My Best Friend Stole My Cheating Boyfriend, I Called It Double Blessing Chapter 01
On my birthday, two hours after my shift should have ended, I worked up the nerve to ask yet again.
“Can we please go eat?”
A few feet away, my boyfriend Nathan Carter and my best friend Chloe Bennett were locked in a debate over whose proposal to use for tomorrow’s pitch. Neither of them heard me.
This had been happening nonstop ever since Chloe started working at Nathan’s investment bank. They both had finance degrees. They clicked at work. They always had something to talk about.
I was a dance major. Right after college, Nathan Carter shoved me into a receptionist job at his company just so, in his words, he could keep me close.
“Eve, tell us—my proposal’s lower risk, isn’t it?”
Chloe called my name, and I stood up on instinct. Before I could take a step, Nathan shot me a look, brow creased.
“She’s a receptionist. All she thinks about is food. Why are you asking her?”
I froze. So he had heard me. He just didn’t care.
He turned back to Chloe, his voice dropping soft. “Fine. You’re impossible to argue with. We’ll run with yours.”
They leaned back in, shoulders almost touching, sealing themselves off into their own little world. I was left standing there, awkward and stranded, not sure whether to sit or stay.
Watching their shoulders press together, something inside me clicked. This was humiliating. If I wasn’t part of their little world, I was done forcing it.
***
The sight of it made my stomach turn. I pressed my nails into my palm and tried again.
“I’m going to go eat.”
Still nothing. They didn’t even spare me a sideways glance.
It hit me then—I was extra. I grabbed my bag and walked out of the office. Before I shut the door, I glanced back.
Chloe said something. Nathan laughed, his hand finding her hair, tucking a loose strand behind her ear like it was muscle memory.
They looked picture-perfect. The sight landed like a rock in my chest.
I walked into the Cajun place next door and ordered their blackened fish, extra hot. While I waited, I pulled up our group chat and scrolled back.
My message from noon was still there: [Don’t forget my birthday! Let’s get something spicy tonight.]
Chloe: [Got it.]
Nathan: [Chloe and I don’t do spicy. Let’s do steak.]
I’d said yes. Even though I hate steak more than anything.
The two of them had been so swamped lately. We hadn’t sat down for a real meal together in ages. Before Chloe joined the company, Nathan and I used to live for spicy food. Now, any meal with the three of us had zero dishes with any heat.
I felt like an idiot. It took me this long to see how much more he favored her over me.
The server set the blackened fish down in front of me, steam still rising off the hot cast-iron plate. Through the haze, I saw Chloe outside, arm hooked through Nathan’s as they left the office. Nathan was carrying a cake.
Right. I’d ordered myself a birthday cake and had it delivered to his office. The plan was to grab it before dinner.
What a joke. They saw a cake arrive and still didn’t think of me.
I kept my head down and ate like I was starving, barely chewing. At the next table, an older man offered me a bottle of water.
“Miss, is it really that spicy? You’re crying.”
I wiped my eyes and scrambled for an excuse. “Thank you. I’m just not great with spicy stuff.”
“Then why order the hottest thing on the menu?”
I kept my eyes on my plate and didn’t answer.
My phone stayed dead silent the entire meal.
When I got home, Nathan was sitting on the couch. The second I walked in, the words snapped out of him.
“Eve, what the hell? You just disappeared? It’s late—you think I wasn’t worried?”
Worried enough to not send a single text. My voice came out flat.
“I said I was leaving. You were too busy talking to Chloe.”
Something flickered in his expression. Guilt, maybe. Then Chloe’s voice came through his phone.
“Eve’s home? Good. I know she always hated being by herself after dark—she was like that in college too. Anyway, I’ll hang up now that she’s safe.”
My eyes landed on the call duration. The absurdity of it all twisted something in my chest.
“You were so worried about me that the two of you just sat here on the phone, chatting for half an hour?”
Nathan’s brows slammed together. “Do you have to be like that? Chloe was just worried. She stayed up waiting for you.”
I let out a hollow laugh, gave no answer, and headed straight for the bathroom.
Behind me, Nathan’s voice melted into a soothing tone meant for Chloe. “Ignore her. She throws fits over nothing. She has no clue how hard we work. The world doesn’t revolve around her. This isn’t your fault…”
I choked back a shaky breath and forced the tears down, locking them away.
After my shower, I lay in bed. A text came in from my mom.
[Eve, how was your birthday? Did Nathan take you somewhere nice?]
She didn’t know. Nathan hadn’t spent my birthday with me in three years.