My Best Friend Posed As His Girlfriend, So I Walked Away Chapter 09

My Best Friend Posed As His Girlfriend, So I Walked Away Chapter 09

“I… I just didn’t know what to say.”

That wasn’t true.

Calder had known exactly what to say.

He simply hadn’t wanted anyone looking at Sabine with disgust.

He only admitted the truth when he realized I was actually leaving him.

Because that frightened him.

“We’re over, Calder.”

I had heard enough.

“Stop coming after me.”

Then I went into my room and shut the door.

The next day, I flew home and immediately called a cleaning service.

Calder and Sabine had both spent the night at my place often enough that they had left plenty of

things behind.

I kept none of it.

I had everything boxed up and sent to Calder’s place by same-day courier.

I didn’t trust either of them to return their keys.

So I called a locksmith and changed the locks.

Calder showed up the next day anyway.

He was holding one of the birthday gifts he had given me.

His eyes were bloodshot.

“Verity, are you really this heartless?”

He lifted the gift.

“You even sent these back?”

My mother had once told me that messy relationships hurt the most because nobody ever knew Where they truly ended. If I wanted to leave someone, she said, I needed to do it cleanly: quick, final, with no door left open.

“Yes.”

“I returned everything.”

“I don’t owe you anything anymore.”

I looked at the boxes behind him.

“As for Sabine’s things, do whatever you want with them.”

“She has nothing to do with me.”

“Verity, what do I have to do to make you believe nothing happened between me and Sabine?”

His voice cracked.

“She was your best friend.””

“If you won’t trust me, can’t you at least trust her?”

“Don’t call her my friend.”

My voice sharpened for the first time.

I had always believed friendship was as sacred as love.

Now the word made me sick.

“I don’t have friends who flirt with my boyfriend behind my back and cross every boundary.”

The elevator doors opened.

Sabine stepped out just in time to hear me,

Her eyes filled instantly,

“Verity…”

“You both need to leave.”

“I don’t want to see either of you.”

“You’ve misunderstood everything.”

Sabine walked toward me, shaking.

“Calder and I never wanted to hurt you.”

“You can hate me. You can never speak to me again.”

“But Calder really does love you.”

Her voice broke.

“Please don’t leave him because of me.”

Then she grabbed my hand and pulled it toward her own face.

“If hurting me will make you feel better, then do it.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks.

“Hit me. Scream at me. Whatever you want.”

“Just forgive Calder.”

For a second, the hallway disappeared.

I saw us at eighteen again.

Two girls standing beside the old wishing fountain downtown.

Sabine had tossed in a coin and squeezed her eyes shut.

I had laughed.

“You seriously think this works?”

She had opened one eye.

“You have to believe.”

Then she whispered,

“If I believe hard enough, maybe I’ll get someone who only has eyes for me.”

“Your turn.”

The memory vanished.

I pulled my hand out of hers.

Then I looked straight at her.

“Sabine.”

My voice was quiet.

“When did you fall for Calder?”

Her body went still.

She lowered her head.

She didn’t answer.

“It was the day you two realized how much you had in common, wasn’t it?”

Before that day, Sabine had always known where the line was.

Whenever Calder was around, she kept her distance.

Even when the three of us ate together, she barely looked at him.

Then one day, they started talking about hiking and bungee jumping.

Something changed in her eyes.

They lit up.

She looked at him with open admiration.

At the time, I had thought she was simply excited to meet someone who loved the same things she did.

I had always been afraid of heights.

There were plenty of things I could never do with them.

Now that I had said it aloud, the light vanished from Sabine’s eyes.

“Yes.”

She finally looked

Her voice shook.

“But why did it have to be you?”

Her eyes reddened.

“Why did you get to be the one with him?”

“Why couldn’t it have been me?”