Five People, Four Cups, One Who Walked Away Chapter 09

Five People, Four Cups, One Who Walked Away Chapter 09

At Mia’s words, Ethan’s expression changed 

before anyone else’s. 

“What did you say?” 

She gripped the mug until her knuckles went 

white. 

“When I first moved in, I envied Nora so much.” 

“Cole remembered her work schedule. Lily left a 

light on for her. Ethan complained that she was a 

pain, but he still picked her up when it rained.” 

“I wanted someone to treat me that way, too.” 

Cole cut her off. 

“So you pushed her aside on purpose?” 

“I didn’t mean to drive her out.” 

Mia’s voice shook. 

“I just wanted to see what would happen.” 

“I said my stomach hurt, and you stopped waiting 

for her.” 

“I said I needed space for my drawing boards, and 

you moved her things.” 

“I said the set only had four mugs, and none of you 

told me to get a different one.” 

“Every time, you chose me.” 

“Then why would I stop?” 

No one had an answer. 

Mia looked at me. 

“Nora, I know I’m not innocent.” 

“I liked being the one who came first.” 

“But I honestly never thought you would leave.” 

I looked at her for a long time. 

“It’s not that you never thought I might leave.” 

“You figured that even if I was hurt, it wouldn’t stop 

you from getting what you wanted.” 

Tears slipped down her face. 

This time, no one rushed over to comfort her. 

Cole’s expression was grim. 

“So the mugs were on purpose. What about the 

room?” 

“That, too.” 

“The insulated tumbler?” 

“I said I’d left mine at work.” 

Cole closed his eyes briefly, then raised the 

bouquet to throw it into the trash. 

I called out to stop him. 

“Cut the act.” 

His gaze snapped to me. 

“Nora, I didn’t know she was doing it on purpose.” 

“What difference would that make?” 

“She held out her hand, and you handed her my 

things.” 

“Now you’ve found out she had her own agenda, 

and you want to blame all of it on her?” 

“You made the choices.” 

“And you’re the ones who shut me out.” 

Cole’s lips went pale. 

Ethan let go of Mia’s arm. 

Lily took half a step back and leaned against the 

wall. 

She said quietly, 

“Nor’s right.” 

“We weren’t tricked.” 

“We thought someone as understanding as her 

would just keep taking it.” 

Mia moved out that day. 

No one kicked her out. 

Ethan found her a room in a shared apartment 

near her office. 

Before leaving, she put my room back the way it 

had been and threw away the four mugs. 

But I heard all of this from Lily later. 

I didn’t go back to look. 

A month later, the new center had the highest 

renewal rate in the city. 

Headquarters gave me a bonus and asked me to mentor the managers of two other new centers. 

On the day we celebrated, Cole waited for me by 

the entrance. 

This time, he brought no flowers and didn’t ask me 

to come home. 

He handed me the old photo album from the 

group home. 

“You left this behind.” 

I took it. 

“Thank you.” 

His eyes reddened. 

“Nora, I gave up the apartment.” 

“I sold the table, too.” 

“I didn’t understand until now. Without you, it was 

just a place to live.” 

“It wasn’t a home.” 

I nodded. 

“Then learn how to build a life again.” 

He looked at me and swallowed. 

“Can we start over?” 

I put the album in my bag. 

“No.” 

“I know I was wrong.” 

“I know.” 

“But knowing you were wrong doesn’t mean I have 

to take you back.” 

He stood there without speaking for a long time. 

As I walked past him, he suddenly asked in a low 

voice, 

“You can really let all of it go?” 

I paused. 

“I can.” 

“That’s why it took me three years to bring myself 

to leave.”