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?"

His gaze lingered on the girl across from him, her eyes burning with intensity, and there was a flicker of amusement in his

"I'm not for

she said it, her eyes shone with the fierce brightness of a summer sun. It was impossible to focus on her pretty features; the strength in her gaze stole all

a pearl brushed with dust, her

the plan she'd come up with overnight: a contract relationship, with a set time limit. For that period, they'd act as boyfriend and girlfriend. It didn't have to be public,

meddle in the rest of her

with being his girlfriend for a while, certain that, before

of girls out there better than her. She was just ordinary. And he?

listened to her

tired of this

like they were getting married. Once he'd had his fun, he could end things whenever he

for boundaries-there was no rush. He'd make sure Mila would come to him willingly in

was always more fun to win someone's heart, only to crush

faint smile playing

set a deadline.

Mila shot back without thinking. "One

darkened. "Are you playing

pushed, forcing herself

about me

mockery and disdain. "Two

It was settled.

easier. At least there was hope. Then she

"Come here, girlfriend."

was wary —she didn't trust Lysander's sense of boundaries, and