He Let Childhood Sweetheart Move into His House, I Left

I'd lost count of how many times Ethan had turned me down when I asked to stay the night at his place. "Ethan, you're no fun at all." I grumbled. The day before, I'd noticed someone had left a mark by my front door, the kind that flags a woman living alone. It scared me, so I went to Ethan and asked if I could crash at his place for a few days. He said no. "I'll book you a hotel room for tonight." When he saw I was upset, he softened. "I just don't want to give up my own space this soon." "Give me a little time to get used to the idea, okay?" Three years together, and no matter how late our dates ran, he always drove me home. He never once asked me to stay. I wasn't happy about it, but I nodded and let it go. It wasn't that late yet, so I suggested we catch the new movie that had just come out. Ethan checked the time instead and hurried me off to the hotel, a little on edge. Alone in the room, I happened to scroll past the social media of a new coworker. "AC's broken at my place. Thank God I've got someone to run to, or I'd melt." The photo behind the caption showed the TV wall in Ethan's living room. My stomach dropped. I stared at the picture for a long time. By the time I came back to myself, my face was wet with tears. Then I slid off the engagement ring Ethan had given me. A love with something rotten stirred into it wasn't a love I wanted anymore. Chapter 1 In that photo, Mia Quinn stood with a suitcase in one hand and my towel in the other. No wonder Ethan had been in such a rush to get rid of me. He hadn't even offered to drive me back. The second I was out the door, Mia must have walked right in. Mia was a new hire at my company. She and I weren't close. A while back we'd clashed over a pitch, and I'd mentioned it to Ethan. He hadn't seemed interested. I'd had no idea the two of them even knew each other. I took a deep breath. Something jabbed at my heart, a thin, needling ache. A little while later, she posted again. "He really is a dream guy. Gorgeous, soft-hearted, and he cooked me dinner with his own hands." "I must've saved the world in a past life." This time Ethan was in the picture. The two of them sat at his dining table, steam rising from a couple of dishes and a bowl of soup. He was ladling soup into her bowl. There was something indulgent in his smile, his eyes flicking toward her the way you'd look at a child who didn't know any better. My throat went tight and sour. And Mia was wearing my pajamas, cradling my ceramic mug in both hands. It looked like she was staying the night. A place I hadn't gotten into in three years, she'd walked into in a single day. My breath caught. The memories came flooding back. The first time I asked to move in with Ethan was when my landlord suddenly ended my lease. Ethan turned me down flat. With nowhere to go, I ended up sleeping at the office for a few nights. The second time, I got sick, a fever that spiked to almost a hundred and four. Ethan bought me medicine and food and came to take care of me, but before the fever even broke, he was rushing to leave. I asked if he couldn't just stay one night. Or take me home with him. I needed someone. I was scared to be alone. He shook his head almost before I finished. "Come on, be good. I'm just not used to having someone around all the time. You can tough it out, can't you?" When the door slammed shut, the hurt rose up so hard that I started to cry. The third time, the elevator in my building broke down. Staring up at the twenty floors I'd have to climb, I asked him, "Could I just crash at your place tonight?" He said no. "You're always saying you're fat. Stairs are good for that." There'd been times I wondered whether Ethan, always with that gulf between us, actually loved me at all. But in three years together, he'd never once forgotten my birthday or an anniversary. He took care of me, he looked out for me, and he'd worked overtime for days on end just to afford my engagement gift. He loved me, I told myself. He'd just grown up in a way that made him used to being alone, with walls built a little too high. That was all. And now I was waking up from the dream. Those walls of his had only ever been there for me. I texted him. "Going to bed." It took him a while to reply. "Night, baby." "Oh, a girl I think of as a little sister is staying with me for a few days, so don't come by for a while. It'd be awkward." I looked at the screen and couldn't help laughing. A little sister? Since when did Ethan have a little sister? How had I never heard of her? I didn't push it. I just typed back, "Goodnight." Lying in bed, I tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. A new post popped up on Ethan's feed, a screenshot from a video game. "Fair's fair, I lost. I'm just bad at this." Below it was a comment from Mia. "Haha, even the pros choke sometimes. Thanks for carrying me." She'd added a photo of the two of them holding controllers, laughing together. I was the one who'd bought Ethan that whole gaming setup. I'd pictured us playing together someday, once I'd finally moved in. I never even got to touch it. And now Mia was leaning on my boyfriend's shoulder, using the gear I'd paid for. A tear dropped onto my phone screen. I wiped it away. And in that moment, the wall inside me finally came down for good. I was done. Completely done. Chapter 2 I stayed at the hotel by myself for two days. On the third day I lined up a new place and planned to move in soon. In those two days, I didn't reach out to Ethan once. And as if we had an understanding, he didn't send me a single message either. That evening, just as I left work, the sky opened up. Ethan broke the silence by showing up to pick me up. But the moment I got in, I saw Mia sitting in the passenger seat. I froze, suddenly not knowing what to do with myself. "Nora, you're Ethan's girlfriend? No way." Mia didn't seem the least bit awkward. "I always figured Ethan went for the petite, cutesy type. Who'd have guessed." She stuck out her tongue, playful. Cute. And so fake it made my skin crawl. "You don't mind, do you? Sorry, the rain's just awful, I couldn't get a car, so I had to bother Ethan." Her smile was bright. Ethan glanced back at me in the rear seat, soaked through and miserable. "Pass Nora a towel." Mia hummed in answer and pulled out a towel with practiced ease, pressing it into my hands. "Dry off quick, don't catch a cold." I took it. Something sat heavy in my chest, suffocating. As the car crawled forward, Ethan asked, "Is the AC too cold?" I thought he was asking me and opened my mouth to answer, but then Mia sneezed. "Yeah, my legs are practically frozen." She glanced down at her bare legs. Ethan's eyes flicked over and landed on the thin blanket draped across my lap. I'd bought it just days earlier. "Nora, Mia's in a skirt. Give her the blanket." Then he reached over and nudged the temperature up a few degrees. His face was perfectly calm, like he was asking for something completely ordinary. But it felt like a needle straight through my heart. I couldn't speak. A second later, I grabbed the blanket off my lap and handed it to Mia. The car crossed the bridge. My hotel was coming up. Mia turned and winked at me. "Ethan said it's a little chilly tonight, perfect for hot pot at his place. Want to join?" "Come on. Hot pot for two always feels like it's missing something anyway." My heart skipped a beat. Her tone, her face, like she and Ethan were the real couple, practically a little married pair. And I was the outsider. I shook my head and spoke straight to Ethan. "Just pull over up ahead." The rain kept falling late into the night. The next morning I got up early and dragged my heavy suitcase out, only to find Ethan standing at the door. "I came the second the rain stopped." Something anxious flickered in his eyes. He took the suitcase from my hand. "I know you were upset yesterday." "Was it because Mia rode up front? Or because I didn't let you stay over three days ago?" As he spoke, he reached out and pinched the tip of my nose. Affectionate, like always. "You little grump. She's just a friend from way back, out here on her own trying to make it in the city. Of course I help where I can." "There's nothing going on. I've thought of her as a kid sister since we were little." "Once she books a repair guy and her AC's fixed, she'll move out." "Kid sister?" I threw the words back at him. "Do kid sisters move in for the night and talk to you for hours during the day?" "Do kid sisters get a homemade lunch packed for them every single day?" I fought to keep myself steady, but my voice still came out rough. "Ethan, the whole office is saying Mia's got a boyfriend, that she takes long calls in the break room every chance she gets." "That boyfriend everyone's whispering about. It's you, isn't it?" My voice went cold. "She used to eat in the cafeteria. Then suddenly, these last few days, she's bringing lunch from home, and I recognize the container. It's the one I bought for you." "Three years together, and you never once packed me a lunch, never stayed on the phone with me that long, never played a single game with me." "But all of it, you did with her." "Ethan." I took a deep breath and forced the tears back down. "Let's break up." His brows drew together, a flash of displeasure in his eyes. Chapter 3 "It's just helping out an old friend. Is this really necessary?" His tone was all complaint. "Would you cut it out with the suspicion? If there were really something between us, you wouldn't even be in the picture." My head went blank with a sharp ringing. Then I took my suitcase back out of his hand. "Perfect. Then I'm out of the picture now." "I hope you two are very happy." With that, I ran off and flagged down a cab. "Nora, stop right there." I heard Ethan shouting and his footsteps chasing after me. The cab sped off, and I dissolved into sobs. I rushed to the office out of breath, and found my department empty. Two hours later my manager came back from a meeting and laid into me. "Nora, what is wrong with you? You skip this morning's meeting, you drop the whole pitch. If Mia hadn't stepped in with the proposal, both our jobs would be on the line." I turned and saw Mia off to the side, eyes darting away from mine. She was nothing like the naive little girl Ethan imagined. "She never told me there was a meeting." "And that proposal, I'm the one who wrote it. It has nothing to do with her." My voice was ice. Then I walked straight up to her and slapped her across the face. Take my man, fine. Take my work, no. Mia clutched her cheek and ran off with a string of little whimpers. That afternoon, a story blew up across the whole city. I opened the video. It was Mia. She stood on the roof of an office tower, alone, staring down. Traffic streamed below, crowds stopped to gawk, and even the police and a rescue crew had shown up. I bolted outside and ran straight into Ethan, who'd just arrived. "Nora, what did you do to Mia? Why is she up there threatening to jump?" I knew he was frantic, but I never expected him to point the finger at me without asking me a single question. Something clenched in my chest, and my nose stung. "She stole my proposal and took credit for my work." "All I did was call out her lie." Sweat beaded on his forehead. He had no patience to hear me out. "She's new, she doesn't know better. Couldn't you just cut her some slack?" He shouted it in my face. I'd never seen Ethan lose his temper like that. Three years together and he'd always been so even-keeled. I used to tease him, call him Mr. Patient. It never crossed my mind that the first time he'd ever lose control would be over another woman. Just then his phone rang. It was Mia. "Ethan, I know Nora can't stand me. Please apologize to her for me. I'm new, I shouldn't have shown off and embarrassed her." Her voice trembled, all pitiful and wronged, the perfect picture of a poor little victim. Ethan was shaking, wound tight and frantic. "Don't talk like that. She's the one who should be apologizing." Then he grabbed my wrist. "Go apologize to Mia. Now." "If anything happens to her, I will never forgive you as long as I live." Something dropped in my chest. I stared at him in disbelief. I drew a long breath, and waited until the last trace of hurt slowly drained away. "I don't need your forgiveness, Ethan. We're already done." "I won't apologize for something I didn't do." "I'm leaving for the day. Excuse me." Ethan was breathing hard, his eyes full of scorn. "Nora, you are unbelievable." I pushed past him and walked away, every step heavy. That night, a video showed up on the company's site. Ethan stood on the rooftop, coaxing Mia with painstaking care. "Mia, I know Nora. She just got carried away. She wasn't trying to corner you." "I'll apologize for her. Just come down, don't do anything stupid." Mia's mouth crumpled, and the tears came spilling down. "Ethan..." She choked out his name and threw herself into his arms. Chapter 4 What came next was almost inevitable. He gathered Mia against him and murmured to her, soft, the way you'd soothe a child. Applause broke out around them, loud and eager. Some of the gawkers, never ones to let a scene go to waste, actually shouted, "Marry him!" And in that moment, what was left of my dignity tore clean apart. The whole mess between Mia and me became the talk of the industry. To keep the gossip from spreading, the company sent out a termination notice that very night. Mine. The stated reason: failing to do my job and picking a fight with a new hire for no reason. I didn't sleep a wink. The next day I marched into the director's office to demand an explanation, and walked in on Mia dabbing at her eyes, pouring out her sob story to him. Before I could get a word out, the director cut to the chase. "Nora, I know you feel wronged too. You've put up real numbers over the years. But the culture here is about helping each other, not bullying the new people." My jaw dropped. "How is this me bullying—" "Ethan's your fiancé, isn't he?" The director cut me off coldly. "He told us himself. This is a personal grudge between you and Mia, and the fault is yours." "Mia's new, she's got a lot to learn. You, on the other hand, nearly drove her to her death. An employee like that, however talented, is one we can't keep." With that, he set a termination letter in front of me. "Sign." My hands shook so badly I could barely hold the pen. I walked out clutching a box of my things under a gray, heavy sky. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that Ethan, three years my partner, would stand against me at a moment like this, cost me my job, and burn every bridge behind me. I sat in the café across from the office and called him. "What were you thinking, saying those things to my boss?" I didn't bother with preamble. "I got fired. Happy now?" I was shaking with rage, barely holding on to reason. Ethan's voice slid back into its old gentleness. "Nora, don't be like this. Mia's just a kid, and she nearly lost her life over this. Can't you be the bigger person?" "Besides, she fought so hard for this job. She works herself to the bone. If she got fired, she'd have nothing. You're different. You still have me." I actually laughed out loud. So it was true. When you're pushed past the edge of helplessness, you really do laugh. Then Mia's voice came through from his end. Ethan rushed to explain. "Mia finally got someone to fix the AC today, so I'm here with her. Once we're done I'll come find you. Where are you?" I sent him the address of the café across from the office. I waited all afternoon, into the evening, and Ethan never came. I suddenly felt like a clown. I never should have waited, should I? There was no room left for me in his heart. And here I was, still clinging to one last shred of hope. Pathetic. Laughable. I thought back to three years ago, when he'd stood in front of me and said, with such certainty, "Nora, trust me. I'll love you for the rest of my life. I'll be good to you forever." And now, in just three years, he'd forgotten every word of it. Enough. I stood to leave, and my phone rang. It was Mia. "Nora, sweetie." She said it sweet as syrup. "Ethan wanted me to pass along a message. Don't bother waiting." "He's staying with me tonight. He's not coming." "He's in the shower right now. Poor thing wore himself out, totally drenched in sweat." I gripped the phone until my fingers went numb and trembling. Rage shot straight to the top of my skull. "Mia, I never pegged you for someone this pathetic." "You get off on other people's sloppy seconds? Be my guest. He's trash, and trash is exactly what you deserve. Enjoy him." I hung up. Then I opened my social accounts and deleted every post that had Ethan in it. Last, I found every way he had to reach me and blocked them all. I packed that night and booked the first flight home. The moment the plane lifted into the air, I finally let out a long breath. And there, three years with Ethan came to its imperfect, unfinished end. A few hours later, the plane touched down. I turned my phone back on, and a flood of unread texts poured in.