Too Heavy for Tears, the Arrogant Cripple Broke Down Chapter 03

Too Heavy for Tears, the Arrogant Cripple Broke Down Chapter 03

I didn’t remember how I got home.

I only remembered feeling exhausted down to my bones.

The comment feed was full of people saying I had embarrassed Evan and that what I’d said was too harsh.

It felt as though no one except Mom had ever cared about what I had endured over the past three years.

By midnight, I was burning with fever. As I drifted in and out of consciousness, memories flooded my mind of all the ways Evan had used Chloe to hurt me.

Threatening to break up with me had never been his only way of testing me.

What he did best was use other women to force me to back down and give in.

Six months earlier, Chloe had begun showing up in our lives more and more often.

Evan knew I was uncomfortable with her. He knew her presence hurt me, yet he never made any effort to keep his distance.

Whenever Chloe sent him messages checking in on him, he never deleted them. He left their thread right at the top of his inbox where I could see it.

When other people joked that they made a perfect couple, he never corrected them. He simply stayed quiet and let the rumors grow while I clutched my phone and lay awake all night.

For my birthday, I had booked a table at a restaurant two weeks in advance, excited to finally celebrate properly with him.

But that day, Chloe sent him one message saying she felt sick and had no one to look after her. Without hesitation, Evan decided to go to her.

I clutched the hem of his shirt and quietly pleaded with him.

“Today is my birthday.”

He frowned, pushed my hand away, and answered in a voice as cold as ice.

“She has no one else. Try to be understanding.”

I sat alone in that empty restaurant all evening, shivering in the draft.

And it wasn’t as though Evan merely accepted Chloe’s attention. He openly gave her special treatment.

One day, the temperature dropped and it started raining. Chloe casually mentioned that she hadn’t brought an umbrella.

Without a second thought, Evan had his driver drive halfway across the city to pick her up and take her home. He even had a hot latte and a pair of hand warmers waiting for her.

He was gentle and patient with her from beginning to end, never showing the slightest irritation.

Meanwhile, on countless rainy nights, I had made my way to Evan’s house alone under an umbrella to care for him, pick up his medication, and do the housework. I often arrived soaked through.

He had never shown me the slightest concern. He would only scowl and complain that I had taken too long.

The moment he saw even a trace of hurt in my eyes, he would turn on me.

He would accuse me of looking down on him and force me to be the one who apologized.

After three years, he knew exactly how much of myself I had given him. He was certain I could never bring myself to leave.

That certainty made him reckless. Again and again, he used other women to wound me and force me to compromise.

Even the staged kiss at the bar hadn’t been a momentary act of anger.

It was a tactic he had long since learned to use.

The comment feed always claimed that Evan only loved me the wrong way because of his insecurity.

But no one saw that every ounce of his insecurity eventually became a blade pointed at me.

Tears soaked my pillow.

Mom’s hand paused as she pressed a cool washcloth to my forehead. Then she gently wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes.

Mom was so worried that she insisted on calling my manager to say I was sick and wouldn’t be in.

But a crucial project was wrapping up that day, and I couldn’t afford to miss it.

The next morning, I forced myself out of bed before I had fully recovered and arrived at the office on time.

But when I reached my desk, another woman was sitting in my chair.

It was Chloe.

She smiled at me.

“Hi, Nina.”

I walked over and said flatly, “You’re sitting at my desk.”

She smiled back without making any move to stand.

“Oh? My supervisor told me to sit here.”

I looked up and met the gaze of my supervisor, Dana Foster.

She called me into her office and got straight to the point.

“Upper management brought her in, and she specifically requested that desk.”

“I wasn’t in a position to refuse. We’re moving you over there.”