When the Girl Who Broke Him Tried to Return

It had been six months since the night I found Jian Hui alone at Esplanade, broken from simping over Alyssa.
Six months of gym sessions, late-night prata talks, and slow rebuilding.

He was better.
Not perfect, but better.

He laughed again.
He started dating casually.
He didn’t look like someone carrying the weight of someone else’s love on his shoulders.

Until one night, everything came crashing back.

We were at Tiong Bahru Bakery, just chilling.
He was eating his usual almond croissant when his phone buzzed.

He froze.

His eyes widened in that old, familiar way…
the way a person reacts when a past wound suddenly bleeds again.

I watched him swallow hard.

“Alyssa,” he whispered.

It was the first time he said her name in months.

The message on his screen said:

“Hey Hui… can we talk?”

Just six words.
Six harmless words that felt like a hook pulling him underwater again.

His hands shook.

I asked him, “Bro… you okay?”

He didn’t answer. He just stared at the screen —
like a recovering addict suddenly smelling the drug again.

He didn’t reply immediately.
But later that night, he told me:

“Marcus… I think part of me still wants her.”

I didn’t judge him.
Because heartbreak doesn’t disappear — it just gets quieter.

THE MEET-UP

A few days later, he met her at Clarke Quay.

I didn’t go with him — he didn’t want me to.
But he told me everything afterward.

Alyssa looked different.
Quieter.
Less confident.

The first thing she said when she sat down was:

“I miss you.”

Not “how are you.”
Not “sorry.”
Just “I miss you.”

And the worst part?
He told me his heart actually leaped when he heard her say it.

She started talking about her life — the breakup with the gym guy, the loneliness, the regret.
She said she realized the only person who was ever truly there for her was him.

Then she asked him:

“Can we start over?
I think… you were the one I should have chosen.”

I could imagine exactly how he felt.

Torn.
Tempted.
Terrified.

Because here was the girl who broke him…
now asking him to open the same door he barely survived closing.

THE MOMENT THAT SAVED HIM

He told me he stared at her for a long time.

Then he said something I will never forget:

“Alyssa… I’m happy you came back.
But I’m not the guy who waits outside carparks anymore.”

She looked stunned.
He continued:

“You didn’t miss me.
You missed the version of me who made you feel safe when other men didn’t want you.”

Alyssa’s eyes softened.
Maybe she wanted to deny it.
But she didn’t.

He wasn’t cruel.
He wasn’t angry.

He was finally honest.

“I cared about you so much I forgot about myself.
If we go back to that… I’ll lose myself again.
And I’m not willing to do that anymore.”

Alyssa looked down, wiping her eyes.
Maybe she really did come back with sincerity.
Maybe she really did regret it.

But sincerity doesn’t erase damage.

Before leaving, she said:

“So this is it?”

He nodded.

“Yeah. This is me choosing myself.”

THE AFTERMATH

When he told me what happened, I felt proud in a way I can’t describe.

Not because he rejected her.
But because he finally respected himself.

He told me:

“Marcus… loving her hurt.
But letting her go hurt less this time.”

Growth.

Real, painful, beautiful growth.

Now, whenever we talk about Alyssa, there’s no bitterness.
Just a quiet acceptance — like someone watching a storm from indoors instead of being trapped under it.

He survived loving the wrong person twice:

• once when she had him,

• and once when she came back.

And both times, it changed him —
but the second time, he didn’t break.

He became stronger.