My Best Friend Feared Marriage, but Wanted My Boyfriend as Groom Chapter 02

My Best Friend Feared Marriage, but Wanted My Boyfriend as Groom Chapter 02

I turned to look at Natalie.

There wasn’t a trace of drunkenness left on her face.

The streetlight cast a pale glow over her features, making it impossible for me to read her expression.

“You were pretending to be drunk?”

Natalie looked at me and sighed.

“Yes.”

I stared at her in disbelief.

“Do you even realize what you’re doing?”

Natalie looked at me with something close to exasperation.

“Claire, don’t be so childish. I know exactly what I’m doing. Ethan is successful, handsome, broad-shouldered, slim-waisted, and he’s supposedly the loyal type. Who wouldn’t fall for him? You’ve been with him for eight years and still haven’t gotten married. Doesn’t that tell you he doesn’t love you?”

The cab driver pulled over.

“Here you go, ladies.”

I stepped out.

My legs immediately gave out, and I nearly collapsed onto the sidewalk.

I looked at Natalie’s completely unapologetic expression.

My voice came out hoarse.

“Natalie, you’re wrong. Ethan isn’t loyal. He was able to let someone come between us after eight years. Even if you get together with him, someone else will steal him away eventually.”

Natalie suddenly laughed.

“Claire, you’re being so naive. I’m pregnant. No one is going to steal him from me now.”

The words exploded in my head like a bomb.

Rage took over before I could think.

The moment my hand brushed against Natalie’s skin, I felt sick.

My hand moved before my brain could catch up.

I slapped her across the face.

“You pathetic bitch!”

The next second, Ethan’s car screeched to a stop at the curb.

He jumped out, shoved me aside, and pulled Natalie into his arms.

His eyes immediately landed on the red mark spreading across her cheek.

His expression changed.

He took a deep breath.

Then I saw something in his eyes that I knew all too well.

It wasn’t the look he gave the woman he’d loved for eight years.

It was the look he reserved for his competitors in business.

He pointed toward the security cameras outside the hospital.

“Apologize. Or I’m calling the police. You know I can make sure you spend a few days in a cell.”

I gave a bitter laugh.

“Then let me spend a few days there. Maybe I’ll finally have some time to clear my head.”

Ethan gave a cold laugh.

“And what about your mother? Don’t forget, I’m still paying her medical bills. What do you think will happen when she finds out her daughter was arrested?”

My heart jolted.

I looked at Ethan.

His expression was full of absolute confidence.

He knew he’d won.

A crushing sense of humiliation washed over me.

I clenched my teeth until I could taste blood.

I pressed my lips together, terrified that if I opened my mouth, a sob would escape.

My knuckles had already gone white from how tightly I was clenching my fists.

I forced the words out through my teeth.

“I’m sorry.”

Natalie sniffled pitifully.

“Ethan, my face really hurts…”

Ethan looked at me.

“Slap yourself ten times.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

He merely said, “An eye for an eye. That’s fair.”

I raised my hand.

The first slap landed.

My heart, which I’d thought had already gone numb, gave a violent twitch.

I looked at the two of them standing together, Natalie nestled against Ethan’s side.

And finally, I understood.

I’d been replaced.

The tenth slap landed.

By then, my cheek was numb.

So was the part of me that had once expected Ethan to protect me.

But the pain in my chest had become something else entirely.

Despair closed in around me.

I felt like a tiny boat lost in the middle of the ocean, drifting endlessly with nowhere to land.

My voice was barely a whisper.

“Is that enough?”

Ethan nodded.

I turned and walked toward the hospital.

Tears spilled down my face.

No matter how many times I wiped them away, they wouldn’t stop.

I kept telling myself:

[Don’t cry. Don’t give them the satisfaction of watching you fall apart.]

But another voice answered:

[You’re already a joke.]

Yeah.

I was already a joke.

The two people I trusted most had betrayed me together.

But was I really supposed to just step aside and let them live happily ever after?

Was I supposed to let them humiliate me like this?

Was I supposed to spend the rest of my life letting Ethan control me by holding my mother’s medical bills over my head?

No.

I pulled out my phone and called Ethan’s biggest competitor.

Ryan Mitchell answered in his usual cocky voice.

“Well, well. Miss Bennett. What do I owe the pleasure? Finally thinking about trading in your boyfriend?”

My voice was hoarse.

“Do you want Ethan Carter’s new product for next quarter?”

Ryan’s tone changed immediately.

“What?”

“I’m the designer. I haven’t signed the authorization agreement yet. If you want the product, I can give it to you.”

There was a brief silence.

Then Ryan’s voice turned serious.

“What do you want in return?”

I lowered my voice.

“Get me and my mother out of here. And destroy Ethan Carter.”

Ryan laughed softly.

“Consider it done, Miss Bennett.”