Part 3I'm Not One of Your Options Anymore

The next day at noon, I received a call from my friend Courtney Bale, her voice hesitant. "Tanya, Edward just called me. He said you left something in the club yesterday. Since you wouldn't answer his calls, he came to me."

I didn't say anything.

Courtney quickly added, "I'll go with you. We'll leave after we grab your stuff."

But we arrived to find the private room filled with people.

Courtney's expression dropped as she cursed in a low tone, "He told me you left your gift. Why didn't he mention there were so many people here?"

Edward was at the head of the table. Renee sat beside him, her eyes red and swollen, as though she had cried all night.

A small cake sat on the table, the candles already lit.

The moment Renee saw me, she picked up her glass and walked toward me, her voice trembling. "Tanya, I'm sorry. I was wrong yesterday. I shouldn't have joked about it. Please don't break up with Edward because of me, okay?"

Edward fixed his gaze on me. "Renee has apologized. You can drop the attitude now. We all want to clear things up."

The moment his words landed, the large screen lit up. Someone raised his phone with a laugh. "Why not do it the usual way?"

A poll appeared on the screen. The question, "Should Tanya raise a glass to Renee and make up with her?"

The countdown was still ticking, but the votes had already piled up on one side. 18 of them had voted yes, and not a single one of them had voted no.

It was as if the outcome had been decided from the very beginning.

Renee bit her lip. "Please don't do this. You're making Tanya uncomfortable."

Edward pushed the glass toward me. "Drink up. Let's put this behind us."

I stared at the glass. The wine rippled, reflecting my face.

Over the past three years, I had drunk far too many glasses like this to keep from ruining the mood, to give everyone a way out, to prove I was gracious, and to keep Edward from being upset.

I picked up the glass, and Edward's face visibly relaxed. Renee also let out a quiet sigh of relief.

The next moment, I poured the liquid into the ice bucket beside me. The sharp clink of ice rang through the private room.

Everyone was stunned.

I put the empty glass back on the table. "I'm not drinking it. You don't need to tell me when you two decide to move on either."

Edward's expression instantly darkened. "Tanya, do you really have to be like this?"

"Like what?" I gazed at him. "You started a poll to pressure me into making up with Renee, to force me to be gracious, and to admit that I wasn't hurt. And now, you're demanding to know why I'm acting this way?"

Renee began crying. "Tanya, I really want to be on good terms with you. Edward, I think I should leave first. Otherwise, she'll only hate me more."

Edward instantly rose to steady her. The movement was so swift that he probably hadn't even realized it.

Yet I saw it. No vote was needed. His body had already subconsciously made that choice for him countless times.

Courtney grabbed my hand. "Shall we go?"

I nodded.

I had just reached the door when Edward caught up to me, grabbing my wrist. "You need to explain yourself today."

I pulled myself free from him. "I already did. I broke up with you, she apologized, and you two can carry on."

Edward tried to suppress his fury. "I didn't agree to that."

I laughed. "Oh, do we have to vote on our breakup too?"

My phone buzzed with a new poll posted in the group chat titled, "Will Tanya change her mind tonight?" The options were "Yes" and "She definitely will".

I showed the screen to Edward. "Look, they've even decided for me that I'll go crawling back to you."

Something flickered across Edward's face. Behind him, Renee said, "Edward, don't argue with Tanya because of me."

He didn't come after me. At least, not then.

I walked out to find that the sky had darkened.

A confirmation message from the moving company came through. "Ms. Cullen, we'll be there at 3:00 pm tomorrow."

I replied, "Okay."