The Accidental Wife by Sara Islam

Chapter 129

I'm trying to accept my new reality, but it's hard to do so. Rosie calledtwenty days ago, before we started

college, to tellthat she couldn't do it anymore. She toldthat she wasn't able to remember anything about

us and needed to officially end everything with me. It's not like we were dating. | don't think | can name

whatever we were doing, but whatever it was, it madebelieve that | still had a chance. Now, this chance has

been snatched away from me.

She said that it hurt her to seeholding onto the remains of our relationship and neededto move on

because she couldn't stand seeingin pain like that. | don't know what made her think that moving on would

be easy. How am | supposed to forget about her like that? | have spent years dreaming of being with her and all |

got were six months that | am incredibly thankful for | cannot force her to do something she doesn't want. Yes, |

want her to be with me, but out of love, not out of pity. What hurts the most is that she toldshe wanted us to

keep our distance because she thought that it would be the best for the two of us. | agreed because what else

was | supposed to do? | need to adapt to my new reality. | need to get used to my life without Rosie. | once had

her as a friend, then she becmy girlfriend, and now, | don't have her at all. | regret moving to her apartment

complex and I'm genuinely thinking about moving to a new place because | won't be able to see her daily. |

haven't done anything that bad to deserve this kind of punishment. "Good afternoon, everyone. Happy new

season and congratulations to Silas on being the Captain," the coach says. I'm officially a senior and the team

captain. | should be over the moon, but I'm numb. | remember the way Rosie congratulatedwhen | told her

last year that | becthe co-captain, but | shake this memory away. "Thanks, coach," | say and fake a smile.

"This year, we have something new," the coach announces. "The university has decided that we needed to be

present on social media, that's why we have Maisie with us." He points to the curly-haired brunette beside him. |

have just noticed her now. | guess I'm half here half somewhere else.

"She's going to spend a lot of twith us to capture moments of our practice and the games too," he fills us in.

"She's also going to hold one-to-one interviews with you, so you better not give her a hard time." | don't like this.

I'm not here to be filmed and have interviews with anybody. "Silas, | expect you to help her out since you're now

the captain. Once we appoint a new co-captain, you can divide the responsibilities between the two of you." This

is the last thing | need. "Coach, can somebody else take care of this, please?" | ask. | take a look at the girl's face

and the smile on her face doesn't falter. She is so cheerful. | envy her. | miss being happy.

"Are you running away from your responsibilities as a captain on your first day?" The coach's tone is stern, and |

instantly understand that the topic isn't up for discussion. "No, coach. | will do it," | say, looking away.

"Excellent. We're going to start working out now and Maisie is going to take a few shots," he announces clapping

his hands.

"She looks so... bright. Is she a freshman? They're usually this cheerful," Knox wonders and | shrug. Cheerful or

not. She's my responsibility and | have to deal with it.

I glance at her and something tellsthat she isn't a freshman, she is so focused on her camera and although

none of us seem excited about her presence, she doesn't seem to mind. | want whatever kind of inner peace she

has.

"Let's just start our practice," | mutter as we all start running in labs as a warm-up.

08:30 Tue, Oct 15

Chapter 129

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FD

Something inis broken and it is beyond getting fixed. | don't like the way | am now and | don't know how to

get back to the way | used to be. | want to be the happy guy who knows how to easily socialize and get to know

new people. After we finish practice, | find Maisie waiting for me. "Can we talk?" she asks, looking at me.

For a moment, | think about telling her that I'm not in the mood to talk because that's the truth, but when | look

at her face, something about her makesstop myself from being an asshole. Maisie is shorter than me, but

she is taller than Rosie. Her eyes are bright, wide and hazel and her skin is bronze.

"Sure, but make it quick," I tell her, drying the sweat on my face with the towel | have over my right shoulder.

"I know you're not excited about the whole social media presence and you're probably thinking that this is some

sort of game, but | promise, it's more than that. We want to highlight the talent of this team to bring more

opportunities to the players," she explains, attempting to makesee the good side of her presence. | feel bad

for making her feel unwelcome, but I'm not the sanymore.

"Listen, Maisie. | can't say | look forward to your presence with us, but | can assure you that nobody is going to

stand in your way. I'm going to help you out as much as | can and my team will cooperate. Is that enough?" |

impatiently ask.

"At least for now," she says, givinga wide smile. "I will see you later!" She walks away and | wonder if her

presence is going to make things harder than they already are for me.