My Bestie Stole My Childhood Love, I Married a Billionaire Chapter 02

My Bestie Stole My Childhood Love, I Married a Billionaire Chapter 02

Fireworks exploded overhead, drowning out my words.

The line went silent. Then I realized he’d already hung up.

I sent a test text. It failed.

I got up, stumbled toward the shuttle, and ate pavement. Hard.

The driver—pissed off a minute ago—saw me on the ground, hair everywhere, knees bleeding, and his cigarette dropped from his mouth.

He didn’t say another word. Just floored it.

But his eyes kept darting to the rearview mirror. “I wasn’t that harsh, was I? Kids these days…”

The warm glow of Oakhaven bled into view.

Light hit my face, and I finally remembered how to breathe.

Turns out climbing down from that mountain? Way easier than climbing up.

I’d spent my whole life running after them.

Chloe, bright and golden. Ethan, clean-cut and untouchable.

Wherever they went, they were the center of gravity. Teachers’ pets. Everyone’s favorites.

In high school, they’d ditch class together, straddling the wall, laughing at me for being scared.

Principal caught us. I took the fall. Got dragged up during assembly as the cautionary tale.

Then I went and applied to State U’s most useless major, just to catch the same train as Ethan.

By the time I got there, he and Chloe had new hobbies. Rock climbing. BMX. Art films.

I stayed up all night cramming reviews, hoping to keep up with their conversations.

After I parroted something I’d read, Chloe winked. “AI’s getting good, huh? Vivian’s finally catching up with the times.”

Ethan cracked a smile. Relief, because the awkwardness had been smoothed over.

Three people. And I was the awkwardness.

Back at my apartment, I couldn’t sleep. Started cleaning.

By sunrise, I’d organized everything. Picked up my phone. Chloe had posted. [Freezing tonight. But at least someone’s here to freeze with me.]

A photo: golden sunrise over the mountain, silhouettes of people.

The last shot was a selfie on the tour bus. Half a shoulder, visible. Ethan’s.

I liked it. Then I grabbed the framed photo by my bed. Senior year. Class picture.

I was short, front row. They got shoved to the front by the crowd.

I tried to duck back. Two hands pressed down on my shoulders.

Chloe looped her arm around my neck. “Come on, we’re friends!”

Ethan grunted a cold “Yeah.”

That summer after graduation, Ethan kissed me.

I thought my years of pining had finally paid off.

Turns out he and Chloe had fought that week. She’d said something about studying abroad.

He kissed me out of spite. A third wheel accidentally squeezing into a two-person world.

Even the group chat was my idea—I got drunk and snatched Ethan’s phone to make it.

But every time I sent memes or videos, silence.

Chloe posted a weather photo once? Instant replies from me. Instant commentary from Ethan.

And he was my boyfriend.

I wiped my dry eyes. Tossed the photo in the trash. Left the group.

The door swung open. Their voices hit me from the hallway.

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Look, Vivian’s a lot, I know. But she’s not a bad person. You need to go apologize, or I swear, I’m done talking to you.”

Ethan let out a long breath. “She wasn’t like this before. If I’d known she was gonna be this high-maintenance, I never would’ve gotten involved with her.”

The door opened. Eye contact.