

Here is a culturally localized adaptation of your passage, tailored for a Western audience:

"That's just the classic case of wanting what you can't have."

Miranda cut right to the heart of it.

"In these stories, the man wants to sleep with the woman, but she turns him down,

so he becomes even more obsessed. It's either real feelings, or he just can't stand the bruised ego of being rejected. Most people are wired that way-if something's out of reach, they become fixated. But once they finally get it, the thrill fades, and eventually they get bored."

So, if Mila wanted Lysander to leave her alone, should she just let him win?

Why should she have to? The thought made her angry. She just couldn't understand people like him.

He saw something, and he had to have it. If he couldn't, he'd push and push, never giving up. And once he finally got it, he'd toss it aside-never losing a thing himself. It was like she was just an object to him.

But if this dragged on any longer, she was going to lose her mind.

Mila spent the whole night thinking about it, and finally decided she had to talk to Lysander, to find some kind of middle ground.

She couldn't keep going like this.

She needed a way out.

A quiet corner booth at a restaurant just off campus.

"Made up your mind?"

seat, looking mildly annoyed. His gaze lingered on the girl across from him, her eyes burning with intensity, and there was a

a deep breath. "I'm not for sale. I'm a

It was impossible to focus on her pretty features; the strength

brushed with dust, her glow could not be

up with overnight: a contract relationship, with a set time limit. For that period, they'd act

get to meddle in

while, certain that,

better than her. She was just ordinary. And he? He was probably just in

turning thoughtful as he listened to her proposal. Suddenly,

of

he'd had his fun,

sure Mila would come to

always more fun to win

nodded slightly, a faint smile playing at the corners of

set a deadline.

Mila shot back

you playing games

forcing herself

so crazy about me that two

laughed, all mockery and disdain.

It was settled.

easier. At least there was hope. Then she heard Lysander's voice, teasing

"Come here, girlfriend."

more thing. You don't have another girlfriend, do you?" Mila was wary —she didn't trust Lysander's sense of boundaries, and she wasn't