He Rejected My Future, Gave It To Her Chapter 03

He Rejected My Future, Gave It To Her Chapter 03

I didn’t read the script.

I looked straight into the camera and said:

“I am not withdrawing my application.”

The conference room fell completely silent.

Julian’s fingers froze against the table.

The overseas advisor blinked, then nodded.

“Of course. That’s your right.”

After the call ended, Julian didn’t say anything right away.

He picked up the passport cover from the table. Closed it slowly.

“Eleanor, you made a fool out of me in there.”

Chloe was already in tears.

“Julian, please just let it go. I shouldn’t have taken the opportunity in the first place. I’m fine. I’ll just stay.”

Julian’s voice went gentle when he looked at her.

“This isn’t your fault.”

Then he turned to me.

“Apologize.”

I looked at him.

“Why should I apologize?”

“Because you just blew up the company’s plan in front of everyone.”

“The company’s plan, or yours?”

Something behind his eyes went cold.

“Eleanor, I don’t even know who I’m talking to anymore.”

The exhaustion hit me all at once, bone-deep, draining the fight right out of me.

The HR manager stopped me on my way out.

“Eleanor, Julian mentioned you’ve been going through a rough patch. We’re shifting the key projects over to Chloe for now. You’ll stay on in a support capacity.”

“Is this a suspension?”

She gave me a tight smile.

“Don’t think of it like that. It’s just a chance for you to step back and breathe.”

A breather.

The second I stopped being cooperative, they shelved me.

That afternoon, I sat back down at my desk and discovered half my system access had been revoked.

My project folders were read-only.

Chloe was sitting across from me, flipping through my proposal with a colleague.

“I don’t really understand the logic behind these projections. How did Eleanor set this up?”

The colleague glanced in my direction.

I didn’t say a word.

Chloe turned to me herself, her voice going sweet.

“Eleanor, could you walk me through this? Julian always says you’re such a team player.”

I picked up my water bottle.

“No.”

Her smile froze.

Someone a few desks over muttered under their breath.

“That’s pretty cold.”

I set my bottle down. I didn’t raise my voice, but I didn’t lower it either.

“I’m not her mentor. And I’m not her shortcut.”

Chloe’s eyes filled again, right on cue.

Julian walked by at just the right moment.

He took one look, came over, and eased the papers out of her hands.

“Go wait in my office.”

Chloe wiped her eyes and left.

Julian stood over my desk. His voice dropped.

“Eleanor, are you seriously doing this here?”

I looked up.

“Am I the one making a scene?”

He leaned down, close enough that no one else could hear.

“You weren’t like this before.”

What was I like before?

I was the woman who made excuses for him when he forgot our anniversary.

The one who smiled through dinner when his mother said I wasn’t good enough.

The one who told herself it meant nothing the first time Chloe said his name like she had a right to it.

Of course he liked that version of me.

She never made things complicated.

After work, I went home to get my documents.

The study door wasn’t locked.

I pulled the drawer open.

Empty.

My applications, my test scores, my portfolio backups, all of it, gone.

My phone rang. Julian.

“I locked your files in my office safe. I didn’t want you doing something you’d regret.”

I gripped the empty drawer.

“Julian, who gave you the right to touch my things?”

“I’m your fiancé. That’s who.”

His voice was perfectly steady.

“Eleanor, stop fighting this. After the wedding, whatever you want, just name it. It’s yours.”

My mouth went dry.

“I want my spot back.”

Silence on the line.

Then, quietly:

“Anything but that.”

I closed my eyes.

A key turned in the front door.

Chloe walked in carrying a paper bag.

She paused when she saw me.

“Oh, Eleanor. Hi. Julian asked me to grab a few things for his trip. He’s taking me to meet with the overseas advisor tonight.”

She said it like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Like this was her home too.

I looked at the key in her hand.

Our spare key. Mine and Julian’s.

“Who gave you that?”

Chloe blinked.

“Julian gave it to me. He said I shouldn’t have to knock. We’re practically family.”

She walked into the bedroom, opened the closet, and pulled out one of Julian’s suits.

When she came back out, a scarf was draped over her wrist.

Gray cashmere.

I knitted that for Julian last winter.

The stitches weren’t perfect, but he’d worn it anyway. Told me it was the warmest thing he had.

Chloe ran her fingers over the cashmere.

“Julian said he didn’t want this anymore. It still looked good, so I figured I’d take it.”

I stood there. My fingers uncurled one by one, until my hands hung empty at my sides.

The scarf hung from the crook of her arm, one end dragging across the floor.

Something inside me finally shattered.