Fifty Bowls, One Broken Engagement Chapter 05

Fifty Bowls, One Broken Engagement Chapter 05

The next evening, Ethan arrived at the new condo with the Walsh family. Smiling broadly, he entered the code.

[Access code incorrect.]

The electronic voice rang out.

Ethan’s smile stiffened, and resentment surged through him.

He had clearly told Claire Bennett to use his birthday. She had ignored him.

She had humiliated him in front of everyone.

“Ethan, Claire didn’t give you the code? She’s being so petty. She’s still giving you the silent treatment over a few stupid things.”

Megan pouted as she complained.

Her parents immediately joined in. “She’s already like this before the wedding. Imagine how much worse she’ll be afterward.”

Ethan was already irritated. Their words only made him angrier.

He called Claire.

No answer.

Then he sent a WhatsApp message. The instant the app showed it couldn’t be delivered, his entire body jolted.

“Claire blocked me on WhatsApp too…”

“What?”

Megan widened her eyes in fake surprise, then frowned. “That’s too far, even for Claire. No matter what happened, she can’t just block your number and WhatsApp whenever she wants.”

Ethan agreed completely.

Why couldn’t she sit down and talk like an adult? Why did she have to block him just to force him to give in?

“Who are you people, and why are you standing here?”

A middle-aged man walked toward them.

“How is that any of your business?”

“We’re not allowed to stand outside our own home?”

Megan snapped at him with her usual entitlement.

Ethan added, “We could throw a dance party outside our own door, and it still wouldn’t concern you.”

“You’re right.”

The man smiled. “Except this is my home.”

Ethan scoffed. “Sir, do you have the wrong address? My fiancée was supposed to put down the deposit on this condo a few days ago.”

“Was she?”

The man narrowed his eyes and pulled out the deed.

“Check the street address and unit number. Is this the place?”

Ethan looked down. His face froze again, then slowly drained of color.

At last, he realized something was wrong.

He dropped the Walsh family back at the rental and rushed to Claire’s office.

“Hi. I’m looking for Claire Bennett, the deputy director of strategic planning.”

The receptionist blinked. “Ms. Bennett resigned.”

What?

Ethan stumbled backward in shock and nearly fell.

“Could you contact her for me? It’s urgent.”

Once he’d steadied himself, his voice trembled with desperation.

The receptionist nodded and placed a call.

I answered.

“Claire.”

“How could you just block me? You didn’t make the down payment either. Are you saying you don’t want to get married?”

Ethan snatched the phone and demanded an answer.

“That’s right. I’m not marrying you.”

I took a calm sip of coffee.

“What?”

Ethan became even angrier. Forgetting where he was, he shouted across the lobby.

“Marriage is serious. You don’t get to call it off whenever you feel like it!”

“Do I mean anything to you?”

“Do you care that little about our relationship?”

People throughout the lobby turned to stare.

Their expressions grew strange as they looked at Ethan.

I set down my coffee. “Did I mean anything to you? Did you care about this relationship?”

“Of course!”

Ethan didn’t hesitate. “We were together for more than six years!”

“I was your unpaid housekeeper for six years.”

I gave a faint smile. “I could never compete with Megan, the woman you couldn’t stop thinking about. One little pout from her, and you’d hand over your life.”

“If I screamed until my throat gave out, all I’d get from you was irritation.”

Ethan went still. Rainwater dripped from his clothes, and all the strength seemed to leave his body.

For once, he had nothing to say.

I ended the call.

The people around him immediately started whispering and pointing.

“That’s Ms. Bennett’s fiancé, isn’t it? He dresses well, but he’s just a cheating bastard playing two women.”

“During that storm, he refused to pick Ms. Bennett up and drove across town for his childhood friend instead. It made me furious just watching it.”

“He wears designer clothes while Ms. Bennett barely owns anything. His startup never made money. She paid for everything.”

“She only tolerated him because she loved him. I would’ve kicked him out years ago.”

The condemnation crashed over him from every direction.

Ethan kept his head down and didn’t dare argue. He could only flee in humiliation.

Because every word was true.

He had never believed Claire would leave. He had assumed she couldn’t survive without him.

He had trapped her with the certainty of her love.

What he had never understood was that love and patience could both be worn away, one wound at a time.