He Came With a Ring. I Had a Fiancé Chapter 03

He Came With a Ring. I Had a Fiancé Chapter 03

“Enough, enough. Why are you so worked up?”

Only then did I notice Claire had come with him.

She shot Dylan a reproachful look and tugged him behind her by his sleeve before turning to me.

“Audrey, can’t you stop being so stubborn? For my sake?”

My eyes went to her fingers, still curled around his sleeve. I said nothing.

She hesitated, then tried again with a placating smile.

“Haven’t you always wanted him to transfer back? I spent all night persuading him. He handed in his resignation this morning. You won’t have to travel between two cities to see him anymore.”

“You’re happy now, right?”

I pulled my lips into a thin smile.

I’d begged Dylan for six months to apply for a transfer home. Every time, he’d said his project wasn’t finished and he couldn’t trust anyone else to take over.

Yet one word from Claire, and he was willing to quit his job altogether.

Claire gave him a meaningful look.

“I’ll let you two talk. I’m going to use the bathroom.”

She disappeared inside.

I picked up a black trash bag and held it out to Dylan. Inside were the things he’d left at my place.

“We’re broken up. There’s nothing left to talk about.”

He slapped the bag away impatiently.

“Could you stop using a breakup to test me?”

“Ah! A cockroach! Dylan!”

Claire screamed from the bathroom.

Alarm flashed across Dylan’s face. He rushed past me and into the bathroom without a second thought.

He wrapped his arms high around her thighs, lifted her, and carried her into the bedroom.

For an instant, I caught a glimpse of bare, pale skin.

I looked toward the bathroom. Claire’s underwear and skirt lay on the sink.

She wasn’t wearing anything below the waist.

I stood there stunned, barely able to process it.

Dylan brushed past me, grabbed her clothes, and handed them into the bedroom. This time, he stopped at the doorway instead of going inside.

His ears flushed all the way down his neck, and desire burned in his eyes.

Claire laughed softly from inside.

“Please. When we were dating, you saw everything there was to see. Why are you acting shy now?”

Nausea surged up my throat.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I stormed in, grabbed Claire, and dragged her toward the door.

“Get out! Both of you! Get out! I never want to see either of you again!”

“Audrey, you’re hurting me!” Claire shrieked, struggling.

The moment she said it, a powerful shove sent me sprawling.

My forehead struck the sharp corner of a cabinet.

Pain exploded through my head. My vision went black for several long seconds.

Through the haze, I saw Dylan anxiously checking the red marks on Claire’s wrist.

When he looked at me, all I saw was anger.

“Couldn’t you have talked about this like a normal person? Why did you have to get violent?”

I braced a hand against the wall and managed to stand. When I touched my forehead, my fingers came away sticky.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as my nose stung with the urge to cry.

“What did I ever do to you, Claire? Why would you do something this disgusting to me?”

Why did she have to flirt with my boyfriend, of all people?

“Don’t forget, without my parents paying your college tuition, you wouldn’t even have been able to go!”

Claire went pale and pushed Dylan away. Her eyes instantly turned even redder than mine.

“Audrey, Dylan and I aren’t getting back together. You’re imagining things.”

“But you’ve never once turned down the attention he gives you!”

Attention with no boundaries at all.

She pressed her lips together. Huge tears rolled down her face. It took her a while to speak.

“I’m sorry. I’ll leave.”

Before I could respond, Dylan stepped in front of her, his face tight with indignation on her behalf.

“What gives you the right to kick her out?”

“If Claire hadn’t known you had a crush on me, she never would’ve broken up with me!”

“Claire asked me to pull strings and get your résumé in front of the right people. That’s how you got into the company after graduation. She wanted to bring us together!”

“She’s always considered you her best friend. She’s done nothing but look out for you. And all you do is get jealous and throw tantrums over every little thing.”

My mind went utterly blank.

I stared at him.

“So what?”

“You accepted my confession and agreed to date me because Claire told you to?”