I Made Us Matching Avatars, But He Protected Another Girl Chapter 03

I Made Us Matching Avatars, But He Protected Another Girl Chapter 03

I didn’t sleep at all that night. By morning my eyes were bloodshot and swollen, puffy as a couple of walnuts.

Before my shift, I asked my team lead for three days off.

He approved it without blinking, but less than two hours after I’d finally drifted off, my phone started ringing.

It was his number. Nate was the one on the other end.

“Claire Ashford. What’s your excuse for taking time off? No valid reason, no leave. Did you even bother reading the employee handbook?”

“Get in here. My office. Now.”

His tone was ugly, and he hung up before I could get a word in.

I dragged myself through the fog in my skull and showed up anyway, pale as a ghost.

When I reached the executive floor, my team lead was pacing outside, looking like he’d aged five years.

“He’s in a mood today, Claire. When you apologize, make it sound like you mean it.”

I pressed my lips together and forced something like a smile.

Just as I reached for the door handle, laughter spilled out from inside.

“Mr. Sinclair, this ring is stunning! I love this style so much!”

Nate hadn’t planned on saying anything at all, but the moment his eyes landed on me, they iced right over.

“If you like it, keep it. Wear it however you want.”

Lily’s whole face lit up, and she flung her arms around him in an exaggerated hug.

My eyes locked onto that ring. It was the exact one from the video, the exact size to fit her finger.

The room tilted, edges going dark, and everything started to spin.

By the time I came back to myself, Nate was standing right in front of me.

“Still capable of tears?” He reached out and wiped at the corner of my eye.

“You never could handle much, could you.”

I dropped my gaze, turning my face slightly away, my eyes stinging all over again.

Here we go again.

It was always some cutting remark, some little dig. Five years, and he had never once fussed over me the way he fussed over her.

And the worst part was, if he’d bowed his head just once, just for me, I would’ve thrown myself into the fire without a second thought.

I forced out a dry laugh and blinked the tears back.

“If there’s nothing else, Mr. Sinclair, I have work to get back to.”

“Claire Ashford!”

“Nate!” For once, I actually snapped back at him. “Didn’t you make the rule yourself? No personal matters in the office. I followed it. So what exactly are you so upset about?”

I turned and walked off, ignoring the way his face went dark behind me.

Back at my desk, though, the fog in my head only got heavier.

By lunch, when Nate happened to pass through on one of his floor checks, I suddenly collapsed.

I woke up in a hospital bed.

A coworker was perched at my bedside, practically buzzing with gossip.

“Claire, you should’ve seen it. He was the first one at your side when you fainted. I’ve never seen him move that fast for anyone.”

“So, what exactly is going on between you two?”

I didn’t answer.

Something bitter sat heavy in my chest.

Nate finally showed up that evening.

He was carrying a covered bowl of soup. He reached out and checked my forehead, and I caught the smallest breath of relief escape him.

“Your fever’s down. Lily made this and asked me to bring it over.”

“Why didn’t you say something the second it started? You’re a grown woman with a functioning brain. This kind of carelessness is beneath you.”

His lips pressed together, and for a moment something like concern flickered behind his eyes.

I noticed it. And still felt absolutely nothing, not even a ripple. If anything, I wanted to laugh.

Here we go again.

I was fairly sure I would go my whole life without ever hearing him say I was worried about you.

“Let’s break up.”

His hand jerked at the words, and the soup very nearly hit the floor.

His eyes betrayed just how unhappy that made him, but his face stayed as unreadable as ever.

“Why?”

It was like throwing a punch into a pillow, all that effort swallowed up with nothing to show for it. A wave of exhaustion crashed over me.

I shook my head and laughed, bitter and tired.

“I’m tired. Isn’t that reason enough?”

At the office, I was beneath him. At home, I was beneath him. Even lying in this hospital bed, I was still, somehow, beneath him.

All I’d ever wanted was one plain, simple I care about you.

Why was that so impossible for him?

He never seemed to have any trouble managing it for Lily.