You Told Me to Handle It Myself, So I Did. Why Do You Regret It Now Chapter 08

You Told Me to Handle It Myself, So I Did. Why Do You Regret It Now Chapter 08

My movement froze. 

At first, I didn’t want to answer. 

But then I thought about how Ethan and I seemed to still be 

missing one formal breakup. 

I took a deep breath. 

Then I pressed answer. 

“Hello.” 

Ethan’s voice came through the phone, hoarse and tired. 

“Irene.” 

“Why aren’t you home?” 

I couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh. 

A whole week had passed. 

Only now did he realize I wasn’t home. 

What did that even count as? 

“Ethan Shaw.” 

My voice was slow and clear. 

“Let’s break up.” 

The other end of the line fell into a deathly silence. 

It was as if my words had lodged in Ethan’s throat. 

After a long while, his voice was filled with shock and disbelief. 

“What?” 

“Why?” 

He seemed unable to understand why I would suddenly say something like that. 

“No reason.” 

I didn’t want to reason with him. 

I didn’t want to ask whether he had spent this entire week taking care of Ruby. 

None of it mattered anymore. 

“I don’t love you anymore.” 

“That’s all.” 

I gave him no chance to argue. 

After saying those words, I hung up without hesitation. 

But the moment I ended the call, it rang again. 

I was tired. 

I didn’t want to keep entangling myself with Ethan. 

I didn’t want to listen to his fake explanations. 

I didn’t want to see that self–righteous face of his again. 

I opened my phone and deleted every contact method he had. 

Then I blocked him completely. 

The phone finally went quiet. 

I thought that was the end of it. 

I thought Ethan and I would never have anything to do with each other again. 

What I didn’t expect was that Ethan would actually chase me all the way back to my hometown. 

That night, my parents and I were coming back from a walk. 

Just as we reached the bottom of our apartment building, I saw that familiar figure downstairs. 

Ethan was leaning beneath my building. 

His tall figure looked lonely in the night. 

When he saw me, he hurried over. 

My parents saw him too. 

There was confusion in their eyes. 

“Irene, who’s this?” 

I gently patted my mom’s hand. 

“It’s okay. Mom, Dad, you go upstairs first.” 

“I have something to say to a friend.” 

Although my parents looked puzzled, they went upstairs first. 

I stood in front of Ethan. 

My gaze was calm. 

Ethan straightened. 

His eyes locked on me. 

“Irene Harrison.” 

His voice carried suppressed anger. 

“Why?” 

“Why do you want to break up?” 

On his face was the familiar confusion I knew so well. 

As if he truly didn’t understand why I would say the word breakup. 

As if all of this was just me being unreasonable. 

Looking at him like that, I couldn’t help laughing again. 

“Stop pretending you don’t know.” 

“Honestly, breaking up is good for both of us.” 

I was already tired. 

But Ethan’s brows tightened. 

His face instantly turned impatient. 

“Irene Harrison!” 

His voice sharpened. 

“What are you making a scene about now?” 

“Can you grow up for once?” 

“Is this because I took care of Ruby? Do you have any idea how hard it is for a young woman on her own? I was just…” 

I was silent for a moment. 

Then I suddenly looked into his eyes seriously. 

“Ethan Shaw.” 

My voice was very soft. 

“You knew my hand was injured. Did you ask about it even once?” 

Ethan’s expression froze. 

His eyes instinctively avoided mine. 

I continued. 

There wasn’t a single trace of emotion in my voice. 

“Did you know I was hit by a car?” 

“Did you know how much energy I spent proving my 

innocence after that old woman tried to frame me?” 

“I was hit by her son, and my arm was fractured. Did you know that?” 

“I even hired a lawyer and prepared to file a lawsuit. Did you know any of it?” 

With every sentence I spoke, Ethan’s face went a little paler. 

His lips began to tremble. 

“Why… why didn’t you tell me?” 

His voice was hoarse. 

It trembled slightly. 

“I didn’t know…” 

“But why?” 

He lifted his head. 

His eyes were full of hurt and confusion. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” 

Looking at him like this, a sharp wave of irony surged through 

my chest. 

I didn’t answer. 

I only laughed softly. 

Then I returned his own words to him. 

Word for word. 

“You said it yourself.” 

My voice was calm. 

“My problems were mine to handle.” 

Ethan’s body stiffened hard. 

His mouth opened. 

He seemed to want to say something. 

But in the end, he only fell silent. 

Not one word came out. 

It was as if my words had sealed off every escape route. 

After a while, Ethan finally broke the silence. 

His voice carried panic. 

“Irene.” 

He took a step forward. 

He wanted to grab my hand. 

I instinctively stepped back and avoided his touch. 

His hand froze in midair. 

“These things…” 

His voice was urgent. 

“I’ll handle them for you when I get back.” 

“I promise I’ll win the case for you.” 

“Forgive me, okay?” 

I looked at him. 

Then I took another step back, putting distance between us 

again. 

“Thanks.” 

“But I don’t need it.” 

Ethan froze again. 

He looked at me as if wounded. 

“Irene…” 

His voice trembled. 

“You’ve changed.” 

I smiled too. 

I had become exactly what he wanted me to be. 

Wasn’t that a good thing? 

After a long while, he spoke again. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you quit your job?” 

“I went to your company to look for you, but they said you’d 

already resigned.” 

He paused. “Irene, are you not coming back?” 

I spread my hands. 

My tone stayed calm. 

“You said it yourself.” 

“My own business was mine to handle.” 

“My job wasn’t something I should ask you about.” 

Once again, I returned the words he had once said to me. 

Exactly as they were. 

Ethan’s eyes reddened. 

He seemed to want to defend himself. 

But my words left him with nothing to say. 

“What about leaving?” 

“You left this city. Why didn’t you tell me that either?” 

“Am I… am I still your boyfriend?” 

I spread my hands again. 

“So now…” 

“You’re not.” 

His face instantly turned deathly pale. 

I lifted my head and looked straight into his eyes. 

“Ethan Shaw.” 

“Admit it.” 

“You don’t love me.” 

Those words landed between us. 

I continued, laying out years of buried hurt and bitterness, piece by piece, with perfect clarity. 

“When it comes to Ruby, you can think of everything.” 

“With one call from her, you can rush out without caring about anything else.” 

“When she has one tiny injury, you panic and take her to the hospital.” 

“When she only wants to pick up a document, you personally drive her back and forth, then take her to buy fever medicine.” 

“You’re afraid she’ll get tired, afraid she’ll feel wronged, 

afraid she’ll get hurt in even the smallest way.” 

My voice held no emotion. 

“But when it comes to me…” 

“You’re always impatient.” 

“Now we’ve broken up.” 

“You should be happy.” 

“Shouldn’t you?” 

Ethan’s face turned completely ashen. 

His lips trembled. 

He tried to refute me. 

“No!” 

His voice was filled with pain and panic. 

“Irene, it’s not like that!” 

“I… I helped Ruby because she… she’s young…” 

He tried to use that pathetic excuse, “she’s young,” to cover 

up what he felt for another woman. 

I didn’t give him the chance to explain further. 

“I don’t want to hear it.” 

“And I don’t want to know anymore.” 

“Let’s end this here.”