Fifty Bowls, One Broken Engagement Chapter 06

Fifty Bowls, One Broken Engagement Chapter 06

Rain had started falling outside.

As Ethan walked through it, he suddenly remembered the day at the Italian restaurant. Claire had come home soaked to the skin.

She must have felt just as miserable walking alone in the rain.

The moment Ethan opened the rental’s door, Megan rushed toward him.

“Ethan.”

“This place is too small. My parents can’t stay here comfortably. Can you get us somewhere else?”

“I already sent you the hotel I picked.”

Ethan opened her message.

The room cost $950 a night.

His pupils tightened, and Claire flashed through his mind again.

Megan had ignored the fact that he was drenched and focused only on what she wanted.

Hadn’t he treated Claire exactly the same way?

“And tell Claire to hurry up and buy the condo,” Megan added. “Where else am I supposed to live?”

“Enough!”

Fury burned in Ethan’s eyes. “Starting today, you’re not coming here anymore.”

“What?”

Megan froze, then wrapped herself around his arm.

“Did Claire pressure you again? She’s so petty. She’s really throwing my parents and me out in the rain?”

“This has nothing to do with her!”

Ethan shook Megan off. “This is my decision.”

He dragged the Walsh family’s suitcases to the door, making it clear they were leaving.

“Ethan, I…”

“Shut up!”

Megan tried to continue, but he cut her off.

Robert Walsh and Linda Walsh were furious.

“Ethan, how can you do this? Megan grew up with you, and we’re older than you. You’re actually throwing us out?”

“Your fiancée has poisoned you against us!”

Ethan clenched his fists.

“You don’t get to judge Claire!”

“You asked me to look after Megan. What did that turn into?”

“You all kept pushing for more. If you hadn’t, Claire wouldn’t have left!”

He refused to listen to another word and forced the Walsh family out.

Then he collapsed onto the floor like all the air had been punched out of him.

At first, Claire had never objected to him helping Megan.

She had supported it.

Claire was the one who found Megan an apartment. She paid three months of rent and bought her bedding and a refrigerator.

But over time, Megan started clinging to Ethan every day. She even joined his company as his assistant.

They became closer and closer.

People had warned him to establish boundaries.

He dismissed them. Holding hands, hugging, or putting a friend to sleep seemed perfectly normal to him.

The first real fight between him and Claire had happened during another storm.

He had chosen to pick up Megan instead of Claire.

The more he remembered, the heavier his guilt became.

He finally understood that he had ignored Claire’s feelings for years.

That was how he’d created this disaster.

None of it had happened overnight.

His phone buzzed.

Ethan grabbed it eagerly, convinced Claire was calling. The screen showed his father’s name instead.

Disappointment crashed over him like ice water.

He answered, and Frank Foster’s angry voice came through immediately.

“Why did you throw the Walsh family out?”

“And what is Claire doing? The wedding is almost here, the invitations have already gone out, and now she’s disappeared and decided she isn’t getting married?”

“What is that going to do to the Foster family’s reputation?”

Ethan’s disgust toward Megan deepened.

She had actually called his father first to complain.

How had he never noticed how skilled she was at playing the victim and turning people against each other?

“Dad, this was my fault.”

Ethan lit a cigarette and told him everything from beginning to end.

Frank stayed silent for three full minutes before sighing.

“Ethan, you were a fool.”

“Claire may have been the best woman you’ll ever meet. You’ll have a hard time finding anyone else who loves you that much and is willing to struggle beside you.”

Until then, Frank hadn’t known the truth. He had always believed his son’s startup was thriving.

Now he understood that Claire had been supporting the entire thing.

And while she held Ethan’s life together, he had maintained an inappropriate relationship with Megan and ignored Claire’s pain.

Frank would have left too.

Who would marry someone who never cared about them?

“Dad.”

Ethan’s eyes reddened. “Will you talk to Claire for me?”

Frank sighed. “I’ll try.”

He ended the call and dialed me. His first words were an apology.

“I’m sorry, Claire. I failed to raise Ethan properly.”

“He knows he was wrong, and he regrets everything. Can you give him one more chance?”

“You were together for six years…”

I cut him off before he could finish.

“Ethan and I only had six years. Megan has been beside him since childhood.”

“So I’m stepping aside.”

“They can finally have what they always wanted.”

Frank wanted to explain, but there was nothing he could say.

Silence was all he had left.

“Wish them a happy life for me.”

I ended the call.

Frank repeated every word to Ethan.

Ethan stayed silent for a long time. Tears slipped from the corners of his eyes.

His chest ached.

It felt as though something was being torn out of him.

He couldn’t catch it.

He couldn’t hold it.

He couldn’t imagine a life without Claire beside him.