My BFF Betrayed Me with My Boyfriend! Now Neither of Them Will Leave Me Alone! Chapter 01
My best friend’s boyfriend had hit her again, so my boyfriend and I drove through 3 states overnight to get to her.
I beat the guy up while Evan blocked the door to keep him from escaping.
Karen froze for a second before jumping in too.
On the drive home, the 3 of us looked at the bruises on one another’s faces and burst out laughing.
She laughed and laughed until she started to cry.
“You 2 can never break up!”
Evan rolled his eyes from the driver’s seat.
“That’s never happening.”
From that day on, I let Karen move in with us.
Evan often teased me, “Athena Ellis, do you even remember that I’m your boyfriend?”
Then I returned from a 3-month business trip to Zurich and found a pink charm hanging in Evan’s car.
No matter how many times I asked, he refused to tell me who had given it to him.
I stared coldly into his eyes.
“We’re done. Karen, grab your things. We’re leaving.”
Karen stood perfectly still.
Then she walked straight over to my boyfriend.
Damn it!
That woman was my best friend.
…
Everything around me seemed to freeze.
All I could hear was the wind roaring past my ears.
Karen Wilson’s face went deathly pale, as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
I did my best to steady my trembling voice.
“What does this mean?”
After a long silence, Evan stepped forward and took Karen’s hand.
“We were looking for the right time to tell you. That night… we were both drunk…”
I stared at their tightly clasped hands as my vision blurred.
I had just gotten off an 11-hour flight and hadn’t even had time to put down my luggage.
My body swayed, and I nearly collapsed.
Evan’s expression changed.
He moved to catch me, but I raised a hand to stop him.
Karen’s eyes were red.
She hesitated, too afraid to come closer, and whispered my name so softly I could barely hear her.
“Thea, you didn’t eat on the plane again, did you…?”
She opened her palm.
A caramel chew rested in the center.
My eyes burned.
I bit down hard.
“Shut up. I don’t want to talk to either of you here.”
I grabbed my suitcase and walked into the crowd.
The cool night breeze swept away the tears at the corners of my eyes.
It was nearly impossible to get a cab during rush hour.
By the time I reached the apartment, Karen had already packed her things.
She stood by the door as if she had something to say.
I glanced at the matching sneakers by the entrance and the throw pillows on the couch printed with cartoon versions of the 2 of them.
The moment I closed my eyes, I could almost picture it.
They might have hooked up on that very couch the night they got drunk.
My stomach cramped, and I nearly threw up.
My suitcase still held the Swiss chocolates I had brought back from Zurich and the scarf I had bought for Evan.
During one of our video calls, Karen had held up her phone and said, “Don’t worry. Your boyfriend got me hired. Take care of yourself over there. And don’t forget my chocolate cookies. I sent you the link.”
I slammed my suitcase onto the floor.
I pulled out the cookies and the scarf, then threw them into the trash along with the pillows.
Karen immediately burst into tears.
Evan frowned and stepped forward.
“This was my fault. If you need someone to take it out on, blame me.”
He glanced down at Karen, and his voice softened.
“Wait outside for me.”
Karen dragged her suitcase toward the door, looking back every few steps.
Once the door closed again, Evan pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
He paused, then put it away.
“No matter how you look at it, I screwed up.”
“Athena, I’ll talk to my father and have him save the associate chief position for you.”
I pressed a hand against my cramping stomach and gave a cold laugh.
“What is that supposed to be, guilt? I don’t need it.”
Evan’s expression shifted.
“You’re always like this. You act like there’s nothing you can’t handle. Athena, I’m your boyfriend. What’s so wrong with relying on me the way Karen does?”
I cut him off coldly.
“Ex-boyfriend.”
“And she needs you because she can’t do anything for herself. I don’t need you because whatever I want, I can get on my own.”
Evan gave me a complicated look.
“Take care of yourself.”
Then he gently closed the door behind him.
The apartment was empty.
I was the only one left.
I collapsed onto the couch, drenched in cold sweat from the pain in my stomach, my eyes filling with tears.
I clutched my abdomen.
“My stupid stomach… It hurts so much…”