He Put Our Love on Pause, Then Married Her Behind My Back Chapter 08

After moving out, I rented a small place of my own. Maya helped me carry in the last box, then dropped onto

the couch, out of breath.

She looked up at me.

“Claire, if you don’t want to be alone tonight, I’ll stay.”

We squeezed into the same bed that night. Neither of us fell asleep right away after we turned out the light.

After a long time, Maya spoke softly.

“Do you regret giving five years of your life to someone like him?”

In the dark, my fingers slowly tightened around the edge of the blanket.

“I do. But I regret giving in all eight times even more.”

The room went quiet for a while. Maya didn’t ask anything else. She just reached over and hugged me.

I filled the days after that with job applications and updates to my portfolio. I barely had time to sit and think.

But whenever I stopped, I saw that hospital room again: Grandma clutching her phone, her eyes red.

“Did you go after someone else’s boyfriend because of my medical bills?”

I couldn’t let myself dwell on it. I just kept pushing forward.

A month later, I started at a new company. After signing the paperwork, I walked out of the building and

stood by the curb, looking up at the sky for a long time.

When my first paycheck came, I paid my rent, then sent Ethan a payment. The note was brief.

[Monthly repayment.]

He replied almost immediately.

[Got it.]

A little later, another message arrived.

[How’s the new job going?]

I didn’t reply.

After that, I sent a payment on time every month. Sometimes he’d confirm he’d gotten it. Sometimes he’d ask

if I’d been busy.

I never wrote back.

Some of our mutual friends reached out, too, offering to buy me a meal and apologize properly. My only

response was:

[Post your apology in the group chat. Don’t contact me privately.]

At first, Ryan tried to defend himself.

[I only said those things because I was worried about Ethan.]

I looked at the message and replied with two words.

[Delete it.]

Half an hour later, he posted a long apology in the group chat. After that, no one joked about those “breaks”

anymore.

Evelyn also asked Maya whether she could send me a few things. When Maya asked if I wanted to accept them, I was standing at the sink, washing Grandma’s pillowcase.

My cuffs were wet. I kept my head down and smoothed the fabric between my hands.

“Don’t give her my address. And don’t accept anything from her.”

I didn’t need kindness that came too late.

Some time later, Ethan emailed me. It was brief: he wanted to meet and confirm how I’d pay off the rest.

I stared at it for a long time. Eventually, I replied with a time to meet. We agreed on a café.

I got there early, but Ethan was already sitting by the window. He was much thinner than the last time I’d seen

him, his jaw shadowed with stubble. A printed breakdown lay on the table beside a cup of cold coffee.

I sat down and spoke first.

“Let’s go over what I still owe.”

He nodded and pushed the sheet toward me.

“If you keep paying at this rate, you’ll have it all paid off in another year.”

I looked down at it without speaking.

Then someone else came in. Sophie stopped a little way from our table, She didn’t approach, but asked a

server to bring me a letter.

“She says it’s an apology letter,” the server said softly.

I took it and set it at the edge of the table without reading it.

Ethan stared at the letter.

“We got divorced after the wedding was canceled,” he said quietly.

“Ryan and Luke know the whole story now, too.”

I nodded once.

“Just keep the same account for the payments.”

He said okay, but gripped his cup so tightly his knuckles turned white. After a long time, he looked up at me.

“Claire, back then, I didn’t want to let you go. I didn’t want to let her go, either.”

I’d just picked up my coffee. My hand went still.

He went on.

“I thought you’d keep putting up with it for Grandma’s sake. That’s why I thought I could get away with it. And

I shouldn’t have left you to deal with everything in that room alone.”

I set down my cup and looked at him.

“You’re sorry now. Does that bring Grandma back?”

He froze, the light fading from his eyes.

I stood and tucked the repayment sheet into my bag. As I stepped away from the table, the letter was still

where I’d left it. I didn’t take it.

“Grandma can’t hear any of this anymore. And I don’t want to read that letter.”