My Childhood Friend Chose Her Virginity Over My Future Chapter 09

My Childhood Friend Chose Her Virginity Over My Future Chapter 09

After I landed in London, Michael enrolled me in one of the 

best business schools in the city. 

He had lost his wife years ago and had no children. 

All these years, he had never remarried. 

He trained me to become his successor. 

Every summer and winter break, I interned at his firm and 

learned from the inside. 

On the day I received my diploma, he officially placed me in a 

junior executive role in the CEO’s office. 

He slowly handed over authority, took me to meet major 

clients, asked for my opinion on everything, and taught me how to think through problems like an executive. 

At first, I had not known how to convince senior employees 

who were older, more experienced, and unwilling to listen to 

1. me. 

Now, I understood their personalities, managed each person 

according to their strengths, and earned their trust and 

cooperation. 

When we finally closed a major U.S.-U.K. partnership deal, 

Michael asked me to return to the States for the banquet. 

Around the same time, Westbridge High sent me an invitation 

to its alumni event. 

They wanted me to speak as a distinguished alumna. 

My simple, understated speech was posted in the alumni 

group chat and on the school’s anonymous confession page. 

Many former classmates saw it and messaged me. 

Our former class president organized a high school reunion, saying it had been years and everyone should catch up. 

He made a point of telling me Ethan had declined. 

I did not react much. 

Over the years, I had heard pieces of what happened to Ethan. 

During the summer after senior year, he fell apart because I left. He became withdrawn, started binge–eating, and his athletic performance collapsed. 

The talent he had shown in high school never returned. 

At college, he drifted through his days, attending class when he felt like it and skipping when he did not, as if he no longer 

wanted anything. 

In his second year, Chloe found him and demanded that he take responsibility for her. Otherwise, she would expose what had happened back then. 

Of course, Ethan refused. 

He chose to let everything burn. 

After Chloe twisted the old story and posted it online in a fit of rage, many classmates became afraid of being dragged down by him and reported him to the school. 

In the end, during an argument with Chloe, he lost control and injured her. 

He was detained for assault for a while, and after he got out, 

the school forced him to withdraw. 

No one knew where he had drifted over the years. 

No one had seen him. 

Even the boys who had once been close to him cut ties after 

learning that I had missed the athletic qualifier because he drugged my drink. 

They cursed him for being heartless and unforgivable. 

Their apology messages were still in my phone. 

But those were all old stories now. 

Whether I cared or forgave him no longer mattered. 

I gathered myself and went to the reunion. 

The whole night was pleasant. 

I just did not expect to see Ethan when I was about to leave. 

He looked nothing like the bright, reckless boy from before. 

He was terribly thin now, with a scar cutting across his face. 

One of his legs seemed to have been broken, and he walked 

with a limp. 

When he saw me, he tried hard to make his unsteady body stand straight. 

The awkwardness of it was almost pitiful. 

His eyes looked red under the moonlight. “Long time no see. Have you been well?” 

I nodded. “I’ve been good. Why didn’t you come in?” 

He suddenly smiled. 

The smile was ashamed and self–conscious. 

“I didn’t want to ruin your night. I just wanted to see if you were doing well. Now that I know you are, I can stop 

worrying.” 

“I’ve actually been looking for you all these years. I searched 

so many places…” 

Before he could finish, a jacket settled over my shoulders as a 

familiar scent reached me. 

I turned and saw my boyfriend. 

I smiled. “Ryan, what are you doing here?” 

Ryan Brooks raised an eyebrow. “Picking you up. I promised I’d come back as your bodyguard, didn’t I? I keep my promises.” 

I laughed softly and held his hand. 

Then I looked at Ethan. “This is my boyfriend. Ryan, this is Ethan, an old classmate.” 

Ethan pressed his lips together as his eyes shimmered with 

moisture. 

Almost immediately, he fled. 

I pulled the jacket tighter around me and got into Ryan’s car. 

A while later, an anonymous text came in: [I hope you’re happy.] 

I glanced at it and did not take it to heart. 

On the day I returned to the firm, one hour before my flight took off, I received a call from our former class president. 

“Ethan got drunk and died in a car crash. Do you want to come say goodbye?” 

I sat there for a long time. 

For a moment, it felt as if a cold wind had swept through my 

whole body, leaving my chest empty. 

Then Ryan took my hand and gently steadied me. 

I came back to myself. 

“I’m already on my way back to work. Send funeral flowers for 

1. me. Put it on my tab. I’ll Venmo you.” 

The other end of the line went quiet. 

Then he hung up. 

Ryan sighed. “You’re really not going back? We can still 

change the flight. I don’t want you to regret it.” 

A faint ache moved through me, followed by surprise. 

But I knew it was no longer heartbreak for Ethan. 

It was only pity and respect for a life that had ended. 

I shook my head and let out a long breath. “I don’t go back to 

roads I’ve already left behind. That’s the greatest respect I can 

give myself.” 

The Ethan from my past had already died in my heart the 

moment he betrayed me. 

I had paid half my life to see him off once. 

The Ethan who died now was no longer worth turning back 

for. 

My future only moved forward. 

The End.