My Best Friend Posed As His Girlfriend, So I Walked Away Chapter 03

My Best Friend Posed As His Girlfriend, So I Walked Away Chapter 03

“Of course.”

Lysander Keene sounded surprised I even had to ask.

“Calder brings her whenever we all get together. Everybody knows her.”

He laughed.

“Before I met Sabine, I didn’t even know Calder had a soft side.”

Then he started telling me stories. Last year, on my birthday, Calder had taken Sabine camping in the mountains with his friends.

They had shared a tent.

On our third anniversary, he had gone abroad on a scuba trip with her and some friends.

They had shared a hotel room.

And that Christmas, while I went home to spend the holidays with my parents, Calder took Sabine to warm, sunny Arroyo Crest.

I listened in silence.

Suddenly, I felt ridiculous.

Every time Calder had told me he was busy, every time he said he couldn’t be with me…

He had been with Sabine.

I didn’t say a word for the rest of the drive.

I simply lowered my eyes and booked a flight home for the next morning.

When the confirmation appeared, some of the pressure in my chest finally eased.

Starting tomorrow, Calder and Sabine would no longer exist in my world.

We reached the funeral home soon after.

As I opened the door, Lysander spoke again.

“Verity.”

I turned back.

“Calder and Sabine really love each other. You’re her best friend, so you support them, right?”

I looked at him for a moment.

“Yes.”

My voice was calm.

“I wish them all the best.”

Then I got out.

I carried the flowers I had bought into the funeral home chapel.

A long line of Professor Ashbourne’s former students had already gathered to pay their respects.

I quietly took my place at the back.

Sabine spotted me almost immediately and hurried over.

“Verity, you don’t have to wait with everyone else. Come on. Professor Ashbourne would’ve been so happy to know you came.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“It’s just such a shame you didn’t get to see him one last time.”

Before I could answer, tears rolled down her cheeks.

“You didn’t answer me last night. Are you still mad?”

She swallowed.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kept it from you.”

Calder had been greeting mourners nearby.

The second he saw her crying, his brows drew together.

“Why are you apologizing to her?”

His voice was low.

“She was away working. It’s not your fault she couldn’t make it back.”

During the first two days of my trip, Calder had video-called me twice a day.

On the third day, he suddenly stopped answering.

I asked if something had happened.

Hours later, near midnight, he finally replied with two words.

I’m fine.

He never told me when he was struggling.

When his company had nearly collapsed and desperately needed funding, he hadn’t told me then either.

He had simply gone drinking with Sabine night after night, ignoring my calls and messages.

I only learned the truth when drinking aggravated his stomach so badly that he ended up in the ER and a doctor called me.

And now he stood there telling everyone I had been too busy to come home.

As if I had chosen work over Professor Ashbourne.

“You’re just one of Grandpa’s former students.”

Cecily came over, visibly annoyed.

“You’re not family. What right do you have to blame Sabine for anything?”

She moved protectively in front of Sabine.

“Just because you’re her best friend doesn’t mean she has to put up with you treating her like this.”

Her expression hardened.

“Honestly, you sound like one of those fake friends who can’t stand seeing her happy.”

“If this is how you’re going to behave, maybe stop calling yourself her friend.”