My Boyfriend Chose Her Birthday Over Our Year Chapter 06

My Boyfriend Chose Her Birthday Over Our Year Chapter 06

The fourteen–hour flight numbed me out. I thought everything would be hard in a new country. 

Instead, I got a surprise at arrivals. 

“Ethan? What are you doing here?” 

Seeing a familiar face right off the plane felt like a lifeline. Ethan Hart held up a sign with my name on it. 

“Came to pick you up.” 

Turns out, the person I’d been emailing from the London 

office was him. 

With Ethan Hart’s help, I settled in fast–work and life 

both. 

The company apartment wasn’t far. He drove me to and from work every day, saying it was on his way. 

Outside the window, the scenery blurred past. A whole 

year with Derek, and he’d picked me up exactly once. 

Less than a casual friend. 

“I heard you had a boyfriend back home. Was he okay with you moving here alone?” 

“We already broke up.” 

The car jolted slightly. Ethan glanced at me apologetically. “Sorry, I didn’t know…” 

It wouldn’t have mattered. Whether I’d left or stayed, Derek and I were already over. 

Then my phone blew up with messages from Marcus. [ Maya, Derek keeps calling me about the party.] 

[I don’t think he knew you were leaving the States. I told him, but he doesn’t believe me. Says we’re all lying to him.] 

[He asked for your new contact info. I said I didn’t have it. He didn’t believe that either. He showed up at your old office.] 

He’d never come looking for me when we lived in the 

same city. Now that I was thousands of miles away, what was 

the point? 

At work, I opened my email. Dozens of messages from 

Derek. 

I deleted them all in one click. Blocked him everywhere. 

I was going to cut him and Lauren out of my life 

completely. In three years, when I went back, everyone would 

have moved on. 

Then my boss called. “I don’t care about your personal 

life, but handle it. The guy’s making a scene at our office. It’s embarrassing.” 

He sent me a video. 

Derek was outside the office, stopped by security, 

shouting my name. The front desk told him I’d been transferred overseas. He kept insisting I was just on a 

business trip. 

A crowd gathered. Security had to drag him out. 

I apologized to my boss, sighed, and called Derek back. 

“Maya! I knew it was you when I saw the international 

number.” 

Lauren’s voice. 

didn’t say anything. 

In the background, Derek’s slurred voice: “Who’s 

calling?” 

“Maya.” 

Suddenly louder: “Give me that!” 

Glass clinked–he was knocking over bottles. 

He grabbed the phone and barked, “Maya Brooks? What the hell is this? Breaking up with me just because I didn’t celebrate our anniversary?” 

Always an accusation. Never a question about what he’d 

done wrong. 

I felt nothing but exhaustion. “Stop coming to my office. 

We’re done.” 

He went quiet for a second. “You’re serious?” 

He still thought I was threatening him. 

“Yes.” 

“If you want to know why, ask Lauren. She knows best.” 

“Wait–explain yourself!” 

I hung up. If Lauren wanted to play the good girl in front of Derek, I wasn’t going to protect her anymore.