The Game Where I Lost My Last Finger And Him Chapter 10

The Game Where I Lost My Last Finger And Him Chapter 10

Each time, our eyes would meet for a second before we both looked away without a word. 

Once, at the grocery store, I reached for a bottle of olive oil on the top shelf, but I could not quite get it. 

A hand reached past me and took it down. 

It was Ethan. 

I took it from him without saying anything, then turned and walked away. 

No footsteps followed behind me. 

When I reached the checkout, I caught a glimpse of him from the corner of my eye. 

He was standing at the end of the aisle, holding nothing, only watching me. 

I looked away, scanned my items, paid, and left. 

Some people, once seen, were better treated as strangers. 

That holiday season, our two families had dinner together. 

It was Dad’s idea. 

“We’ve known each other for so many years. There’s no need to let the kids‘ issues come between the families.” 

Mrs. Shaw’s eyes were red as she held my hand, looking as if she wanted to say something but did not dare. 

I smiled and gently pulled my hand back. 

Halfway through dinner, Dad put down his fork and cleared his 

throat. 

“There’s something I’d like to tell everyone.” 

Everyone turned to him. 

“Audrey and Caleb are getting engaged next month.” 

The table went silent for three full seconds. 

With a clatter, Ethan’s fork fell to the floor. 

He did not pick it up. 

He only lowered his head, his fingers trembling. 

Mrs. Shaw was stunned for a long moment before she finally asked, “When… when did this happen?” 

“They’ve been together for a while. We’ve met the young man. He’s a good kid.” 

Dad said it calmly, without looking at Ethan. 

“Mr. Bennett.” 

Ethan lifted his head, his eyes red enough to look raw. 

“She… is she really…” 

“She is,” Dad said. 

Ethan did not ask anything else. 

He lowered his head, picked up his fork, wiped it clean, and set 

it on the edge of his plate. 

He did not take a single bite of that dinner. 

I did not look at him. 

I kept my head down and finished every bite in my bowl. 

That night, after I got home, I lay in bed scrolling through my 

phone. 

Suddenly, the class group chat blew up. 

Someone had posted a screenshot of a court announcement. 

Chloe. 

Fraud and falsification of documents. 

Her direct–admission spot had not come from her competition 

results at all. 

Her father had paid for it and forged her award certificate. 

After the truth came out, her father went to prison, and Chloe 

was convicted as well. 

It was two–year–old news, and no one knew who had dug it up and dropped it into the group chat. 

[Oh my God. Chloe went to prison?] 

[I always heard something was sketchy about her 

direct–admission. Turns out it was true.] 

[Wasn’t she still with Ethan?] 

[They broke up ages ago. You guys really don’t know who 

Ethan never got over?] 

[Audrey, obviously.] 

I scrolled up through two years of chat history, glanced at the screenshot one last time, and locked my phone. 

I did not feel any great satisfaction. 

I only felt that some people’s endings had been written from 

the very beginning. 

That night, it rained hard. 

The rain hammered against the windows with sharp, crackling 

sounds. 

A little after eleven, my phone suddenly buzzed. 

[Audrey, I’m downstairs.] 

I ignored it. 

My phone buzzed again. 

[Can you come down? Just for one minute.] 

I did not move. 

[I’ll only say one thing.] 

The rain was so heavy that his screen must have gotten wet, because the next message came through broken and uneven. 

[I know I have no right anymore. But Audrey… I really miss you.] 

I clenched my phone until my knuckles turned white. 

Then his voice came from outside, blurred by the rain and the glass. 

“Audrey!” 

I did not go downstairs. 

He called my name again and again until his voice turned hoarse and faded into nothing more than breath. 

I did not know when he finally left. 

The next morning, when I opened the door, there was a pendant on the front step.