He’d Marry Me Only If His Friends Gave Me a Perfect Score, So I Quit the Game Chapter 03
The alcohol was making my head heavier by the minute.
The music, voices, and laughter around me sounded as though they were coming through a thick wall of glass.
Claire suddenly turned towards me.
“Oh, actually. There was something I wanted to ask about from earlier, when we were scoring you.”
She did not speak loudly, but everyone around us quickly fell silent.
Someone laughed and nudged Ethan’s shoulder.
“Your girlfriend said she’s never seriously dated anyone else. Is that actually true, then? Or does she just say it so you’ll think she’s special?”
Several people laughed. The implication was obvious.
Ethan finally frowned.
“All right. Enough.”
But as he said it, he casually raised a hand and covered one of Claire’s ears.
“Claire doesn’t need to hear this rubbish.”
I stood there, completely frozen.
He was not worried about me being humiliated.
He was only worried Claire might hear something that made her uncomfortable.
Once the others realised Ethan was not truly angry, they pushed it even further.
“Erin’s such a prude. Were her parents really strict with her growing up or something?”
Claire looked as though she had suddenly remembered something.
“Wasn’t she really young when she lost her parents? Ethan mentioned it before. He said she basically grew up on her own. Bit sad, really.”
My head snapped up.
That was the one thing I hated talking about in front of other people.
I had never told any of them.
Which meant Ethan had.
He had taken the part of my past I least wanted anyone discussing and casually told Claire about it as though it were ordinary conversation.
My hand instinctively went to the silver chain around my neck.
A pair of old rings hung from it.
They were the last things my parents had left me.
My father died in an accident, and my mother passed away a few years later.
After that, I kept myself going through community assistance, scholarships, and part-time jobs, one step at a time.
My grades had never been something I was merely “pretty good” at.
They were almost the only part of my life I had any control over.
I used to think that when Ethan finally decided to marry me, I would take him to my parents’ graves.
I would take the rings off the chain there and tell them I had finally found someone who would stay by my side.
But year after year of zeroes meant that day never came.
Now, suddenly, I was grateful for that.
I was glad I had never taken him there.
If my parents could see me now, they would probably just be heartbroken.
The moment Claire brought it up, everyone else started chiming in.
“You should’ve told us sooner.”
“No wonder you’re always so sensitive.”
“Well, if you grew up on your own, no wonder you’re a bit odd.”
Someone else laughed.
“Still, Ethan, you might want to think twice about your future with her. She couldn’t even keep her own family together. No wonder she’s so insecure.”
Claire frowned.
“Don’t say that. Losing family must be awful. I was heartbroken for ages when my dog died when I was little.”
Everyone’s attention immediately shifted back to her.
“We know how soft-hearted you are. That’s why none of us dared mention that dog around you afterwards.”
Ethan joined in to comfort her.
“I’ll keep looking. We’ll find you another one that looks just like your old one.”
Hearing that, my fingers slowly curled into a fist.
Because Ethan had found one before.
It had been a stray dog I found behind a car park.
One of its legs was injured, and it was running a high fever.
I took it to an animal clinic and cared for it for days.
For a while, almost every spare moment I had went into looking after it.
Ethan had even been jealous.
“All you care about these days is that dog.”
He complained, but he started helping me train it too.
I thought that meant he had accepted it.
Until one day, I heard him say as casually as anything,
“Once it’s trained, we’ll give it to Claire. She still hasn’t got over her old dog.”
Ethan and I had a huge row over it.
I asked him,
“If Claire were the one who rescued it, would you give it away without even asking her first?”
He fell silent.
That silence gave me my answer.
The next day, I found a reliable family willing to adopt the dog and sent it to them.
When Ethan came back and saw it was gone, he did not ask about it again.
I thought that had been the end of it.
But now I finally understood that everything had always worked the same way.
If Claire wanted something, anything I had could simply be taken from me.
If his friends thought something was funny, my private life was theirs to expose.
And Ethan would always stand by and let it happen.
When someone noticed I still had not said anything, the laughter only grew louder.
“No wonder you’ve never fitted in with us.”
“You’re always wearing those glasses with your nose buried in a book. Grades are the only thing you’re good at.”
“You should be thanking Ethan for getting you invited at all.”
Claire glanced at me.
Her eyes settled on my necklace.
“Erin’s worn that necklace for years. What’s so special about it?”
I instinctively covered my collar, but someone had already seen the rings.
“Don’t tell me those are from her parents. Let me see.”
Before I could react, the chain was yanked from my neck.
The clasp snapped open.
The person held the necklace high above their head.
“That nervous, are you? Must be something interesting, then.”
The others started egging them on.
“Pass it here. Let’s have a look.”
The necklace was tossed from one person to another.
Every time it flew through the air, panic seized me.
“Stop throwing it. Give it back.”
I got to my feet and tried to grab it.
The alcohol made me unsteady, but every time I was about to reach it, they deliberately tossed it away again.
I fell once, then again.
My palms were scraped raw, and my knees throbbed from the impact. My glasses sat crooked on my face.
They were still laughing.
“Come on, Erin. Move a bit faster. If you want it back, catch it yourself.”
Breathing hard, I could only repeat the same plea over and over.
“Please. Just give it back.”
Claire finally spoke.
“I think she’s actually hurt herself.”
Ethan simply reached out and blocked her view.
“All right, that’s enough. Don’t frighten Claire.”
Someone looked annoyed.
“Fine. We’ll go outside, then.”
I caught hold of the hem of Ethan’s shirt.
“Make them stop. Please. My mum left that to me.”
His fingers stiffened for a moment.
But in the end, he only gave my cheek a light pat.
“They’re only messing about with you. Haven’t you always wanted them to like you? What, you don’t want a perfect score next year?”
I stared at him.
Suddenly, I could not even cry.
I did not want a perfect score anymore.
I only wanted my necklace back.
If he would not help me, I would get it myself.
Just outside the private seating area was a staircase leading down to the floor below. The lighting was dim.
I followed the group out.
Someone stood near the stairs, dangling my necklace in the air.
“You want it? Go on, then. Come and get it.”
In the confusion, someone stepped backwards and bumped into me. I had no idea who.
My foot missed the step.
I lost my balance.
I did not even have time to scream before I tumbled down the stairs.
After the final impact, the whole world went silent.
Through the haze, I heard someone screaming above me.
Someone else started crying.
Then a familiar voice shouted my name.
“Erin! Call an ambulance! Now!”
