My Boyfriend and Best Friend Whispered in Spanish, My First Language Chapter 02

My Boyfriend and Best Friend Whispered in Spanish, My First Language Chapter 02

Derek’s smile froze.

“What are you talking about?”

“What you just said to Mira.”

He set his fork down.

“We were talking about work, Elara. The client wants a pricing change. You wouldn’t get it anyway.”

“Then translate it.”

“Translate what?” he asked, frowning.

“What’s gotten into you today? Why are you biting my head off?”

Seeing the tension, Mira quickly stepped in.

“Elara, don’t be mad. This’s my fault.”

“We shouldn’t have kept speaking Spanish in front of you. You must’ve felt so left out, not understanding a word.”

She looked genuinely hurt.

Before she could finish, Derek cut her off, his voice full of concern.

“This isn’t on you. Who knows what’s wrong with Elara today.”

Then he turned to me, his face cold.

“Enough. Mira already apologized. Don’t make a federal case out of it.”

“We’ll cut back on the Spanish, okay? You’re blowing this way out of proportion. We told you to learn it back then, and you didn’t.”

“If you can’t understand it now, whose fault is that?”

I almost said something, but thought better of it.

I wasn’t ready to expose them yet.

I wanted to know exactly how long this had been going on.

Derek sighed, softening his tone.

“Elara, I know you’re insecure. But the more you act like this, the more it wears me out. You get that?”

“I bust my ass all day, and then I come home and have to baby you on top of it. Can you stop being so difficult?”

“Mira’s your best friend. You should trust us a little more.”

I’d heard those words countless times.

Every single time, I ended up apologizing.

I was too sensitive. Too needy. Too stupid to understand Spanish.

I thought back to our first year together.

When he was cramming for his exams, I’d stay up into the early hours making him breakfast.

He’d wrapped me in his arms and whispered, “One day I’m gonna spoil you rotten. You won’t have to work. You’ll just stay home and enjoy life.”

Later, he really did keep me from doing anything. Including letting me into his world.

When it was time to pay, Derek left with Mira. I was the one who picked up the check.

It hit me then—every time the three of us ate out, I was always the one who ended up paying.

Outside The Gilded Fork, Mira naturally slipped into the front passenger seat.

That used to be my seat.

“Elara, grab a ride home, okay? I’m gonna take Mira back first. Get home safe.”

Before the window rolled up, I heard Mira say in Spanish, “So when are you finally gonna dump her?”

Derek started the car with a smile.

“Not yet. We just made the down payment on the house.”

“Between my mom’s medical bills and the mortgage, having her chip in makes things a whole lot easier.”

The car pulled away.

I stood there, watching until the taillights vanished.

The cold inside me spread through every inch of my body.

The house Derek and I lived in had cost a five-hundred-thousand-dollar down payment.

I’d paid for half. He covered the mortgage afterward.

When the deed came through, my name wasn’t on it.

He’d looked me straight in the eye and said the paperwork had been rushed. He promised he’d add my name later. And I believed him.

I looked down at the bank card still in my hand. The one I’d just used to pay for dinner.

I’d never felt so stupid.

To him, I was nothing but a way to lighten his financial load.

The money meant nothing to me. But what he’d done made me sick.

My phone buzzed. A text from Derek popped up.

[Get home safe. Text me when you’re back. I’ll be home later.]

Followed by a kiss emoji.

I didn’t reply.

Instead, I opened my contacts and stopped on one name—Grandpa Daniel.

My finger hovered over the call button for a long time.

In the end, I didn’t press it.

Derek had mentioned that next Wednesday, top executives from the Soraya Group were flying in from Valdoria.

He’d spent months preparing for the meeting. It was his chance at a promotion.

What he didn’t know—the real owner of the Soraya Group was my grandfather.