He Drove His Female Intern Every Day. I Vanished After the Storm Chapter 04

He Drove His Female Intern Every Day. I Vanished After the Storm Chapter 04

He didn’t even try to hide the contempt in his eyes. It was the first time he’d ever looked at me that way.

My nails dug into my palms.

“I’ve already terminated the lease. We have to move out before the weekend…”

The door slammed shut.

Ethan chose to leave.

At that exact moment, the photo hanging beside the door fell to the floor.

Glass shattered across the floor.

I crouched down and picked up the pieces one by one.

I remembered Ethan standing right here, hammering a hook into the wall.

“Maybe we shouldn’t hang it by the door. It’ll fall too easily.”

“How could it?”

He’d sounded so sure back then.

“As long as you don’t slam the door when we fight, our picture will stay up forever.”

For three years, we’d opened and closed that door carefully.

The photo that had survived all those years was finally shattered by Ethan’s own hand.

As I cleaned up the broken glass, a small shard sliced my skin.

Blood slowly dripped onto the photo, covering both our faces.

I stared at it for a long time before finally looking away.

After living here for three years, I had accumulated more things than I’d realized.

The fridge was covered in magnets we’d bought on our trips.

The cheap stuffed animals on the bed were ones we’d redeemed with points at the mall.

There were movie ticket stubs, the snow globe from the day he first confessed his feelings for me, and the vinyl record Ethan had bought me with his first real paycheck.

I packed up everything connected to our past and took it all to the community recycling center.

I put Ethan’s belongings separately by the door.

After taking a picture, I sent it to him.

He didn’t reply.

But his Instagram kept updating.

On the first day, he and Sophia had dinner at a cabin-style restaurant on the coast in a neighboring state.

It was the place we had originally planned to visit for our fifth anniversary.

On the second day, they went to an art exhibition on its final day.

An exhibition I’d always wanted to see.

I scrolled back to the link I’d once sent him.

Ethan’s only reply at the time had been:

[Maybe another time. I’m a little busy lately.]

Apparently, he was only ever busy when it came to me.

For the next few days, I went to work as usual and continued handing over my responsibilities.

Eventually, my coworkers couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Eileen, are things okay between you and Ethan?”

“I heard this business trip was originally supposed to be you and him. Then Ethan went to the manager and insisted on replacing you with Sophia.”

I didn’t care.

I kept organizing my files.

My coworker grew anxious when she saw how calm I was.

“How can you be this calm? Everyone knows that if this project goes through, the quarterly bonus is guaranteed. You and Ethan have worked on it for so long, and right before the trip, an intern took your place. Aren’t you angry?”

I finished straightening the documents in front of me.

“I’ve just accepted it.”

I’d accepted that some things would never lead anywhere, no matter how much time I gave them.

Then the coworker beside me suddenly noticed the resignation confirmation form on my desk.

“Wait. You’re leaving?”

She said it so loudly that several people nearby turned to look.

I smiled and said goodbye to them one by one.

Before heading to the airport, I called Ethan several times.

He finally answered on the fifth call.

But the voice on the other end wasn’t his.

“Eileen?”

Sophia deliberately made her voice sound sweet.

“Ethan’s in the shower. Is there something urgent you need him for this late? You can tell me too.”

I heard the smugness she couldn’t quite hide and smiled.

So she’d finally stopped pretending.

“Tell him to check his messages and pick up his things from outside the apartment.”

Then I hung up.

The plane took off on time.

I looked out the window at the heavy gray clouds hanging low over the city.

Then the plane broke through them.

Sunlight flooded in all at once.

I leaned back in my seat and finally smiled.

The rain was over.