He Put Our Love on Pause, Then Married Her Behind My Back Chapter 01

My boyfriend, Ethan Walker, had a pause button for our relationship. Whenever we fought, all he had to say was, “We’re on a break,” and he got to be single again.

The first time, he took his coworker Sophie Hayes to a movie I’d been dying to see.

The second time, he canceled my birthday dinner reservation and took her to a new sushi place.

I was crying when I asked him why. He scrolled back through our messages and tapped the screen.

[We’re on a break.]

“We weren’t together then. What’s there to be jealous about?”

Yet during one of those breaks, I took too long to answer a text, and he called me more than a dozen times. When I asked if we weren’t both supposed to be single, he gave a cold laugh.

“So you’ve been wanting someone else all along?”

Eight breaks. Eight times I gave in first. I was afraid of losing him.

On our fifth anniversary, I posted a photo of us and asked him to share it. He glanced at it, then abruptly locked his phone.

“She just went through a breakup. Seeing it would hurt her.”

When he told me to take it down, I refused. So he put us on our ninth break.

Half an hour later, she sent me a video. He was fastening a necklace around her neck, one from the luxury brand he’d never let me buy.

“We’re on a break. It’s not a crime to spend time with someone else.”

This time, I didn’t cry. I didn’t wait, either. I pulled out my phone and accepted my friend’s invitation to a singles’ night.

***

When I got to the private room at the bar, my friend Maya Brooks slipped the bracelet off my wrist—the one that matched my boyfriend’s.

“Claire Bennett’s late!” someone called out.

“She gets the first dare!”

I managed a faint smile.

“Fine.”

The bottle spun, then stopped with its neck pointing at me. Someone drew a slip of paper and read it aloud.

[Take a picture with the guy on your left.]

The guy beside me, someone I knew from school, held up his phone and smiled.

“Want to?”

I was about to nod when the door flew open. Ethan stood in the doorway, his expression icy.

“Get the fuck away from her. All of you.”

The guy froze.

“We’re just playing a game.”

“Unless you want your ass kicked, don’t make me say it again.”

Maya got to her feet.

“Ethan, what the hell’s wrong with you?”

Ryan leaned against the doorframe and scoffed.

“Someone just took that picture, and it’s already all over the group chat. What’s Ethan supposed to do, just sit back and watch his girlfriend press up against some other guy for a photo?”

I checked my phone. The group photo was already there in our friends’ chat. In it, the guy and I looked awfully close.

Ethan bent to pick up my purse.

“We’re going home.”

I grabbed it and held it against me.

“You said we were on a break earlier tonight. Remember? By your rules, I’m single.”

He stared at me, his eyes darkening.

“A break means you cool off. It doesn’t mean you go looking for other guys!”

I gave a short laugh.

“Then what do you call taking Sophie out to buy a necklace?”

Beside Ethan, Sophie instinctively touched the necklace at her throat.

“Claire, please don’t get the wrong idea,” she said softly.

“I was having a rough day. Ethan was just keeping me company.”

I looked at the necklace, my throat tightening.

Ryan cut in.

“How’s that the same thing? A guy hangs out with a friend, that’s normal. A girl with a boyfriend goes to a singles’ night? She’s acting like a slut.”

Maya grabbed a tissue box and hurled it at him.

“Watch your mouth!”

Ryan ducked, and his tone turned nastier.

“Am I wrong? She and Ethan have been together five years. Everyone knows she’s going to marry him. Now she’s pretending she’s single so she can line up the next guy.”

I ignored Ryan and looked at Ethan.

“Is that what you think, too?”

He didn’t answer the question.

“Come home with me. I’ll let tonight go.”

My grip tightened around my cup.

“What gives you the right?”

His voice was so calm it hurt.

“Because you still want to marry me.”

The room went silent. I could’ve laughed.

For years, he’d put us on a break whenever he wanted and come back whenever it suited him. This time, I wasn’t giving in.

Ethan held my gaze.

“You want things to be fair? Fine. Tomorrow, I’m making it official with Soph.”

The paper cup slowly crumpled in my hand.

“Say that again.”

“She needs people to know she’s my girlfriend,” he said, his expression cold.

“You’ll still get your wedding.”

I’d get a wedding. She’d get to be his girlfriend in public. He said it as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

Ryan sneered.

“Ethan’s already done more than enough for you. Who’s been covering your grandma’s hospital bills?”

My chest tightened. The day Grandma was admitted, Ethan had promised he’d treat her like his own family. Now his help was leverage.

I looked up at him.

“So because you’ve paid Grandma’s bills, I’m supposed to put up with anything? Is that it?”

Ethan reached out and took the crushed paper cup from my hand.

“They were harsh. But when you’re asking for help, you could at least show a little gratitude.”

Maya’s eyes burned with anger. She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door.

“Come on. There’s no point talking to him.”