He Deleted My Name From Every Design. I Deleted Him From My Life. Chapter 02
My tears fell.
“I’m crying because after seven years, I never even got to have a real relationship with you!”
“For seven years, my name never appeared on a single design credit. You never supported my expense reimbursements. And we spent seven years hiding what we were from everyone else.”
“All of it was because I wanted you to believe that I wasn’t someone who climbed my way up through connections.”
Adrian said nothing.
He stood by the kitchen doorway, watching me.
I sank to the floor, resting my forehead against my knees.
“Seven years…”
“What was I even trying to prove all this time?”
“Why were you the one who ended up doubting me…”
His phone rang.
The moment he answered, his voice changed completely.
“Sophie? Yeah, tell me.”
“The proportions of the building facade? I’ll send you a reference image. It’s no trouble.”
“Mr. Whitmore… am I just not talented enough? I keep making mistakes in my drawings…”
Sophie’s voice came through the phone.
“You’re not.”
“Take your time. I’ll come to the site tomorrow and teach you.”
Then he tossed a box of tissues onto the floor beside me.
“If you’re going to cry, keep it down. She’s still working on her designs.”
“You can break down over one failure if you want, but don’t distract someone who’s still working hard.”
The next morning, the moment I walked into the break room, the conversation inside suddenly stopped.
Someone cleared their throat.
Someone lowered their head and started scrolling through their phone.
“…I knew it. Maybe she never put her name on those designs because she wasn’t confident enough.”
“Sophie really is talented. Even the clients praised her personally.”
“She’s been here for seven years and she’s still only a staff architect. And we’re supposed to believe there’s nothing suspicious going on?”
I stood there, holding my cup.
Sophie walked in carrying a coffee.
“Claire, I’m really sorry about what happened yesterday.”
“You’ve been here longer than me, and being chosen over you… honestly, I didn’t feel good about it either.”
“This coffee is just a small apology. I hope you’ll keep guiding me in the future.”
She held the coffee out toward me.
I reached out to take it.
The moment my fingers touched the cup, she let go.
The entire cup of coffee spilled down my chest, soaking through my white shirt.
The ice slid inside my collar.
The cold made me shiver.
Sophie froze.
Then she looked down at her own hand.
“Claire…”
“Did you do that on purpose?”
“I know you’re upset…”
“But you didn’t have to do this, did you?”
Her voice trembled.
“I just bought this coffee, and now it’s all spilled…”
Everyone around us turned to look.
“Sophie was just handing her a coffee. She didn’t even catch it properly, and now this happened?”
“She obviously can’t handle losing. She’s probably taking her anger out on Sophie.”
“What happened here?”
Adrian walked in.
His gaze moved from Sophie’s reddened eyes to my soaked shirt.
“I was just handing Claire a coffee…”
“But she didn’t catch it properly, and it spilled.”
Sophie’s voice was shaking.
“That’s not what happened—”
“Did it get on your hands?” he interrupted.
He lowered his head and looked at Sophie’s hands.
Sophie shook her head.
“Just a little sticky.”
Then he looked at me.
“You caused this. Handle it yourself.”
“Go buy her a new one.”
I looked down at my shirt.
A large brown stain spread across the white fabric.
“I didn’t—”
“Don’t stand here and distract everyone from work.”
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
I looked into his eyes.
He looked at me like I was a stranger.
I opened my mouth.
Then stopped.
Forget it.
He wouldn’t believe me.
He never had.
I turned around and walked out.
