My Best Friend Took My Man. I Gave Her the Whole Ceremony Chapter 05

My Best Friend Took My Man. I Gave Her the Whole Ceremony Chapter 05

Ethan came toward me slowly, shaking all over.

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He braced a hand against the wall, doubling over and gagging.

I’d only ever seen someone’s body do that when grief hit faster than the mind could process.

“We’ll get you treatment. If they can’t help you here, we’ll go somewhere they can. There’s always something. Somewhere.”

His face twisted like the words themselves hurt him.

He pulled me against him, arms locked tight, holding on like I was already slipping away.

He was crying, couldn’t stop it, didn’t try. “If they can’t save you, then I’m going with you. I’m not staying here without you.”

I knew he meant it.

I peeled his hands off me, one finger at a time. “I made it up. It’s not real.”

“What?” He stared at me in disbelief.

I forced a pout, the spoiled little act I used to pull when I wanted attention. “You’ve been so wrapped up in the wedding, and Valerie, and then you tore up my rose garden? I had to get your attention somehow.”

It wasn’t a good lie. Not even close.

Ethan grabbed my wrist. “I’m not buying that. We’re getting you a full workup at the hospital. Right now.”

Before I could argue, a scream ripped through the house. Valerie.

Ethan let go of me. No, he shoved me, really, and bolted toward the sound.

I hit the wall hard enough that my vision flashed white.

I staggered after him, and when I got to the kitchen, it was a broken plate. That was it. She’d dropped a dish.

A shard had nicked her calf. A thin red line on pale skin.

Ethan had hoisted her onto the counter, away from the shards, scolding her in that soft, irritated way people use on someone they love. “You’re the clumsiest person alive. Why are you anywhere near the dishes?”

Valerie squirmed, trying to hop down, and that was when Ethan seemed to remember I was standing right there.

I shook my head, giving him the out before he had to scramble for one. “It’s fine. She’s hurt. Go take care of it.”

Valerie opened her mouth, but I was already backing toward the stairs, out of their way. “I’ve got that reunion tonight. I should start getting ready.”

Before I left, I layered blush along my cheekbones until I looked almost alive.

It was technically a high school reunion, but in a city this small, the elite circles were basically a small club.

The night started fine, drinks, catching up, the usual. Then someone brought up what happened that year, and the whole table went quiet.

“Everyone knows about Ethan and Clara. But there was another victim that night. Nobody ever talks about her.”

It was Kyle, the guy who always had to know everyone’s dirt. He was practically giddy, eyes gleaming like he’d been waiting all night to bring it up.

My glass stopped halfway to my mouth. I looked at him, voice flat and sharp. “You’re drunk. Walk it off outside, then come back when you can act like a human being.”

That only pissed him off.

“Oh, touchy subject, Clara? Valerie took the hit for you that night. Your uncle did that to her. You buried the whole thing. What’s the matter, scared people will find out you can never pay that back?”

Something crashed to the floor behind me. I spun around. Valerie was in the doorway, drained of all color.

Ethan was on him before anyone could blink. He took him straight to the ground, his fist connecting with his face again and again.

People swarmed in to pull Ethan off. I stepped through the chaos, walked right up to Kyle, and slapped him hard across the face.

Then I turned and shielded Valerie from him. The way she’d always done for me.

“If anyone should have been the one to get hurt that night, it should have been me.”

Valerie’s head snapped up. “Clara, stop. Don’t say that.”

I turned back to Kyle, and I didn’t blink. “You think this is entertainment? You don’t give a damn that someone got hurt. All you care about is the worst detail, the ugliest part of the story, because that’s what gets you off. That’s not gossip. That’s sick. You are sick.”