He Gave My Wedding Dress To Another Woman Chapter 02

He Gave My Wedding Dress To Another Woman Chapter 02

Ethan didn’t push her away. He let her stay tucked against him and looked right through me, like I was background noise.

“Haley invited me over for dinner. You coming?”

“No.” The word came out steadier than I felt.

No wonder he’d barely touched his food at the party. He’d been saving his appetite for a cozy dinner for two.

Haley widened her eyes, all fake surprise. “Oh — Chloe. I didn’t even see you there.”

She turned back to Ethan, voice dripping with concern. “Ethan, it’s really pouring. We can always do dinner another night — you should probably get Chloe home first.”

Haley shivered slightly. “I’ll wait it out here. Don’t worry about me — I’ll be fine.”

She played martyr perfectly, and Ethan took the bait right on cue.

“No way.” Ethan shook his head. “I told you I’d come, and I meant it. I don’t break promises.”

“Then…” Haley glanced sideways at me, biting her lip like she was worried I’d snap. “What about Chloe?”

“We’ll run for it.” Ethan shoved the umbrella into my hands and grabbed Haley’s wrist, pulling her into the downpour.

Their laughter hit me before the rain did. It swallowed every other sound.

He’d done that with me once. Same words, same rain, same reckless grin — pulling me out from under the shelter, both of us soaked and laughing like nothing else existed.

I gripped the umbrella tighter, tucked my chin against the wind, and started walking home. My fingers wouldn’t stop shaking.

Ethan used to text me as soon as I walked through the door. Rain or shine, it didn’t matter — the message always came. Tonight, I stepped out of the shower, picked up my phone, and found nothing.

What I found instead was Haley’s latest post.

[when you’re with the right person, even a storm feels like an adventure.]

The comments were already rolling in. [omg who’s the lucky guy?? spill!!]

Haley’s reply sat right underneath. [Shh… E.G.]

E.G. Ethan’s initials. I stared at those two letters until they burned, and something sour crawled up the back of my throat.

Two people laughing in a downpour, choosing each other over shelter. What else do you call that?

Since moving in together, Ethan and I had one rule — home before it got too late, no exceptions. He didn’t walk through the door until well past midnight.

He was wearing different clothes. They were slightly too small to be his, and he smelled like someone else’s laundry detergent.

My vision blurred. I blinked it clear, steadied my breath, and held out the application form. “Professor Hughes wants you to think it over. He says this kind of opportunity doesn’t come around twice.”

Ethan snatched his form out of my hand and ripped it apart. Pieces of paper drifted to the floor between us, and I couldn’t move.

Nothing about this made sense.

“You know how hard Haley’s been working. So why did you go to Professor Hughes behind her back? Why are you trying to make her look bad?”

His head snapped up, eyes blazing. “Does it make you feel powerful? Picking on a girl who’s just trying to finish her research?”

The accusation landed like a slap. I hadn’t done any of that.

“Ethan.” My voice cracked on his name. “When did I go after her? When did I say a single bad word? Tell me — because I’d love to know what you think you heard.”