He Kept Me Hidden Then Pushed Me To Date Others Chapter 03
Work the next day. The assistant said a new person was joining our department. Turned out it was Gemma.
Ethan introduced her without any hesitation. “Gemma’s an old friend. Her overseas research aligns with my current focus, so I invited her to observe and collaborate. Everyone, please make her feel welcome.”
Ethan was dean of the institute and had never allowed anyone special treatment.
When his own mentor’s son wanted to observe a project, he’d turned him down flat.
Every cash offer for grad school admission got the same cold rejection.
Now, hearing him openly claim Gemma as his own person, the murmurs spread fast.
“The dean never bends rules for anyone. If he’s saying that, she must be seriously special to him.”
“Gemma, come on—spill. Are you two a thing?”
“Tell us! We won’t breathe a word!”
Gemma glanced at Ethan, a smile playing at the corner of her lips. “Us? Let’s just say we go way back. Childhood friends.”
Ethan’s ears turned pink.
Someone hooted, “Childhood friends! That’s fate!”
“The perfect match.”
Ethan’s smile widened. He cleared his throat. “To welcome our newest member, lunch is on me today. Order whatever you like.”
The others started teasing Gemma, calling her “boss’s better half” and “first lady of the lab.”
I didn’t join in. I just stood there, watching her.
That spot beside Ethan. I’d spent three years crushing on him, five years dating him in secret. Every single night, I’d dreamed of this exact moment—Ethan introducing me as his girlfriend, me standing openly at his side.
It never came.
I turned and walked away without listening to the rest of their laughter.
After work, Ethan rounded up the team for dinner. When he noticed I wasn’t there, he asked, “Where’s Claire?”
My assistant mumbled, “She left right after work. I think she had a blind date or something?”
Ethan heard I was meeting someone and his shoulders relaxed a little. He knew Derek’s reputation. He was sure I wouldn’t waste more than one evening on a guy like that.
At ten that night, I got home and saw videos popping up in the work group chat.
Ethan, holding a bouquet in one hand and a diamond ring in the other. A sea of champagne roses behind him, candles forming a heart around Gemma. Good camera angles. Everything crystal clear.
Ethan dropped to one knee, eyes full of feeling. “Gemma, on the day you left, you asked me to wait. I waited five years. Now that you’re back, I finally have the chance to tell you how I feel.”
Gemma nodded through tears.
Strangers gushed over how beautiful the setup was. Colleagues flooded the chat with congratulations.
But I stared at the screen, my fingers trembling. Not because of the confession.
Because the setup was identical to what Ethan had once promised me.
A month ago, he’d asked me what kind of proposal I wanted. I thought he was finally going to make us public. I’d told him I loved the classic setup—roses, candles, a diamond ring, him down on one knee. He’d written it all down, carefully.
I’d started waking up an hour earlier every day to do my makeup, waiting for the day he’d finally announce us.
He’d asked all those questions—for Gemma.
Tears splashed onto my phone screen.
But in that moment, I finally, completely, walked away from this relationship that was never meant to see the light.
