My Wedding Dress And Ring Were For My Best Friend Chapter 05

My Wedding Dress And Ring Were For My Best Friend Chapter 05

After sending the message, I blocked Ethan and Paige and deleted them both from my contacts.

Then I pulled the SIM card from my phone and dropped it into a trash can.

Back in his office, Ethan stared at his phone and waited. After a while, confusion began to set in.

No matter how busy Nora was, she always found time to reply to him. More than an hour had passed since she had been thrown out of the company, yet there had been no call and no message.

His eyes remained on his computer, but his attention kept drifting toward the phone beside it.

He kept his eyes on his phone while one of his employees gave him a report.

By the time the workday finally ended, his phone was still silent.

He tightened his grip around it. His brow furrowed as a growing sense of panic settled in his chest.

Just as he was about to open their conversation and check it again, his office door swung open.

Paige stood outside, smiling brightly at him.

“Ethan, everyone wants to throw me a party to celebrate my appointment as Director of Product Design. You’re the one who made it happen, so you should come.”

Ethan stared at her for a moment.

For some reason, the words “the one who made it happen” grated on him.

“All right,” he said quietly.

Paige’s smile widened when he agreed.

“Oh, and the Director of HR wants to see you. They asked me to let you know.”

Ethan did not question her. He set down his phone and left the office.

Once he was out of sight, Paige, who had already taken a few steps away, turned back.

She walked slowly to his desk, picked up his phone, deleted Nora’s message, and smiled in satisfaction.

She never noticed the small security camera mounted on the shelf behind her.

That night, Ethan drank far more than usual.

He kept staring at his phone between drinks.

It suddenly occurred to him that he had not waited this anxiously for a call from Nora in years, not since she had joined the company.

They saw each other every day from morning until night. Over time, the sweetness between them had gradually faded.

He had grown restless.

What bothered him most was that the CEO had praised Nora’s designs in front of him several times, whether intentionally or not, calling them fresh and inspired.

Ethan refused to call what he felt jealousy, but the praise had still left him uncomfortable.

As Nora became busier and worked later, he often came home alone and sat by himself, staring out at the city lights.

Somehow, he began to feel lonely.

That was why, when Nora told him Paige planned to move from Boston to New York City, he had supported the idea without hesitation.

Around him, Paige acted like one of the guys. She was loud, easygoing, and seemingly incapable of scheming.

During their free time, she talked with him about programming, code, and even the stock market.

Ethan had never felt so relaxed around anyone else.

Before long, he and Paige were spending more and more time alone together.

Sometimes he sensed that something about it was inappropriate.

The next moment, he would reassure himself.

“Paige and I are just friends. She’s Nora’s best friend, and she’s like a sister to me. There’s nothing between us.”

He repeated the same excuse to himself again and again.

When he bought three tickets to a romantic movie, he told himself the same thing.

When he switched from lattes to iced Americans, he told himself the same thing again.

When the bridal designer asked for the bride’s measurements, he had instinctively given Paige’s.

For one brief moment, he had wanted to correct himself and say he had made a mistake.

Then he remembered Paige looking wounded as she said she had never worn a ring, tried on a wedding dress, or slipped into a pair of bridal heels.

His resolve softened.

Once again, he reassured himself.

“Nora and Paige are so close. She probably won’t mind. If she does, we’ll postpone the wedding and have everything remade.”