His Friends, Her Friends, His Mother, All Lied To Her Face Chapter 09

His Friends, Her Friends, His Mother, All Lied To Her Face Chapter 09

Ryan came to see me one more time.

He was holding the recipe book, and his voice was quiet.

“Claire, I tried making one of the recipes. It was really hard.”

“You worked so hard back then.”

I had no interest in reminiscing with him. I simply stared at him and spoke one word at a time.

“Ryan, could you stop showing up wherever I am? I’m really tired of seeing you.”

His shoulders sagged, and he seemed to fold in on himself.

After that, he never appeared again.

Winter gave way to spring, the seasons turned, and before I knew it, a year had passed.

I still made treats often—spiced apple hand pies in the fall and homemade cinnamon rolls in the winter.

The difference was that now, I made them for myself.

Whenever I made too many, I brought the extras to the office and shared them with my coworkers.

Everyone loved them.

“Claire, your baking is incredible!”

“Claire, you’re a total gem!”

—

Every time I heard their praise, I instinctively paused.

I had made countless treats for Ryan’s mother, yet she had never praised me once.

She had taken everything I did for granted and used my effort as cover for Maya.

I finally understood that not everyone was the same. Sincerity had to be saved for people who deserved it.

Around that time, I met Noah Bennett, the owner of the coffee shop downstairs from my office. He was steady and considerate.

I stopped by often for coffee, and before long, we got to know each other.

At first, whenever I ordered a drink, he would give me a small slice of cake on the house.

Later, he began asking me out and quietly became part of my life.

We fell into an easy rhythm and eventually started dating.

During that time, I received one call from Ryan’s mother.

She sounded exhausted.

“Claire, we’re sorry.”

“Ryan has been a shell of himself this past year. He’s lost so much weight he hardly looks like himself.”

“Could you please talk to him?”

“You’ve called the wrong person,” I said calmly.

—

Ryan’s mother fell silent. A moment later, she let out a weary sigh.

“You were always so good to us. We never deserved you.”

I said nothing else and quietly ended the call.

Not far away, Noah stood beneath the Ferris wheel and called to me.

“Claire, come on. It’s our turn.”

I looked at the bottle of water he had brought for me and smiled.

“Coming.”