Mr Efficiency Spent His Life WAITING for My Bestie Chapter 09
After that confrontation, Zane returned to New York to contain the corporate fallout. Stock prices kept plummeting, dropping well below critical thresholds, and the company faced delisting.
Meanwhile, I lived far removed from the chaos, at peace.
My mother and I moved again, to a place Zane could never trace. Half a year later, Susan reached out to me through the press.
Since leaving the company, her life had fallen apart. She had fallen victim to a romance scam. All her years-worth of savings were stolen, and she was right back to being the penniless girl she had once been.
When she found me, she was quiet and guarded, overflowing with apologies. “Nina, there is something I’ve never dared tell you.”
“My ex-boyfriend dumped me because I held him to the same standards I saw Zane give you. He couldn’t live up to it, so he cheated.”
“Truth be told, every time I watched you and Zane so happy together, my repressed jealousy and resentment would boil over. I convinced myself your public displays of affection were the reason I’d gotten dumped. I swore you two would not stand up to real hardship. That’s why I asked you to get me that assistant position. I learned his temper and his priorities, and slowly chipped away at the trust between you.”
“Do you know how I justified it to myself? I told myself if Zane could be tempted, then he was no better than my cheating ex. Men don’t compare to best friends. I told myself I was doing you a favor, exposing his true colors.”
—
I swirled the coffee in my cup, watching them settle. “You succeeded, Susan. But I need to understand—not to forgive or condemn, just to close this chapter. Was it ever really about the money?”
She shook her head violently. “Not entirely. I grew accustomed to his way of life. He worships efficiency, hates excuses, hates pointless suspicion. That dynamic let me forgive the traitor I’d become.”
“I started thinking like him—calculating, optimizing. Betraying you wasn’t just cruel; it was efficient. If I could convince myself you were never truly his, then I didn’t have to carry the guilt of stealing him. We could be comfortable, guilt-free. That was my ‘optimal outcome.'”
I stared at her, stunned.
Susan had studied art once, guided by emotion and personal feeling. Now she spoke in cold, mechanical calculations.
She apologized to me. “I’m sorry, Nina. If I could choose a hundred times over, I would choose you. Life with you was easy, full of laughter and hope. I miss that bright, uncomplicated version of myself.”
She stood to leave and left a business card on the table. “I’m going to turn myself in. I will confess to fabricating the burglary charge against you, and my defamation against Zane.”
I flipped over the card; she had become a volunteer for an anti-fraud advocacy group.
She gave a faint smile. “I learned the hard way. Only fighting for small pieces of fairness and light can quiet your inner turmoil. I need to take responsibility for my mistakes so others won’t walk down the same path. Talking to you has lifted every weight off my chest.”
—
As she walked out of the tea house, all her former gloom and insecurity were gone.
I next saw Zane at my engagement ceremony.
He hurried over, looking worn and humiliated. He had slipped into alcoholism over those years. Reckless, tyrannical business decisions had run his former company into the ground.
The only gift he could bring was a whole crate full of souvenir fridge magnets he’d collected from everywhere they had traveled together. He set the box down outside the ceremony hall.
I stepped outside to claim it, and right in front of him, I turned and threw them in the trash.
Tears streamed down Zane’s face. His voice cracked raw. “Nina, won’t you spare even our last few memories?”
I wore my carefully chosen wedding gown, the ring belonging only to my fiancé glinting on my finger. I smiled softly. “No.”
He sank heavily onto the ground, lost in his own thoughts for a very long time.
The years of our youth had split us apart. For the rest of his days, he could remain trapped, a puppet haunted by old obsessions. And I would keep walking forward, building a brand-new life.
Life is short. I only have enough time left to love another person.