What Bloomed After Goodbye Chapter 07
For the first time, real panic hit him.
The girl who used to wait for him, put up with him, put him first-she was done.
***
While Mira buried herself in work in Parisse, everyone back in Arlencia started paying for what they’d done.
Holly got hit first.
After the wedding, Caleb turned cold. The favoritism? Gone.
He told her straight up-don’t contact him again.
Twenty-plus years of friendship, over.
Holly panicked.
She’d thought once Mira was gone, the Mrs. Gorman title would be hers.
She’d always been jealous. Why did some quiet girl from a regular family get Caleb’s attention?
She wanted to wreck the wedding. Humiliate Mira.
She got it wrong.
Caleb could spoil her. Joke around. But marry her? Never.
To him, she was just a playmate who never grew up.
After Caleb iced her out, Holly refused to accept defeat. She hit the bars again, hunting for someone new,
still playing the sweet, innocent best friend.
That’s when she met Derek-handsome, smooth talker.
He was generous, all honeyed words.
Holly thought she’d scored a rich guy and gave him everything.
She even paid for him-clothes, watches, whatever he asked.
She had no clue Derek was broke. Just a scammer living off women.
And his real girlfriend, Tessa? Bad temper. No mercy.
She’d already locked onto Holly.
One night, Holly had her arm around Derek in a bar when Tessa stormed in with a crew and boxed them
“So you’re the one stealing my boyfriend?”
Smack. The crack cut through the room.
Phones came up all around them.
Holly went pale, forcing a sweet look. “Who are you? You’ve got it wrong. We’re just buddies-”
“Buddies?”
Tessa sneered, tossing down chat logs and intimate photos. “Buddies hold each other like that? And you- dropping thousands on him?”
There was no way out. Holly had nothing to say.
Tessa hated girls who acted innocent while playing a guy’s “girl best friend.”
She shoved Holly down. “Get on your knees. Bark like a dog. Then we’re even.”
Holly bit her lip, refusing to do so.
Didn’t matter. They outnumbered her.
They forced her onto the cold floor. Laughter, phones flashing-she barked, humiliated.
And it didn’t stop there.
Tessa printed everything-revealing photos Holly had sent to Derek, flirty chats, and the video of her on
her knees.
She plastered them all over Holly’s workplace-hallways, elevators, front doors.
Overnight, Holly became the office joke.
Slut. Boyfriend thief. Fake “girl bro” sneaking around as a side chick. Every label is stuck.
Management fired her on the spot.
Holly lost everything-job and reputation. Wherever she went, people pointed and whispered.
The friends who used to crowd around her? Gone.
Derek was already gone too. No trace.
With nowhere left, Holly bought a train ticket and dipped.
Dragging her suitcase, she slipped out in disgrace.
After that, no one saw her again.
As for Robert and Brandon? They ended up even worse.
