Mr Efficiency Spent His Life WAITING for My Bestie Chapter 04
I’d left everything behind and was boarding a train out of the city when transit police stopped me.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but you’re listed as a suspect in a burglary case. You can’t leave.”
Shocked, I said, “There must be some mistake.”
“You’ll have to sort this out at the precinct.”
Officers placed me in handcuffs and brought me downtown. By the time I arrived, Zane and Susan were already there with signed release papers.
Before I knew it, Zane was driving me back to our apartment.
He sat me down at the dining-table and headed for the kitchen to make pasta. Susan sat directly across from me.
Once the kitchen fan drowned out the sound, Susan’s expression turned smug. “Nina, break up with Zane.”
I’d always thought her heart had been broken by an ex-boyfriend, leaving her uninterested in romance. But every petty slight over time had laid the truth bare: she’d set her sights on Zane a long time ago.
“I got you that assistant job with Zane,” I told her. “You’ve been chasing him ever since.”
“You’ve had all the romantic luck for ten years,” Susan said. “It’s my turn to marry a wealthy, successful man.”
She reached for my hand, then yanked away abruptly, screaming and knocking over her chair.
Zane came out carrying a bowl of spaghetti bolognese. He saw Susan’s tear-streaked face and whirled toward me.
I held out my palm, where the old silver promise ring rested.
Zane took Susan’s hand and examined her fingers carefully. “It’s just a small cut.”
When he looked at me, his eyes burned with disgust. “Nina, you can steal the ring, but you’ll never take Susan’s place as the bride. I brought you here to make you take responsibility for your actions, not to compete with her over the wedding.”
He was still convinced I was throwing a jealous fit.
Susan held back her tears and pleaded with him. “Zane, it’s fine. If Nina wants the ring, she can have it.”
I tossed the ring onto the table. It clattered against the edge of his steaming bowl.
That bowl of spaghetti bolognese, that cheap silver promise ring—once, those were everything I’d imagined for a home of my own.
“Take your ring back. I wish you both the best.”
Something flickered across Zane’s face, a flash of raw grief. But he was conditioned to suppress feelings and follow logic. “Rumors are going around the office that I’m torn between you and Susan. The most effective way to quiet all this talk is for you to attend our wedding.”
I laughed out loud, my whole body shaking. “And if I refuse?”
“Then that stolen ring stays on your record. You won’t get bail for the second offense. You’ll end up serving time.”
Zane set the signed release document right on top of the ring. Ten years of beautiful memories were crushed under that sheet of paper.
“Fine.” I stared straight at him. “Once the wedding is over, we owe each other nothing.”
A flicker of unease crossed Zane’s face, yet he smiled with total certainty. “The day after the wedding, I’ll go wait in line with you at city hall.”
On the wedding day, Susan sat in the bridal suite in her white gown.
She sent me a clip showing my arrest at the transit station. “Look at you, Nina. You’ve got yourself a police record now. You’ll never be able to stay in New York.”
I scrolled through livestream links, cold-hearted. “Destroying me won’t make you feel secure as Mrs. Quinn.”
Susan slipped on her veil, smiling with the satisfaction of someone who had finally won. “My best friend. Make sure you catch my bouquet later.”
Up at the altar, I handed the wedding band over to Zane.
For a heartbeat, Zane’s expression went blank. Mechanically, he slid the ring slowly onto Susan’s ring finger.
I turned and walked out of his life without a single backward glance.
……
Zane woke the next morning with a brutal hangover.
Susan had made him a bowl of oatmeal, urging him to eat before heading out.
“I’m not hungry. Nina’s waiting for me.”
Susan stirred her spoon lazily. “Don’t bother going. Nina’s gone.”
Zane froze mid-step toward the door. “Gone back to her hometown? Always making things difficult for me. I’ll go pick her up.”
Ignoring Susan’s angry shouts, he rushed out.
He banged on the door of our old apartment, and a complete stranger opened it.
“Who are you? No Nina Sullivan lives here.”