My Best Friend Posed As His Girlfriend, So I Walked Away Chapter 01

My Best Friend Posed As His Girlfriend, So I Walked Away Chapter 01

By the third year of my relationship with Calder Ashbourne, he and my best friend, Sabine Corbett, had somehow become inseparable.

They went hiking and bungee jumping together, grabbed drinks, and sang karaoke.

Sabine was always worried I might get the wrong idea.

“We only get along this well because of you,” she would tell me. “Otherwise, we’d probably be fighting all the time, and then you’d be stuck in the middle. How exhausting would that be?”

I believed her.

Until I found out by accident that Calder’s grandfather had died.

I rushed through the pouring rain to Dunleigh and went straight to the Ashbourne family home.

I had barely reached the door when Calder stopped me.

“Tonight’s visitation is private. Just immediate family,” he said calmly. “I booked you a hotel downtown. Get some rest and come back tomorrow.”

I looked at the grief in his eyes and opened my mouth to comfort him.

Then Sabine’s tearful voice drifted from inside.

“Please, you two go get something to eat. I’ll stay here with him. He won’t be alone.”

I froze.

And suddenly, everything made sense.

Somewhere along the way, there was no longer a place for me in the friendship the three of us had shared.

***

I stood outside in the rain, listening to the familiar voices inside.

For a long moment, I couldn’t move.

Calder’s casual voice finally pulled me back.

“The hotel’s close to downtown. You can rest for a while, maybe walk around later.”

He paused.

“I’m staying with the family tonight, so unless it’s important, don’t call.”

A gust of wind cut through my soaked pants, making me shiver.

Before I could answer, Sabine called from inside again.

“Calder? Is that another relative? Do you want me to have someone make up another room?”

Her voice was relaxed and familiar.

She sounded like she belonged there.

Like the woman of the house.

Then she stepped outside and saw me.

Her smile vanished.

“Verity? I thought you were away on business. What are you doing here?”

There was something almost accusing in her tone.

I had been gone for five days.

Not once had she mentioned Professor Ashbourne’s death.

If I hadn’t happened to see his obituary from three days earlier while preparing to fly home, I never would have known.

Sabine suddenly widened her eyes.

“Oh God. If I’d known you were coming back this soon, I wouldn’t have pretended to be Calder’s girlfriend so his grandfather could see him settled before he passed.”

She walked over and looped her arm through mine like she always did.

“But he saw me before he passed. He was smiling at the end, so at least he didn’t leave with that one regret.”

Her voice softened.

“You’re not mad at me, right?”

Calder watched her cling to me.

A faint smile touched his face, which had been expressionless only seconds ago.

“She’s not.”

He looked at me.

“Verity always respected Grandpa. You helped give him peace. She’s not petty enough to hold that against you.”

Professor Orson Ashbourne had taught one of my core classes at Morrowick University.

During my sophomore year, my roommate accused me of stealing money.

Everyone believed her.

Everyone except him.

Professor Ashbourne had stood up for me when no one else would.

“Keep your head up,” he had told me gently. “People tear down what they envy. You don’t owe every liar your attention.”

From that day on, he became one of the people I respected most.

When I later found out he was Calder’s grandfather, I had been thrilled.

I begged Calder more than once to take me to visit him.

Calder would always ruffle my hair and laugh.

“We’ll be family eventually. You’ll have plenty of chances to see him.”

But Professor Ashbourne died before Calder ever brought me home.

And I never got to see him one last time.