NovelEnglishBook9 Chapter5.
| used to desperately want him to acknowledgepublicly, but he always found excuses to avoid it.
But everyone at his company knew Vanessa. Once, | urgently went to find him, only to see a group of people
teasing him and Vanessa, calling her "sister-in-law" affectionately.
Vanessa blushed shyly, standing by his side, and they really did look like a couple.
Ethan just smiled and didn't explain.
That day, I didn't know how I left the building. When | got hand confronted Ethan, he said it was just a joke
that he didn't take seriously, and that | was overreacting. He even madevideo chat with Vanessa to prove it.
Vanessa laughed atduring the call, using the sold excuse: "If | wanted to be with E, it would've
happened a long tago."
At that time, | doubted myself, thinking | wasn't good enough compared to Vanessa, which is why Ethan never
paid attention to me.
But after that accident, looking back at those moments, | realized how shameless they were, and how foolish |
had been.
They had been hiding behind the guise of friendship while engaging in ambiguous behavior, yet expectedto
be the perfect, understanding partner, what a joke.
The next day, Ethan still called, asking if | would come. When | refused again, his pretense fell apart:
"Do whatever you want, Claire. I'm giving you a chance to be acknowledged publicly. If you don't appreciate it,
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtdon't ccrying tolater."
Hearing his grandiose tone, | quietly hung up the phone.
If this had happened in the past, his words would have thrilled me, and | wouldn't have slept al night from
excitement. But now, al | could think about was healing and preparing for the meaningful work with my mentor,
helping more people.
To better engage in the project, | packed my things and moved into the hospital dormitory.
| didn't take much withbecause the house | shared with Ethan was mine. Ethan had bought a house, but it
was Vanessa who lived there.
He had said, "You have your own house, but Vanessa has it tough; she doesn't even have a place to stay." With
that one sentence, Ethan moved into my house, while Vanessa enjoyed the one he bought.
On my way to the dormitory, | received a call from Vanessa.
"Claire, you lost. | heard Ethan is going to publicly announce his partner tonight. Guess who's wearing that
dress?" Her voice was dripping with triumph. | calmly responded, "Aren't you supposed to be an independent
woman? Why do you rely so much on a man?"
She was taken aback by my words, then scoffed, "You and | are nothing alike. Look at everything you've done,
yet | can still get what | want with just a flick of my finger. Claire, you'll always be a loser compared to me."
| glanced at the photos she sent, showing her at an event, wearing the dress Ethan had bought for me, standing
beside my boyfriend.
Suddenly, | felt she was right. When it cto competing with Vanessa, | had always lost.
But | didn't want to give her the satisfaction: "Then why hasn't he given you the title of 'Mrs. E'?"
As soon as | said that, she hung up the phone.
In the end, Ethan didn't love her enough. If he did, he wouldn't keep her as a mistress, would he?
After settling into the dormitory, it was already evening.
| mostly worked day shifts, so | spent my evenings studying. To avoid unnecessary trouble, my mentor and |
would meet at crowded cafes to discuss our plans.
When my mentor saw me, he smiled: "You've really changed. There's a spark in your eyes, and you're no longer
timid."
"Maybe that's what it means to move on," | sighed.
Before bed, | received another call
from Ethan Where are you? Why aren't you home? | wanted to announce you tonight, but you weren't there, so |
postponed it How
aomorrow? I'll introduce you
then."
"I'm staying at the dormitory now, Ethan. The hospital is really busy, and | need to
be close by. You can handle everything on your own."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
He paused, "When you're done, letknow, and I'll cto pick you up."
"Alright. Is there anything else?"
"No, that's it."
"Okay, I'm hanging up now." | didn't want to waste any more twith him.
A while later, Ethan calledagain, but | declined the call.
He kept trying, so | turned off my phone.
When I finally finished my work and went to lunch with my colleagues, | saw Ethan waiting at the entrance. He
didn't look wel- his shirt was wrinkled, and he hadn't shaved.
Ethan immediately spotted me: "Claire, can we talk?"
My colleagues whispered among themselves, so | led him to a nearby café. Once we were seated, he said,
"You're so busy now that you don't even have tto return my@alls. Not a single one."
| had forgotten that | had turned off my phone.
"I've transferred to the emergency department. I'm on call, so | can't always
answer the phone. | hope you understand." | cut him off.
I had originally planned to go into emergency medicine, but Ethan had always keptunder tight control
Because | couldn't respond to his messages immediately, he would subjectto silent treatment night.
every
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