My Bestie Used My Photo to Catfish a Man—She Never Knew He Was My Boss Chapter 08
Lauren froze. She clearly never expected me to fight back. She crumpled to the floor, ghostly pale.
That’s when I noticed the red marks she’d left on my arm. They stung. Then the exhaustion hit-like all the fight just drained out of me. Losing a friend hurt worse than any breakup
I turned stiffly and walked away. The crowd scattered instantly.
When I looked up, I saw Adrian standing by the doorway. He leaned against the frame, watching me with dark, unreadable eyes. He looked tired. The corners of his mouth drooped, and his voice came out hoarse.
“My feelings… you don’t care about them?” He sounded like he was about to cry.
I forced an ugly smile. My eyes lost focus, leaving only confusion. That bitter feeling surged again. “I’m just… exhausted.”
I couldn’t look at him. I grabbed my coat and bag from the private room. “Adrian, I don’t know what to care about anymore. What to believe.”
How could I open a heart that had been shattered and hastily glued back together? Especially to someone
like him.
I sat in the back of a speeding taxi, my mind completely blank. This whole mess had twisted me up and spat
me out. From the very beginning, it was all a mistake. Could something I’d never even dared to dream about just land in my lap like that?
I stared at the two pinned chats on my WhatsApp. Silence. Adrian was my direct boss. I had to check his messages. And Lauren was my best friend.
I sent Adrian one last message.
[I’ll come in tomorrow to resign.]
Then I unfriended and blocked them both. My chat list was empty. Except for spam and random group
notifications.
My heart felt like it was missing a huge chunk. Tears soaked my pillow without a sound.
I thought it was over. But it was far from that simple.
The next day, when I returned to the estate, I saw Adrian. It had been less than a day, but it felt like decades.
The big study held just the two of us. Silence. I silently held out my resignation letter, trying to pretend I didn’t see him. But no matter how much I dodged, I couldn’t truly ignore the man in front of me.
Without realizing it, my movements slowed. I could’ve just left the letter and walked out. It would’ve taken a minute, tops. But my legs felt like lead. I couldn’t leave the room.
What was I waiting for? My breathing grew uneven. I fumbled with my hair and stole a glance at him. His eyes brightened.
“Iris, don’t go yet. You have no idea how happy I was when your burner account added me. I was ecstatic.”
“I thought it was a gift from the universe-a chance to finally step out of this employer-employee thing. A chance to be honest about how I feel. I knew it was you. Not Lauren.”
My hands stilled. “So you figured it out and just… played along?” I couldn’t believe it. My voice shook.
“At first, I did think I was talking to you. I thought you were messing with me, Iris… I even wondered if I was out of touch with the times. Maybe this was some new kind of game.”
His words pulled a laugh out of me. Never expected a big CEO to have such a dramatic inner world. That’s when I finally saw a glimpse of the boyish side of him. He froze for a second when I snorted.
“I’m telling you this because I genuinely like you. Can you please reconsider and unblock me?”
