My Boyfriend Chose Her Birthday Over Our Year Chapter 10

My Boyfriend Chose Her Birthday Over Our Year Chapter 10

Word was, Derek went home and started obsessively 

learning to cook. Asking everyone how to be a good boyfriend. 

Lauren finally confessed to him. 

Derek said he already had a girlfriend. That he was waiting 

for her to come back. 

Everyone who knew thought he’d lost his mind. 

Lauren called me. 

A long silence. She didn’t speak, but I knew it was her. 

Then her voice, shaky: “Maya. Come back.” 

I almost laughed. She’d bet on me leaving. Now she wanted me to return with one phone call? 

“I shouldn’t have made that bet. I realize friends are more 

important.” 

“Come home. Let’s go back to how we were. We grew up together. We’re best friends.” 

I smiled coldly. A man had destroyed what we had. It 

would never be the same. 

And the moment I left, I’d thrown away not just Derek, 

but Lauren too. 

“No,” I said flatly. “I’ll find a new boyfriend. And a new best friend.” 

She wasn’t truly sorry anyway. She just got rejected, faced the same loss I had–love and friendship both—and suddenly 

remembered how good I was to her. 

I didn’t need to be anyone’s second choice. 

For three years in London, Ethan took care of me. 

As my return date approached, I got nervous. He’d been abroad since graduation. He was used to the work culture and the people here. 

1. me. 

I kept wondering if I should ask him to come back with 

Then I saw him packing four suitcases. 

“That much stuff? You need four bags?” 

I’d arrived with one. 

Ethan looked up from folding his clothes. “I’m not leaving you behind. I’ve taken care of you all these years. No way I’m letting you go back alone.” 

I smiled. “Then when we get home, I’ll introduce you to 

my mom.” 

She’d been asking for weeks. 

Our flight landed. Derek called while I was grabbing luggage. I ignored it. 

At arrivals, I saw him–standing at the exit with flowers. 

He looked older. Worn. 

He waved at me from across the hall like a boyfriend 

picking up his girl. 

But someone else grabbed my hand first. 

Ethan laced his fingers through mine and walked me up to 

Derek. 

“Thanks for picking up my girlfriend.” 

Derek’s face went white. The fantasy he’d been living in for years shattered in one second. 

He’d told everyone he had a girlfriend who was just away 

on business. That she’d come back. 

He’d almost convinced himself. 

He looked at me helplessly. “I know about the bet now. I didn’t know she liked me.” 

“I already had her fired. You’ll never have to worry about her again. While you were gone, I learned so much. I can be a real boyfriend now.” 

The same resume he’d personally handed off for her- he’d just trampled it into the mud. 

I felt something like release. 

At least I’d gotten my job on my own. 

I lifted our joined hands. “Sorry. I’m back to introduce my boyfriend to my parents.” 

I thought that would finally end it. 

But Derek started sending meals to my office–trying to show off what he’d learned. Flowers and gifts kept arriving. 

Ethan sighed. “He’s making me look bad.” 

So Derek’s packages got intercepted at the door. Ethan 

took over–eating with me every day, sending his own flowers 

and gifts. 

My coworkers teased him. “Ethan doesn’t trust anyone else to spoil his own girlfriend.” 

I don’t know what Ethan said to Derek. But he stopped 

showing up. 

Later, I threw another dinner party to introduce Ethan to my old classmates. 

They told me Lauren had been fired for cause. No other company would touch her. She ended up moving back to her 

hometown. 

I took Ethan home to meet my mom. She loved him. 

Two years later, we got married. 

Derek stayed alone. Still convinced he had a girlfriend. Still trying to learn how to be a good boyfriend.