Eight Years Of Silence Ended When I Saw Him Talk To Her Chapter 03
My manager replied: [Are you sure?]
My sudden change of heart clearly shocked them.
My manager replied: [Once you go, you won’t be able to come back for at least a year, maybe longer.]
Me: [I’m sure.]
After sending those words, I let out a breath of relief and lay down on the bed.
That night, Evan never showed up.
He did not send another message either.
Instead, I came across Sophie’s new TikTok on my local feed.
[Does learning not to depend on my boss anymore count as growing up?]
In the video, she was sitting by the roadside while a broad, familiar hand helped her take off the high heels that had rubbed her feet raw.
After eight years of loving Evan, I knew those hands too well.
The moment I saw them, I knew they belonged to him.
Maybe she thought no one would notice, because she went on talking freely in the comments.
[My boss was afraid it would hurt too much for me to walk, so he picked me up in his arms. I’m crying.]
[After he carried me home, he even put an ice pack on my ankle. He’s so thoughtful. I love him so much.]
I froze for a few seconds, my fingers trembling slightly.
Then I took screenshots of everything, bundled them together, and sent them to Evan.
Me: [I had no idea Mr. Harlow cared this much about his employees. I’m about to start shipping you two.]
Me: [Since Ms. Parker loves you so much, I might as well hand you over to her.]
The moment the messages went through, Evan’s calls came in like he had lost his mind.
I did not answer.
I watched my phone screen light up, then go dark again.
Half an hour later, someone knocked on my door, and Evan’s voice came through from the other side.
“Claire, it’s me!”
“This isn’t what you think!”
When I opened the door, he was breathing hard, as if he had been running for a long time.
“She… she’s young. She was just posting for fun.”
“She’s young. Are you young too?”
“She doesn’t know how to keep her distance. Do you not know either?”
My merciless retort made his face stiffen.
“Evan, you actually enjoy all this attention, don’t you?”
“Claire, what the hell are you talking about?”
He nearly roared the words.
I ignored him and read out every TikTok Sophie had posted, one by one.
[Today is my boss’s birthday. I can’t believe he let me spend it with him. He looks so cute when he’s asleep.]
[It’s Memorial Day weekend, and I casually said I wanted to go hiking. My boss actually came with me.]
[Halfway through, I really couldn’t keep going, so he carried me on his back. His scent made me feel so safe.]
So the times he lied and said he was busy were all because he had given his time to her.
Even when my mother was critically ill and on the verge of death, I had hidden alone in a stairwell, crying helplessly as I called him.
I told him I was scared and asked if he could come stay with me.
He had sighed, sounding as if he had no choice.
“I want to be there with you too, but I really can’t get away. Can you wait until I’m done?”
When I snapped back to the present, I let out a self-mocking laugh.
For a moment, I did not know whether I should be furious at his lies or grieve the fact that I had lost this relationship.
“I…”
“I’m sorry, Claire.”
When he saw that I did not react, he panicked and reached out to hug me.
“I promise nothing like this will ever happen again!”
“I’ll transfer her tomorrow. I’ll send her to another branch, and we’ll never see each other again!”
I pushed him away, lowered my head, and started packing my things.
“There is no future for us.”
