My Best Friend’s Brother is My Ex Chapter 03
Chloe spiked a fever right after breakfast and passed out in her bedroom, sedated by cold medicine.
I finished a practice exam, headed downstairs to get a glass of water—only to cross paths with Mrs. Shaw as she was leaving the house.
On impulse, I asked where she was off to.
“It’s Soren,” she sighed, equal parts exasperated and faintly amused.
“He bolted out the door without his iPad. I’m dropping it off at his office.”
“Honestly, Truth be told, I can’t figure what’s wrong with him today.He’s never this distracted.”
I acted before I could overthink it.
The moment her hand reached the doorknob, I caught hold of her sleeve.
“Let me take it, Mrs. Shaw. You ought to take it easy.”
“Oh, I couldn’t burden you with that—”
“Really, it’s fine. I’ve got nothing else going on.”
Growing up, I’d always been adept at picking up on social cues growing up
My parents’ divorce had forced me to shuttle between different cities, so I knew better than to overstay my welcome or leech off others’ generosity.
Mrs. Shaw was already doing me a huge kindness by letting me crash here, running one quick errand was the very least I could offer in return.
She relented at last and texted me the address.
In the cab,I pulled up search results for Soren Shaw on my cell.
Every entry painted the exact same unsettling portrait.
Ruthless. Calculated. A shark in the boardroom.
It was hard to square that version of him with the man who’d begged online to dote on me endlessly.
Back then, my whole world had been falling apart.Parents divorcing, piled on top of crushing high school pressure.
Video games were my sole escape, and when he messaged me in the game lobby, I thought, what harm could it do? A hit of dopamine was still dopamine, after all.
But I played it safe.
I lied about my age, claiming I’d just finished college.
I never revealed my real name.
No photos. No video calls. We capped our nightly voice chats at thirty minutes, no more.
Soren, on the other hand, showered me with extravagant gestures.
Constant transfers. Daily updates on everything from his lunch to his meetings.
I stared at those staggering sums and sent every dollar straight back to him.
I didn’t want his money. Just the attention.
And since there was no future, why take advantage?
Then he started pushing to meet.
I had two weeks left until SAT Week.
Meeting up was out of the question.
So I told him straight:[No point meeting up.][I’m kind of over this. Let’s end it here.]
Then I blocked him everywhere.
Deleted the game account too.
I figured after all this time, he wouldn’t even remember me.
But from the way Chloe talked… maybe he hadn’t forgotten at all.
