On His IPO Day, He Chose My Sister Chapter 07

On His IPO Day, He Chose My Sister Chapter 07

Ethan’s POV

My mind blew apart the second I laid eyes on the note Maya left behind.

Maya was gone.

This wasn’t some petty tantrum or cold war.

She’d really left me for good.

I stood in the living room, and for the first time in five years, this house felt totally foreign.

No faint smell of pumpkin soup hanging in the air.

No little yips from Seven bouncing down the hallways anymore.

No quiet grumbles from her in the kitchen, moaning about produce prices shooting up again.

I sprinted into the bedroom, yanking every drawer open until I found her diary tucked at the very bottom.

Maya wasn’t the type to jot down every little thing. She always said pain faded, no point torturing yourself rehashing it. So every word she’d scribbled down was something she’d never been able to shake off.

April 11

I hit 102°F fever, and Ethan left for Boston anyway.

May 1

He walked in reeking of rose perfume. No idea who it’s from.

June 15

Another Boston trip. Claims he’s only meeting investors.

June 21

Watched the Nasdaq bell-ring livestream. Chloe’s the one beside him, not me. He said he’s happy with her there.

I stared at that line for ages.

She knew everything.

She’d known it all along.

I dialed my PR manager straight away, my knuckles tight around the phone.

“Why did the Nasdaq stream get pushed everywhere online? I told you not to use Chloe for promotion.”

There was a beat of silence on the other end.

“Mr. Cole, Miss Chloe claimed those were your orders. She said the more people that see it, the better.”

My grip on the phone tightened. “Track down where Maya flew to.”

After hanging up, I flipped further through the pages.

June 25

He showed up to Dad’s birthday dinner. What’s he even there as? My fiancé, or Chloe’s?

June 26

Ethan’s mom called me immature, Dad said I lacked grace. Everyone acts like I need to step aside for her.

June 27

He pulled out a ring box. But it’s not sized for my finger. He’s never really mine. I’m leaving.

The last three words stabbed right through my chest like a blade.

Memories slammed into me all at once, dragging me back ten years to when I had jack squat.

Maya tossed her blossoming chef career at a three-Michelin spot aside just to squeeze into a damp basement kitchen filming videos with me.

Everyone said I didn’t deserve her. But she grabbed my hand and held on tight for a whole decade.

She never let me fall back then. Now I’d gone and broken every piece of her heart.

I lifted a hand and smacked myself hard across the face.

My assistant’s voice crackled through the phone when I called him minutes later.

“We found her, Mr. Cole. Maya booked a flight to Phoenix.”

“Also, the dashcam from the taxi she rode that day caught footage outside the office building.”

My throat locked up tight. “What did she see?”

The assistant hesitated a second before answering.

“She saw you, and Miss Chloe throwing herself into your arms. She also spotted the yellow diamond ring on her finger.”

Every drop of blood in my veins turned ice cold.

“The driver said Maya didn’t utter a single word. Just told him it was time to go.”

I squeezed my eyes shut.

If I’d known she’d leave me for good, would I’ve kept Chloe off that Nasdaq stage?

Would I’ve skipped driving her home that night?

Would I’ve never let that ring wind up on her hand?

But there’s no rewinding the past.

Maya doesn’t want me anymore. And I don’t have a single decent excuse to make things right.