My Boyfriend’s “Just a Friend” Became the Reason I Walked Away Chapter 10

My Boyfriend’s “Just a Friend” Became the Reason I Walked Away Chapter 10

The night their licenses were revoked, Ethan drank until he could barely stand.

Vanessa helped him back to his apartment and got into bed with him.

The next morning, Ethan woke with a splitting headache. When he noticed the disheveled woman lying beside him, he bolted upright.

“Vanessa? Why are you here?”

She gave him a bitter smile.

“Yes, it’s me. Not Claire, whose name you spent the entire night calling.”

Ethan was silent for a long time.

“Let’s pretend this never happened. I don’t want Claire finding out.”

Vanessa stared at him in disbelief.

“Ethan Walker, I’ve loved you a year longer than Claire has. We’re the ones who share the same

ambitions and understand each other. Why have you never been willing to truly see me?”

“You ignored her because of me. You held me in your arms at the theater. Are you saying none of that meant anything?”

Ethan went still for a moment.

He had always told himself that Vanessa was simply his closest friend and that the night before had

been nothing more than a drunken mistake. It had never occurred to him that she had been in love

with him all along.

Only then did he realize that Vanessa had spent the past five years deliberately pushing Claire aside while he remained completely oblivious.

His expression hardened.

“Vanessa, Claire is the only woman I’ve ever loved. Leave. I don’t want to see you again.”

Any hope Vanessa still had disappeared.

She had never imagined Ethan could be so heartless.

She rose from the bed and slowly dressed.

“You really think you’re some devoted lover, don’t you? Don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy moving

closer to me at the theater.”

“You enjoyed my attention while taking everything Claire gave you for granted. You drained that poor woman dry and still had the nerve to call it love.”

“You’re selfish, dishonest, and pathetic. Claire doesn’t want you anymore, and neither do I.”

Without looking back, she walked out of the room.

Ethan remained seated on the bed, his face drained of color.

That wasn’t true.

He kept telling himself that he loved Claire.

He dressed as quickly as he could, desperate to see me.

When he arrived at Sterling Properties, he saw me through the glass doors, seated at my desk and

absorbed in a new design.

Sunlight fell across my profile as my pencil moved steadily over the page.

For several moments, he could only stare.

Sensing someone watching me, I lifted my head and saw him standing outside.

He entered with visible uncertainty.

“Claire, I came to apologize. I admit I lost sight of who I was over the past five years, but I know

what I did wrong now.”

“I swear I’ll make it up to you from now on.”

I said nothing.

My gaze moved to the collar of his shirt.

A bright red mark stood out against his skin.

I let out a quiet, humorless laugh.

“That’s from Vanessa, isn’t it? You came here asking me to take you back with her hickey still on

your neck?”

Ethan’s face stiffened. He hurriedly pulled at his collar, stumbling over his explanation.

“Claire, it isn’t what you think. I was drunk last night. Vanessa and I made one mistake, and it’ll

never happen again.”

I twirled the pencil between my fingers and cut him off.

“Whatever happened between you and Vanessa has nothing to do with me anymore.”

“Ethan, how do you still not understand? I don’t love you.”

“Every time you show up, all I feel is disgust.”

His face went pale, and the last trace of hope in his expression disappeared.

His shoulders slumped.

He opened his mouth, still trying to speak, but I had already pressed the intercom button on my

desk.

“Security, please remove the unauthorized visitor from my office.”

I watched as security removed him from the office.

That hickey killed the last trace of attachment I still had to those five wasted years.

I lowered my eyes to the design spread across my desk.

The lines were clean, and the structure was sound.

It was good.

I picked up my pencil and returned to work.

I still had a long road ahead of me, and this time, I would walk it on my own.