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?"

on the girl across from him, her eyes burning with intensity, and there was a flicker

a deep breath. "I'm

was impossible

pearl brushed with dust, her glow could

with overnight: a contract relationship, with a set time limit. For that period,

to meddle

girlfriend for a while, certain that, before the deadline, he'd

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

thoughtful as he listened to her proposal. Suddenly, the idea of having her as a

of this

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

fun to win someone's heart, only to

thought, he nodded slightly, a faint smile playing at the corners of

"Fine. Let's set a deadline. Six

shot back

darkened. "Are you

then," Mila pushed, forcing herself

so crazy about me that two

laughed, all mockery and

It was settled.

little easier. At least there was hope. Then she

"Come here, girlfriend."

don't have another girlfriend, do you?" Mila was wary —she didn't trust Lysander's sense of boundaries,