The Girl He Left Behind Chapter 16

The Girl He Left Behind Chapter 16

The fake disappearance? Celeste’s idea.

The affair? Celeste seduced him.

He even leaked screenshots of their DMs—Celeste sending him photos of herself in lingerie late at night, asking if he liked the set.

The screenshots went viral.

Celeste was torn apart online.

Even her family’s restaurants were deliberately harassed.

Desperate, Celeste tried to defend herself:

“We’ve known each other since we were kids! To him, I’m basically a guy. There was no seduction!”

That excuse only made things worse.

“Then why did you sleep with him?”

“I hate when ‘opposite-sex friendships’ have no boundaries.”

“Ladies, take this as a warning—don’t date guys with ‘girl best friends.'”

Celeste lost her job.

With nowhere else to turn, she came begging to Caspian.

The day she showed up, I was there too.

On the video doorbell, I saw her haggard, desperate face.

—

Caspian didn’t open the door.

He asked me: “Should we see her? Your call.”

“Yes. I want to hear what she has to say.”

“Okay.”

I retreated to the bedroom—but the walls were thin. I heard everything.

Celeste, voice cracking: “Caspian, you’re my only hope.”

Caspian, indifferent: “How exactly can I help?”

“I know you’re with Iris now.”

“Yes.”

“You’re just playing with her, right? Your family’s even richer than ours—there’s no way you’d seriously want someone like her.”

“What do you mean, ‘someone like her’?”

Caspian’s voice went cold. “We’re all ordinary, Celeste. What makes you think you’re so high and mighty?”

Celeste faltered but pressed on.

“Just come out and say Iris orchestrated the whole thing to get with you. Once that’s out, I’ll set you up with someone way hotter.”

Caspian snorted.

“Dream on.”

—

Celeste panicked. “But we’re friends!”

“Without Iris Hawthorne, I’d never have wasted time on you.”

“What… what are you saying?”

“Let me spell it out: I joined your pathetic little group because of Iris. Only because of Iris.”

This shocked not only Celeste but me as well.

Caspian continued slowly:

“I saw Iris in my freshman year. I was deeply impressed. Too bad I never got her name or number.”

“By the time I saw her again, she was already with Evan.”

Celeste gasped: “You joined us just to—”

“To wait for an opening.” Caspian smiled proudly. “I waited two years.

“And patience pays off. Finally got my chance.”

“And agreeing to cover for Evan was all part of…” Celeste trailed off.

Caspian nodded.

“On paper, I was paying a favor. But from the start, I had my own agenda.”

In this grand farce, everyone had a hidden motive.

Only Caspian hid his until the very end.

Celeste went pale. “Caspian, you’re a snake!”

—

“Takes one to know one.”