I Bought a Boyfriend, Then He Spent Years Looking for Me Chapter 02

I Bought a Boyfriend, Then He Spent Years Looking for Me Chapter 02

My body felt nailed to the floor.

One second.

Two seconds.

My supervisor, Grace Miller, came over at exactly the right time.

“I’m sorry. This coworker is new and still getting used to the job.”

“Tonight’s fruit platter will be on the house.”

Grace Miller gave me a look.

“Why are you still standing there? Go bring a new one.”

I escaped.

Afterward, Grace Miller told me,

“Be smarter next time.”

“Everyone starts new, but if they complain about you, tonight’s work will be for nothing.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Be especially careful with that VIP room. Everyone in there is important.”

“Especially the youngest, best-looking one in the middle. He owns an innovative tech company. We can’t afford to offend him.”

“Grace, I’m a little scared.”

“Could you bring the oranges in for me?”

“Sure.”

I let out a breath.

If there was one person in the world who had already offended Ethan Carter beyond repair, it could only be me.

I was the ex he hated.

I still remembered freshman year.

Ethan Carter stood among the new students in an old sweatshirt washed almost white, completely out of place.

He was visibly poor.

And visibly tall, straight, and striking.

I liked his cool, distant way of speaking.

I also liked the way his thin eyelids lowered when he looked at me.

Ethan Carter needed money badly.

His financial aid spot had been handed to a connected student by the department administrator in charge of review.

So after one evening class, I shamelessly took his hand.

“Ethan Carter, I like you.”

“Date me.”

“I have plenty of money. We can use my allowance together.”

“If that doesn’t work, I’ll even pay you for every kiss.”

Naturally, he rejected me.

But at that time, my life had been too smooth.

I didn’t know what defeat felt like.

The more he rejected me, the harder I chased him.

Then the grandfather who had raised him became critically ill.

Without blinking, I paid off the hospital bill for him.

Ethan Carter finally lowered his head to me.

I foolishly thought I had helped him.

Only much later did I understand.

I had gotten him.

And I had broken him too.

After we got together, he still worked every day for living expenses.

He barely used my money, but things got worse anyway.

Rumors about Ethan Carter spread across campus.

They said he had sold himself for money.

The way our classmates looked at him changed.

Someone gave him an ugly nickname.

Back then, I was still foolishly optimistic.

I held his hand and said,

“Don’t listen to them. They’re just jealous.”

…

I lived in my own ivory tower.

I never realized Ethan Carter was fighting alone.

Senior year, my family went bankrupt.

I didn’t tell Ethan Carter.

I just asked him to come out and said,

“Let’s break up.”

“Why?”

“I’m bored.”

“Okay.”

Just like that, we separated.

I guessed he was happy then.

Because he had finally regained his freedom.

The day we broke up, I changed my phone number, deleted WhatsApp, and got on a long-distance bus to another city to work and pay off debt.

I only came back here three months ago.

Ethan Carter seemed to be doing very well.

He had always been a top student.

In college, he was the kind of super genius who crushed the entire department.

Only four years after graduation, he was already a tech star who could make the cover of business magazines.

Stella Monroe used to be the famous beauty of our school.

She entered the entertainment industry in junior year.

I hadn’t expected the two of them to end up together.

Good.

That was good.

I pressed a hand to my chest and forced down the ache.

At four in the morning, I got off work.

I was the last one to leave.

My coworkers thought no one was left, so they had already turned off the lights.

The employee elevator was shut down too.

Annoyed, I kept pressing the elevator button, hoping it would light up.

“Call someone.”

Ethan Carter’s voice suddenly sounded behind me.