He Tore Out My Walk-In Closet for Another Woman, So I Sold the Home and Canceled the Wedding Chapter 03

He Tore Out My Walk-In Closet for Another Woman, So I Sold the Home and Canceled the Wedding Chapter 03

The next morning, for once, Ethan didn’t leave early for work.

He set breakfast on the table and even pulled out a chair for me.

“Erin, come eat.”

He smiled at me.

I knew that smile too well.

Whenever he was about to leave me behind, he treated me a little better first.

“Work just told me I have to stay late tonight, so I probably won’t be able to celebrate your birthday with you. I’ll make it up to you this weekend, okay? Whatever you want, I’ll buy it.”

Whatever I wanted, he’d buy.

In other words, he’d prepared nothing.

He hadn’t even bothered to order a bouquet of flowers.

But when Sophia’s birthday came around, he put more effort into it than I did.

He booked a restaurant in advance and asked me to find out what she’d been wanting lately.

Whenever I got upset, he never took my feelings seriously.

“I’m your fiancé. I can’t look bad in front of your best friend. If I’m nice to her, she won’t keep telling you to break up with me every time we fight.”

Back then, all I could do was keep talking myself into believing him.

Maybe Ethan really did just want to take care of the people close to me.

Maybe he truly thought winning over my best friend would make our relationship stronger.

But I wasn’t making excuses for him anymore.

I looked at him calmly.

“Okay. That’s fine.”

He visibly relaxed, then lowered his head and kissed my forehead.

“I knew it. You’ve always been so understanding.”

After Ethan left, I started packing.

I was halfway through when my mother video-called me.

“Happy birthday, sweetheart! Look, your dad got up first thing this morning to get the slow-roasted ribs started. I keep telling him you’re all grown up now and have a home of your own, so you won’t come back for your birthday every year. He just won’t listen.”

On the screen, my father was busy in the kitchen.

I watched my father move around the kitchen with his back to me.

Then, without warning, I burst into tears.

My mother went still.

“Erin, what’s wrong? Did someone hurt you? Where’s Ethan? Didn’t he always spend your birthdays with you?”

I cried for a long time before finally wiping the tears from my face.

“Mom, I’m not getting married. I want to come home. I want to spend my birthday with you and Dad. I want to spend every holiday with you from now on.”

My mother paused.

But she didn’t press me for answers.

She only said softly, “Sweetheart, no matter what happens, your father and I will always be on your side.”

“If you’re unhappy there, come home. We’ll be waiting for you.”

After the call ended, I sat alone in the room and cried some more.

By early evening, the tears had finally stopped, and I’d managed to calm down.

I didn’t want to stay in the apartment any longer.

I drove to the Seattle waterfront by myself and bought a small cake nearby.

I sat on a bench and had just lit the candle when I saw two familiar people walking toward me.

Ethan and Sophia had just come out of the theater at Pacific Place and were talking about where to have dinner.

A child ran past and accidentally bumped into Sophia.

She lost her balance and pitched forward.

Ethan reached out at once and caught her.

She fell straight into his arms.

For several seconds, they simply stared at each other.

Color slowly rose in Sophia’s cheeks.

Ethan didn’t let go, and neither of them moved apart.

Then Sophia turned her head and saw me.

The smile vanished from her face.

“E-Erin?”

Ethan turned around immediately.

He saw me.

Our eyes met.