I Planned to Announce My Pregnancy, Boyfriend and Bestie Announced Their Wedding Chapter 10

I Planned to Announce My Pregnancy, Boyfriend and Bestie Announced Their Wedding Chapter 10

[Elena’s POV]

“Nathan.”

My voice was flat.

“Stop acting like some tragic martyr. Are you really going to tell me you never had feelings for Vivian?”

“I don’t!”

His head snapped up, desperation in his eyes.

“Elena, you’re the only person I’ve ever loved. Vivian made me stay by her side until the wedding, or she wouldn’t donate the kidney. I had no choice, Elena. I really had no choice…”

“You did have a choice.”

I looked at him without expression, my voice cold.

“Nathan, you could have come to me. You had so many chances to ask. But you didn’t. We grew up together, and you couldn’t even give me basic trust.”

“Vivian had always teased you and fought for your attention. Don’t tell me you never knew she liked you. But what did you do? You know exactly how my mom died, don’t you?”

Nathan went still.

“I… I really didn’t know.”

I took a sip of my coffee. It was bitter at first, but the aftertaste was sweet.

“Vivian spread the rumor that I was the one chasing you. My mom went to confront you, saw you and Vivian sharing a drink, and rushed across the street without seeing the truck.”

At the mention of Mom, my eyes burned.

“Nathan. Do you know what it’s like to hold someone you love while they die in your arms?”

He clenched his fists so tightly that crescent-shaped nail marks cut into his palms.

“Stop, Elena. Please…”

“Stop wallowing in your own feelings, Nathan. A few apologies can’t undo the damage you caused.”

He lowered his head and couldn’t look at me for a long time.

Table after table cleared around us.

“Elena.”

He raised his head, hope filling his eyes.

“Vivian lied about everything. Her illness was fake, and so was everything else. I’m so sorry.”

“We’ve shared more than a decade together. Give me one more chance. Please…”

I sighed.

“Nathan, I thought you knew.”

“Knew what?”

I met his eyes.

“That we can never go back. The moment you brought Vivian into my home that day, we were over.”

He shuddered as though he’d been plunged into ice water.

I got up, grabbed my coat, and left.

His stifled sobs followed me.

I didn’t look back.

Another month passed.

Vivian called me nonstop. I ignored her at first.

Then she sent a text.

[Elena Reyes, if you don’t want to regret this, answer the phone.]

I picked up.

Her voice sounded muffled, as though she’d been crying.

“Elena Reyes… can you come back to Eldridge?”

“Why?”

“Because… Nathan is dying…”

I remembered the blood he’d coughed up that day.

I bought a ticket home anyway.

When I saw Nathan again a month later, he was even thinner, his hospital gown hanging loose around him.

I didn’t go in. I only stood at the doorway and watched from a distance.

Vivian sat on a bench outside. She clutched her chest and coughed hard.

I looked at her, hollow inside.

“Vivian Chandler, what was Nathan diagnosed with?”

She slowly lifted her head and smiled.

“Lupus.”

She turned to me.

“Elena Reyes, this is my punishment. I lied about you having a terminal illness so he’d marry me.”

“And now, because of that lie, he’s going to leave me forever.”

“Elena Reyes, why does he love you? We all grew up together. I was his childhood friend too. Why could he only ever see you? I can’t accept it. I won’t!”

She stood up too fast and almost fell.

I reached for her. She shoved me off.

She clutched her chest, her face pale.

“One thing, though. I wasn’t lying. I really am dying.”

“What did you just say?”

I grabbed her shoulders.