He Promised Me A Sunset, He Kissed Her Under It Chapter 08

He Promised Me A Sunset, He Kissed Her Under It Chapter 08

That night, Ethan skipped the graduation dinner.

He went back to the studio alone and read through the handoff files I’d left behind again and again.

From the company registration to client proposals, from equipment specs to production budgets, my work was everywhere.

I had come up with the brand name and edited the promo reel. I had landed our first client after showing up at their office seven separate times.

Even the speech Ethan gave when he won the startup pitch competition had been rewritten by me after two all-nighters.

But on the day he accepted the award, he’d stood onstage and said, “This is my dream. Mine alone.”

The camera had panned across the audience.

I was sitting in the last row, smiling as I applauded him.

At the time, Ethan hadn’t thought there was anything wrong with that.

He’d believed that because I loved him, I should be happy to clear the path in front of him.

Now, looking at the clean, complete handoff I’d prepared, he finally understood that I’d been ready to leave long before he realized it.

His phone vibrated with a screenshot of movie tickets from Chloe.

[Graduation celebration. You promised you’d go with me.]

Ethan didn’t reply.

Ten minutes later, the studio door opened.

Chloe walked in carrying a cake, her eyes red.

“Why aren’t you answering your phone?”

“I’m busy.”

“Busy working, or busy trying to find Claire?”

She set the cake down hard on the table.

“She deleted you. Why are you still staring at all the stuff she left?”

“Didn’t you always say she couldn’t live without you?”

Ethan’s face darkened.

“Get out.”

Chloe froze.

“You’re snapping at me?”

“You were the one who kissed me first. You were the one who said you were sick of Claire controlling everything you did.”

“You said all she cared about was work and that she didn’t know how to have any fun.”

“Now she’s gone. Isn’t that exactly what you wanted?”

Ethan’s jaw tightened.

He had said those things.

Whenever Chloe got upset because I was still in his life, he’d put me down to make her feel better.

Then he’d turn around and see the breakfast I’d made, the proposal I’d finished, the client files I’d organized, and decide I was still the better person to build a future with..

He hadn’t wanted to give up the excitement Chloe gave him.

He hadn’t wanted to give up the stability and support I gave him either.

So he’d promised Chloe he’d break up with me while keeping me comfortably in place.

Having two women love him made him feel wanted.

Wanted enough to be fought over.

He had assumed that arrangement would never end.

Chloe walked over and wrapped her arms around him from behind.

“Claire’s gone. We don’t have to hide anymore.”

“I can finally be with you out in the open.”

Ethan stiffened and instinctively pushed her away.

Chloe stumbled into the edge of the table and stared at him in disbelief.

“You pushed me?”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“Then what did you mean?”

Her tears spilled over immediately.

“You regret it, don’t you?”

Ethan dragged a hand through his hair, frustrated.

“I just need time.”

“Time to wait for her to come back?”

Chloe gave a bitter laugh.

“You never actually planned to break up with her.”

“You wanted me to give you the romance and excitement, while she stayed behind to clean up every mess you made.”

“Who the hell do you think you are, picking between us like some king?”

Her words hit the one truth he least wanted to admit.

His face hardened, but he had no answer.

The next day, the team’s biggest client formally terminated the contract.

They didn’t soften the message.

“We chose your team because we trusted Claire Bennett’s creative judgment and her ability to deliver.”

“Now that she’s gone, you can’t even put together one workable proposal. Why should we keep working with you?”

When the call ended, Ryan kicked a chair over in anger.

“Claire’s ruthless.”

“Four years together, and she just pulls everything she’d brought in? She didn’t cut you any slack at all.”

Ethan’s head snapped up.

“What right do you have to blame her?”

Ryan stared at him.

“What the hell are you taking this out on me for?”

“If you hadn’t insisted on taking those pictures at Lake Tahoe, she never would’ve caught us.”

Ryan’s temper flared too.

“Now you’re blaming me?”

“Did I make you kiss Chloe?”

“Did I make you lie to Claire?”

“You didn’t have a problem with any of it while you were enjoying yourself.”

The studio went silent.

Ethan grabbed his jacket and stormed out.

He went to my dorm, the photo studio, my usual coffee shop, and the diner near the back gate of campus.

Everywhere he went, people told him the same thing.

I’d already left.

Finally, he went to the apartment building we’d once planned to move into.

The unit had already been rented to someone else.

Warm yellow light glowed through the windows.

Ethan stood there for a long time before remembering that the old key was still in his pocket.

The apartment was gone.

The startup was gone.

And I, the person who had once always stood behind him, wasn’t coming back either.

Only then did he realize he hadn’t even gotten the chance to say he was sorry.