He Said a Female Bestie Is Fine—So I Got a Male One Chapter 07

He Said a Female Bestie Is Fine—So I Got a Male One Chapter 07

The story dominated headlines for a few days before the whole thing was aggressively scrubbed from the

internet.

The Coles and their friends were all wealthy, well-connected Crestwood families with immense pull. Overnight, every negative article and comment thread vanished like it had never existed.

Chloe’s social media accounts were wiped clean.

A few days after that, Richard and Linda Cole came to see me.

They begged me to go visit Ethan in the hospital.

He’d been drinking so heavily that he’d started vomiting blood and collapsed. By the time they found him and got him to Crestwood General, he was in a deep coma.

The doctors managed to pull him through after a frantic night in the ICU, but he was lying in his hospital bed, barely conscious, whispering my name over and over.

“We know he messed up, honey. We know,” Linda said, her eyes red-rimmed. “But please, for the sake of

the years you two have had together, just go see him. Please, Grace. Do it for us.”

I went.

Ethan looked terrible.

The loose hospital gown hung on his frame and he’d lost so much weight he looked almost skeletal. His skin was pale, almost translucent, and the only time his haunted, hollow eyes showed any sign of life was when

he saw me walk through the door.

I walked over and gently pushed him back down when he tried to struggle upright.

“When do you get out?” I asked.

A spark of hope flickered in his eyes.

“Next week,” he rasped. “Grace.” His voice cracked. “Does this mean, can you forgive me? Please. One more

chance. I swear, I’ll fix this. I’ll cut her off. For good. Just… please.”

“Once you’re out,” I said, “we’ll sign the papers.”

His face contorted in agony, the hope shattering into a thousand pieces.

Sweat beaded on his forehead and ran down his temples as he spoke, his voice sounding like it was scraping

over gravel.

“Grace. I didn’t, it wasn’t, I never cheated on you. You know that. It was just stupid games. Stupid. If that’s

what this is about. I’m done. With all of them. Everyone. Just… please. Don’t go.’

When he saw I wasn’t reacting, he threw himself off the bed and onto the floor, landing on his knees in front

of me.

The IV stand went crashing down, tubes and bags scattering everywhere. The needle in his hand tore loose and blood welled up and dripped onto the white tile floor.

It was a pathetic, wretched, desperate display,

I’d never seen Ethan like this.

He came from money and good looks, and his whole life women had been the ones chasing after him. A man with that much pride didn’t grovel at a woman’s feet.

I knew I was supposed to be moved by the sight.

But I wasn’t.

I just looked down at him, with no intention of bending down to help him up, and shook my

“No,” I said.

head.

My coldness cut him deeper than any knife could have. I could see the pain and confusion warring on his

face. He still didn’t understand.

“She threw herself at us!” he screamed, his voice splintering. “Okay? Fine. I didn’t stop her. But I never touched her! Never! Why can’t you just let this go?”

He’d torn something in his outburst, and a dark red stain began to bloom through the front of his hospital

gown.

The commotion brought our parents rushing into the room.

When they saw the scene, Ethan on his knees, bleeding, chaos erupted.

Richard Cole, a man who commanded absolute respect in his family, stepped forward. [

“Grace,” he said, his tone firm and formal. “Ethan’s an idiot. I’m not defending him. But Chloe Bennett is a goddamn train wreck, and he was too stupid to see it coming. He thought she was just some kid sister from the old neighborhood. He was wrong. He got played.”

“Look. ‘m not going to stand here and quote scripture at you. But you two built something. A life. A home

Does it really have to end over this?”

“Here’s my offer. You don’t sign those papers, and everything we have, the house, the cars, the company, every last dollar, it’s all in your name. You control it. Not him. And if he ever pulls anything like this again? He’s out. Nothing. You have my word.”

I could see my own parents wavering. The offer was a serious one.

My mom pulled me aside and whispered to me. My dad looked like he wanted to object but my mom shot him a look and tugged on his ear, pulling him away.

“Frank,” she hissed, “I know what you’re going to say. We can support our daughter just fine on our own. But that baby she’s carrying… it needs a father.”

That’s right. I was pregnant.

One month along.

I’d been planning to quietly take care of it, but my parents had found out.

Older people held a view on life that I couldn’t fully comprehend. They looked at Ethan, and while they didn’t say anything, their expressions were softer than they’d been before.

They wanted me to give him another chance.