My Bestie Stole My Childhood Love, I Married a Billionaire Chapter 09

My Bestie Stole My Childhood Love, I Married a Billionaire Chapter 09

We moved in together.

His company wasn’t in Oakhaven, but he flew back every weekend.
Called late every night to watch me fall asleep.

All the fears I’d carried? Never happened.

Love, when it’s real, conquers everything. I finally got it.

But he was too gentlemanly. We hadn’t even kissed. When I told his mom, she laughed her head off.

“He’s got my flirt game—chases what he wants. But his dad’s influence? Old-fashioned.”

Then she whispered something in my ear. My face went scarlet.

Winter break came for my students. Year-end hustle.

I was carrying groceries—fish and chicken—back to cook for Nate.
Snow piled on the sidewalk.

A figure stood in the white.

Ethan. His puffy coat made him look skeletal. I’d heard his advisor got busted for academic fraud. Graduation might be off the table.

“You moved.”

His voice was flat. Hollow.

His gaze found my grocery bags. A bitter smirk. “Eight years. From high school to now. You loved me for eight years. And three months later, you’re in love with someone else?”

I braced for a fight. Rolled up my sleeves. Then I saw his eyes. Red.

“What about me? I’ve been thinking. I never liked Chloe. It was always you.”

“She’s a mirror of me. You’re different. You’ve got this life in you… I just couldn’t say it. When I kissed you first, yeah, I was messing around.”

“But then I planned everything around you. Eight years. I got used to you. When you walked away with that guy? My chest split open. I never want to feel that again. Vivian—can we really not?”

Snow fell. My heart was quiet.

“Ethan. Remember what you said? Breaking up doesn’t hurt you.”

His eyes frosted over. He looked like a mountain caving.

I passed him. Last words, “Don’t become someone you’d hate.”

…

I pushed open my front door. Warm air hit me.

Nate stood at the stove in an apron. He smiled. “Meeting ended early. Surprise.”

He’d made a whole meal—broth, fish, chicken. The exact same stuff I’d picked up at the store.

I’d been testing his taste. He’d misunderstood and made it all for me.

Words stuck in my throat. I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind.

Clang.

His ladle hit the floor. His neck burned. “What’s wrong?”

“Mom said bring me home for the holidays. I said yes.”

Nate went still. That polished businessman mask cracked. He looked like a clumsy kid.

He coughed, pulled me into his arms. “You’re sure?”

I didn’t need to see the future.

I just wasn’t afraid to reach for happiness anymore.

Because even if winter buries every good thing—spring always comes back.