His Friends, Her Friends, His Mother, All Lied To Her Face Chapter 05

His Friends, Her Friends, His Mother, All Lied To Her Face Chapter 05

Ryan and the others finally managed to pull Maya back from the window. Her shoulders shook as she cried.

“Ryan, this is all my fault. I never should’ve gotten attached to Buddy. I never should’ve come back at all.”

Everyone gathered around her.

Ryan’s mother rubbed her back gently.

“This isn’t your fault. Claire overreacted. It was one dog. Was that really a reason to hit someone?”

Tyler crouched beside Maya.

“Don’t cry, Maya. As far as I’m concerned, you’ll always be my sister-in-law.”

Tessa had been silent for a long time. When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet.

“But Buddy once saved Claire’s life.”

“It makes sense that she reacted so strongly.”

The words landed like a stone dropped into still water.

Ryan, who had been texting Claire, went motionless.

The room fell into an uneasy silence.

As he looked at everyone surrounding Maya, he suddenly remembered the tears in Claire’s eyes.

—

Then he remembered the blood on the floor, bright and impossible to ignore.

No one had cared that Claire was hurt. No one had even asked if she was okay or offered her a single word of comfort.

Ryan looked down at their message thread again. Every text he had already sent was filled with blame.

Ryan: [Claire, you went too far today. Come back right now and apologize to Maya.]

Ryan: [What exactly are you throwing a fit about? Come back so we can talk this through.]

Ryan: [If you don’t come back, don’t expect me to go looking for you.]

The messages went through, but his phone remained silent.

Now that he remembered she had been injured, a trace of regret surfaced. He typed another message.

Ryan: [Enough. I’ll buy you another golden retriever later. Stop making such a big deal out of this.]

A few minutes later, his phone chimed.

Ryan grabbed it immediately.

The reply was only a few words long, each one filled with pure disgust.

Claire: [Go to hell, you monster.]

The color drained from Ryan’s face.

—

Claire had never cursed at him before. She had to be beyond furious.

He looked at Maya, swallowed hard, and spoke in a low voice.

“Show me the picture.”

Maya handed him her phone with trembling fingers, tears still shining in her eyes.

“Ryan, I really didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Ryan didn’t answer.

He stared at Buddy’s small, blood-covered body.

He suddenly remembered when Claire had first moved into the place they had bought for after the wedding. She had pleaded with him over and over to let Buddy move in too.

She told him Buddy was friendly with everyone and would happily go to anyone who called him.

She had also promised repeatedly that she would handle every part of his care herself.

Ryan still refused.

So Claire had boarded Buddy elsewhere for his sake.

When Maya first told him Buddy had died, Ryan hadn’t thought it was a big deal.

It was only a dog.

Only then did he find the picture unbearable to look at.

—

Only minutes earlier, he had said the same thing to Claire.

It was only a damn dog.

The words must have cut her to the bone.

Ryan closed his eyes.

When he looked at Maya again, all the warmth had vanished from his expression.

“Maya, you let Buddy out on purpose, didn’t you?”

Maya swayed slightly, looking wounded.

“You think I did this?”

Ryan’s voice was calm.

“Buddy never ran away.”

Tessa stepped in front of Maya.

“That’s enough, Ryan. It already happened. She only wanted someone to keep her company.”

Ryan gave a quiet, bitter laugh.

“I took her to see the sunrise.”

“I took her to Disney.”

“Claire asked me three times to go camping with her, and I took Maya instead.”

“Haven’t I done enough for her?”

—

No one had an answer.

Ryan’s mother remembered all the times she had pretended to be confused. Claire would spend half the day in the kitchen, making whatever she asked for, no matter how time-consuming it was.

“It seems… we really did go too far.”

The moment Ryan’s mother said it, the color drained from Maya’s lips, and she took two steps back.

“It was me. This was all my fault. I never should’ve come back.”

She turned and ran out in tears.

In the past, Ryan would have chased after her immediately.

Now he only felt exhausted.

“Tyler, go check on her.”

After Tyler left, Ryan’s phone rang.

“Mr. Mercer, your wedding venue reservation has been canceled. We haven’t been able to reach Ms. Ashton, and you’re listed as her emergency contact. Please confirm that the refund has been received.”

“What did you say? Who authorized the cancellation?”

“Ms. Ashton called and canceled it herself yesterday.”

Ryan went completely still.

The phone slipped from his hand and hit the floor.

—

Only then did he understand.

Claire had not been throwing a tantrum.

She truly wasn’t going to marry him.