I Was Working Late, He Was Eating My Food and Falling for My Best Friend Chapter 09

I Was Working Late, He Was Eating My Food and Falling for My Best Friend Chapter 09

On the day Dad left the hospital, Ethan was waiting outside with his car.

I frowned.

“We broke up. Why are you here?”

He gave an awkward smile.

“I never accepted that it was over. You used to say both people deserved a say.”

He reached for Dad’s bag.

“It’s hot outside. Let me drive you.”

I ignored him and opened the door of the Uber waiting at the curb.

“Come on, Dad.”

My parents were silent during the ride. I checked my phone and saw a calendar reminder.

I was leaving tomorrow.

“Maybe we should invite Ethan to dinner,” Mom said.

I frowned, but she sighed.

“You spent so many years together. You both deserve a proper goodbye.”

I swallowed my objection and nodded.

Ethan sounded thrilled when I invited him.

“I’ll be there. I promise.”

The next afternoon, he arrived in a suit with his hair carefully styled. He looked as if he were going

to his own wedding.

“Come in,” I said.

My parents had made a full dinner. This time, Ethan immediately helped himself to some of Mom’s

smoked pork.

“This is delicious. You’re an amazing cook.”

Dad looked at him.

“Why didn’t you eat it last time?”

Ethan’s fork stopped.

“I was following a fitness plan. I’m sorry.”

Dad smiled gently.

“I’m not trying to blame you. I only hope you understand that once some opportunities are gone,

you don’t get them back.”

Ethan looked at me and finally understood why we had invited him.

“Annie, can’t you forgive me?”

1 checked the time.

“My train leaves at three.”

He stared at me.

“Where are you going?”

“Millbrook. I accepted a new position there. It comes with a promotion.”

It took him a long moment to absorb the words.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I set down my fork.

“I planned to tell you the night of the hurricane, when I asked you to pick me up.”

“You missed your chance.”

His face slowly lost its color.

“I know I crossed boundaries before. But Lily won’t be part of our lives anymore. I’ll never make that mistake again. Please believe me.”

I smiled faintly.

“If it had not been Lily, someday it would have been someone else. I don’t trust you anymore,

Ethan.”

“If you truly care about me, let me go.”

There was nothing more to say.

Ethan sat at the table for a long time. My parents quietly went into the other room and left us

alone.

Eventually, he stopped eating. Tears slid silently down his face.

It was the first time I had ever seen him cry. He looked like a man who had lost the most precious

thing in his world.

But some things, once broken, cannot be repaired.

At two thirty, I picked up my suitcase.

Ethan stopped me at the door.

“Let me drive you.”

He had regained his composure. Only his reddened eyes betrayed him.

We did not speak during the ride. When we reached the station, he took something from his

pocket and slipped it into my bag.

“It’s a gift. Open it when you arrive.”

I gave him a questioning look but said nothing.

It was dark by the time my train reached Millbrook. settled into the corporate apartment my company had arranged. Only after unpacking did I remember Ethan’s gift.

When I pulled it from my bag, it fell to the floor.

It was a ring.

I picked it up and recognized the design I had wanted for my birthday the year before. The

diamond glittered beneath the light.

I looked at it for a long time. Then I put it back in its box and mailed it to him

Once the right moment has passed, even the perfect gift becomes something you no longer want.