He Kept Me Hidden Then Pushed Me To Date Others Chapter 05
I recognized his voice. “What do you want?”
The usually composed man was frantic. “You never came back to Westbrook. Claire, where are you? Did you actually get married? I went to Derek’s wedding-the bride wasn’t you. Who the hell did you marry?”
He was practically yelling.
“I married someone. What’s it to you?”
The fire in his voice died at that.
“Claire, I get that you’re upset I never went public. But you can’t just treat marriage like a joke and marry someone you met two weeks ago!” His voice cracked slightly. “We were together for five years. Is it really over just because I didn’t announce it?”
I laughed coldly at his half-lecture, half-pleading tone. “And who exactly are you to ask me that?”
He went quiet. He heard the distance in my voice, swallowed hard. “Claire…”
I cut him off coldly. “Ethan, we dated for five years. No one knew about us. You stood in front of our colleagues and said your confession was for Gemma. So tell me who I marry has absolutely
nothing to do with you.”
His face went pale. Sweat slicked his palms.
“Claire, it’s not that I didn’t want to go public. I had a proposal planned for you. It’s just-things got
complicated. Gemma came back suddenly, and she said the confession was just so people at work
would be nice to her-”
He paused.
“But while you were gone, I figured it out. I’m ready. We can go public. No more hiding. I want to
marry you. Just give me one more chance.”
I heard the guilt in his voice, but all I could see was the recording Gemma had played.
Five years together, and his friends called me a mistress, said I’d thrown myself at him.
No one respected me-because Ethan had led the way. He kept his distance, dismissed me, let the rumors spread.
That was his doing. His silence.
I took a deep breath. “But I don’t want to marry you anymore. Ethan-I said we were never seeing
each other again. I meant it.”
I hung up.
No sadness. Just relief.
At the wedding ceremony, just before we exchanged vows, Ethan found the venue.
“I object!”
He shoved open the chapel doors and ran to me, eyes bloodshot.
“Claire, I don’t agree to this. You can’t marry someone else. You said you wanted to marry me. I’m
here now. Don’t do this…”
I’d never seen Ethan Holloway so pathetic, so low. His voice was soft, pleading.
Once upon a time, if he’d come to me like this, I’d have forgiven him for anything.
But now, I looked at him like a stranger.
“Ethan, we’re done. And I wasn’t the one who broke us.”
