The Group Chat That Shipped Them, The Application I Sent Chapter 01

The Group Chat That Shipped Them, The Application I Sent Chapter 01

There were only two seats left at the company dinner. One was tucked away in the corner. The other was right beside my secret boyfriend of three years, Ethan Sterling.

I had barely taken a step when Ethan called out to my best friend.

“Sienna, sit over here.”

The table erupted.

“Oh my God, they look so good together!”

“I knew it! I knew there was something between them!”

The company group chat was going wild too.

[He’s gorgeous, she’s gorgeous. They look perfect just sitting next to each other!]

[Mr. Sterling has never asked anyone to sit beside him before!]

[I’m telling you, he treats Sienna differently. I don’t care what anyone says, my ship is real!]

For the entire dinner, Ethan went out of his way to keep his distance from me.

He didn’t look at me once.

When a waiter accidentally spilled something hot and burned my hand, Ethan didn’t even notice. He was too busy shielding Sienna from another round of drinks.

Something inside me snapped.

A thought surfaced, quiet but absolute.

I didn’t want this secret relationship anymore.

…

I went to the restroom to treat the burn.

While I was washing my hand, I saw a message Sienna Bennett had sent thirty minutes earlier.

[Clara, don’t take anything people said in the group chat seriously. They’re just messing around because they love to play matchmaker. Don’t let it get to you.]

I dried my hands and replied.

[I know.]

A minute ago, Ethan had texted me too.

[I was only keeping my distance tonight because I didn’t want people getting the wrong idea. Don’t overthink it.]

I stared at the message, a strange pressure building in my chest.

I had worked at the company for three years, and I couldn’t even remember how many times it had happened.

At team outings, company dinners, meetings…

The person sitting beside Ethan was always a department manager, Sienna, or some other coworker.

Never me.

Even when I happened to end up beside him, Ethan would find an excuse to switch seats with someone else.

He was so determined to avoid suspicion that he could ignore me looking straight at him. He could ignore anything I said.

Everyone at the company had noticed how distant he was with me.

And because of that, they treated me like I barely existed.

I locked my phone without replying.

When I returned to the table, everyone was still laughing, eating, and talking as if nothing had happened.

Only the throbbing blister on my hand reminded me of the decision I had just made.

I was going to leave Ethan.

By the time dinner ended, one of my coworkers nudged Sienna toward Ethan.

“Mr. Sterling, there’s a hurricane tonight, so getting a rideshare is going to be a nightmare. And it’s not exactly safe for Sienna to go home alone. Could you give her a ride?”

Ethan didn’t hesitate.

“Sure. I’m heading toward Kingsport. Anyone else going that way?”

His tone was casual.

His eyes, however, were fixed directly on me.

My throat tightened.

Three years ago, I had been followed home by a strange man after work. Ever since then, walking alone at night had terrified me.

Ethan knew that.

After that, he picked me up after work every single day.

I opened my mouth.

“I’m going that way too…”

“I’ll take care of the other employees,” another coworker cut in.

He stepped directly in front of me before I could say anything else.

“Mr. Sterling, you go ahead and take Sienna home.”

Ethan stared at me for several seconds before finally looking away.

He nodded at my coworker.

“Thanks.”

Then he left with Sienna.

They drove away together.

When I gave my address to the coworker who had offered to take me home, he looked uncomfortable.

“Clara, why didn’t you tell me you were going toward Kingsport too? It’s already one in the morning. If I take you all the way home, it’s going to add a huge detour. Why don’t you just call a rideshare? There aren’t many drivers out tonight, but you should be able to get one if you wait.”

I silently opened my rideshare app.

[Rides are very busy right now.

Fares are higher than usual due to high demand.

Estimated pickup: 53 mins]

Messages started appearing in the company group chat as everyone made it home safely.

Then someone changed the subject.

[Has anyone else noticed how that girl is always trying to get close to Mr. Sterling? Does she seriously not realize he can’t stand her?]

[Right? If Mr. Sterling hadn’t called Sienna over, she would’ve sat beside him!]

[And when Mr. Sterling asked if anyone else was going his way, come on. Who couldn’t tell he was just being polite because he wanted to spend the ride alone with Sienna? I guess someone actually took him seriously.]

Sienna replied vaguely.

[Guys, don’t say that. Mr. Sterling was just being considerate because I’m new.]

That only made everyone go harder.

[Remember when another new hire got chewed out by her team lead and dropped all her files? Mr. Sterling walked right past her and didn’t even help pick them up.]

[And the fact that Mr. Sterling didn’t deny anything says everything, doesn’t it?]

I read the messages until I felt nothing at all.

When Sienna first joined the company, it was because she heard people had been giving me a hard time. She had told me she wanted to come work here so I wouldn’t have to deal with it alone.

Now she was everyone’s favorite.

And toward me, all she had were a few lukewarm words telling me not to overthink things and insisting that nobody meant any harm.

When coworkers started gossiping that Sienna and Ethan might be dating, Ethan had simply told me to focus on my own life instead of wasting my energy on things that didn’t matter.

Things that didn’t matter.

Maybe only someone who didn’t care about you could dismiss your feelings that easily.

The night wind felt cold against my face.

I left the group chat.

Then I submitted my resignation.

If I had decided to walk away from Ethan, there was no reason to keep humiliating myself for him.