He Proposed to Me to Punish Her Chapter 01

He Proposed to Me to Punish Her Chapter 01

My best friend Gillian Manning swore she’d never settle down with anyone.

Yet in just three years, she’d had two kids.

Every time I asked who the father was, she’d just smile and stay quiet.

The truth finally came out on the night Liam Young proposed to me.

Drunk out of his mind, Liam pressed Gillian against the wall, his voice thick with desperation.

“Manning, why can’t you be brave for once? Marry me, and I’ll break things off with Chris right away.”

Gillian gasped in anger and landed a sharp slap on his cheek.

“You just proposed to Chris. Treat her right. If she finds out about us, I’ll never forgive you.”

Liam’s eyes burned red with rage.

His gaze burned with furious frustration, barely holding himself back, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“Why are you doing this to me? I proposed to her just to push you. If you don’t love me, why did you have Aidan and Lucas?”

The thorns on the proposal rose pricked my palm, sending sharp stinging pain through my hand.

No matter how beautiful something hurtful was, it had to be thrown away without hesitation.

—

I twisted the engagement ring around my finger over and over. Eventually, I slipped it off and left it by the front door.

I turned to leave and ran straight into Liam’s group of friends.

They were all here to witness our proposal.

Jay Shaw spoke up casually.

“Chris, do you know where Liam and Manning went?”

Another man stumbled forward and clapped Jay on the shoulder, speaking without a care in the world.

“Why bother asking? Those two have been inseparable since they were kids. They might as well stay together forever.”

“They never wanted to get married anyway. They already have two kids, what difference does a wedding make?”

The others rushed over and clamped a hand over Noah Carter’s mouth. They smiled awkwardly at me.

“He’s totally wasted. Don’t listen to his nonsense.”

I knew better. Drunken words were always honest words.

For eight years, I’d spent countless meals and gatherings with these people.

They’d always greeted me warmly. I’d thought we were friends.

But they’d all kept quiet.

Not a single one of them had told me about Liam and Gillian.

I guessed I was just a joke to them.

That explained why they always dragged me along to their parties even when we had nothing in common.

I’d catch them staring at my flustered face and sharing knowing grins every time.

“Let him finish,” I said firmly.

My cold gaze swept over them, and they slowly pulled their hands away from Noah’s mouth.

They’d always seen me as someone easy to push around.

Now free to speak, Noah rambled on without restraint.

“Manning turned down Liam’s confession ninety-nine times. She even encouraged you to go after him. She knew he was head over heels for her.”

“When his hundredth confession failed, Liam gave you a pendant he carved himself.”

“You came from a small town and didn’t know any better. You thought the carved initials on it were just a brand logo, so you wore it every single day.”

I wanted to be like those bold heroines in novels. I planned to yank the necklace off and toss it in the trash, cool and collected.

But the expensive piece of jewelry was far sturdier than I expected.

I pulled at it again and again until thin irritated streaks marked my neck, yet the necklace still wouldn’t come loose.

I finally tugged it over my head in a rush, and my loose hair fell messily across my face.

The commotion outside caught Liam’s attention. The ring I’d left on the floor got kicked into a corner.

He shot a sharp look at his friends and warned them in a low voice.

“Manning’s asleep. Keep your voices down.”

When his eyes landed on me, a flicker of disgust crossed his face.

I must have looked a complete mess.

He gently closed the door behind him and walked over to me. He pulled out wet wipes and started wiping my face.

Liam had always been careless.

He forgot my birthday all the time. He missed dinner plans with my parents repeatedly.

He even forgot I was allergic to alcohol, and my skin broke out in red rashes where the wipes touched me.

Still, he always carried wet wipes, diapers and baby bottles wherever he went.

He pressed the wipes into my hand.

“Go clean yourself up in the restroom.”

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, utterly defeated.

Tears had smudged my mascara into two black streaks down my cheeks. The eyeliner I’d spent ages perfecting had blurred completely.

Gillian had told me that Liam was going to propose that morning. I’d stood in front of this mirror, doing my makeup over and over again.

I kept asking her if I looked nice.

She’d wrapped her arms around me from behind and teased me softly.

“You look gorgeous. He’ll be totally swept off his feet.”

My hands shook as I sent a confirmation message to the Biomedical Research Institute to accept my position.

Three years away from everyone and everything would be enough to heal.