The Man I Loved, the Man Who Waited

The man I had loved for ten years left me behind to throw a party for the woman he had never gotten over. He was a germaphobe. He said kissing was dirty, so he never kissed me. But at a class reunion, he kissed her right in front of me, as if he could never get enough. In that moment, I finally understood. It wasn't kissing he thought was dirty. It was me. Again and again, he abandoned me for her and left me humiliated. This time, I decided I didn't want him anymore. A week ago, Ethan Hayes flew to Europe himself to celebrate Violet Reed's birthday. He even gave her a blue diamond necklace worth over a million dollars. That necklace was a promise he had made to me. Back when he was broke, he could only afford cheap jewelry from Wish. He told me that once he made it, he would buy me a blue diamond necklace worth tens of thousands. He said I deserved the best in the world. When he came home, we had a huge fight. He shouted at me, "Claire Bennett, can you please be reasonable? I told you, Violet is like family to me. "That's all. "Besides, I wasn't the only one who went. You're the only woman in my heart. You have to trust me." Ethan's sweet words went straight to my head. I gladly stayed right by his side. He wrapped his arms around me from behind. After a fierce round of lovemaking, I was drenched in sweat. He held me and refused to let go. I felt nervous, with a faint ache in my heart. It was the first time in ages he had treated me that way. Ethan got up, dressed, and lit a cigarette with practiced ease, blowing out a cloud of white smoke. I coughed softly. He never smoked around me. "Didn't you quit a long time ago? Why are you smoking today?" Ethan stubbed it out. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "Violet's coming back. We need to spend some time apart. "I'm afraid she'll be upset if she sees you." "She's flying home today. I'm going to her welcome-back party. She'd feel uncomfortable if you came. Besides, my friends "don't even know you. "You'd have nothing to do there. Just be good and stay home, okay?" Violet. He said her name so tenderly. Tears streaked my face. When we first got together, I had made up a nickname for myself: Vee. I'd said it stood for a love that would never vanish. He used to nuzzle my nose and call me that. Later, he started calling me Claire Bennett, never anything sweeter. Even his voice had turned cold. I knew Ethan wouldn't take me, so I decided to follow him. There was only one private club he regularly visited. Whenever he got drunk, he called me. I was always the one who helped him into the car and took him home. Standing outside the private room, I heard familiar voices. "Ethan, I heard you've got a little girlfriend. When are you going to introduce her? "At least make things official with the poor girl." "What girlfriend? You've got it wrong. That's his future wife. They're getting married." Their mocking laughter reached me, and I had no strength to argue. They were right. His friends started congratulating him, already discussing how much money to give us as wedding gifts.Ethan let out a cold laugh from his booth. "Spend enough time looking at the same woman, and you get bored. You have no idea. She's turned into a washed-out housewife." "But she's stayed with me all these years and done a lot for the company. "It wouldn't look right if I didn't marry her." "She's sick all the time. She should count herself lucky I'd even want her." My legs felt like lead. I couldn't move. I had never imagined those words would come from Ethan's mouth. So he had grown tired of me long ago. Violet had been gone for eight years. When Ethan hit rock bottom, she chose to study abroad. Now that he was successful, she was back. No one could convince me she wanted nothing from him. Violet looked especially striking in her red evening dress against the club's dim surroundings. Without so much as glancing at me, she pushed open the door and nearly knocked me over. I caught her sleeve. "You bumped into me. Shouldn't you apologize?" She rolled her eyes and took off her sunglasses. "Please. Have you looked at yourself? This dress "costs more than you could earn in several lifetimes. "How did someone dressed like you get into a club this exclusive? "Are you one of the hired hostesses? How pathetic." I swallowed my anger and followed her inside. Ethan looked stunned to see me. He hadn't expected me to come. After all, in his eyes, I was obedient. Whatever he said, I did. One of his friends tried to liven things up. "Our celebrity Violet is back! Let's play a game to celebrate. Hey, waitress, pour the drinks." They all looked at me. Ethan didn't explain who I was. Over the years, I had asked countless times to meet his friends and parents. He always refused. Instead, he argued with me about it again and again. "Claire Bennett, stop making a scene over something so trivial." To him, it was trivial. Yet all his friends knew Violet. She got up and sat beside him. "Ethan, can I sit with you? I want us to play together." He put an arm around her without the slightest concern for boundaries. "Of course. It's been so long. I've missed you." They played the usual game of truth or dare. The bottle landed on Ethan. Everyone cheered. "Ethan, now that Violet's back, what's it going to be? Truth or dare?" He chose dare without hesitation. Whenever Violet was involved, all his principles went out the window. They kissed, their eyes full of longing as their lips met. Everyone applauded. "After all these years, you two still look perfect together. Guess the spark never died." I flipped the table, marched over, and slapped Violet. I wasn't someone she could push around. She might be the woman Ethan had always longed for, but I was the woman he was about to marry. Violet covered her cheek. A red handprint stood out against her pale skin. "You shameless gold digger! How dare you hit me?" She tried to slap me back, but Ethan stopped her. "She's my fiancée. Making a scene won't do you any favors." Now he remembered I was his fiancée? Where had his conscience been before?Violet cried so prettily, in a way I could never imitate. "She must be treating me like this because I bumped into her outside. "If that's why, I'll get on my knees and apologize." I let out a cold laugh. "I'm not that petty. But you're throwing yourself at another woman's fiancé right in front of her. "How exactly do you expect me to let that slide?" Ethan grabbed my arm. "Claire, we're just friends. She's young and sensitive. "There's no reason to embarrass everyone." More people gathered to watch. Violet was a fairly well-known influencer, and her face flushed bright red. "Ethan, I regret leaving you so much. I didn't have a choice back then." The concern in Ethan's eyes was impossible to hide. He patted Violet and told her it was okay. I had never seen him treat anyone more gently than he treated me. Now I had. I pulled them apart. I had done everything expected of me. Before Ethan's mother died, I had cared for her until her final breath. Ethan had promised to marry me. I was his rightful partner. Violet would only ever be the other woman. I curled my lip. "You should remember your place, Violet. Of course you regret it. You never imagined "Ethan would make something of himself. Now you're crawling back, desperate to break us up." Violet froze. Her face tightened, and she bit her lip. "Claire, I didn't know about your relationship. "I just wanted to come back and see everyone. Don't worry. I won't steal Ethan from you. "I'm sick. I probably don't have much time left." She was dying? A flicker of doubt crossed my mind. Ethan couldn't hide his alarm. "What happened?" Violet faltered. "Your parents didn't approve of us back then. They sent me abroad. I loved you. "I wanted to come back, but after I left, I found out I had cancer." Ethan glared viciously at me. "Look what you've done. Violet's already suffering. What more do you want?" Right in front of me, he fastened a bracelet around her wrist, scooped her into his arms, and took her to the hospital. Violet smiled at me, as if to say she had won. I could never compete with her. On my way home alone, a trending notification popped up on my phone. Popular influencer Violet Reed's romance exposed: Still entangled with her first love. It was the top trending story. I turned off my phone with a bitter smile. As an influencer, she should have known everything she did attracted attention. Ethan and I stopped speaking again. Once more, it was because of Violet. In the past, I always soothed him and gave him a way to save face. I had acted like a desperate fool. But what had he ever done for me?The door clicked open. Ethan was home. I thought he had come back to apologize. Instead, he threw his phone in front of me, its screen still lit. I smiled. "So? You think I did this?" His expression turned icy. "Didn't you? You've always been jealous of how well I treat Violet. You must have brought those people there. "Even if you didn't, you're still responsible. "If you hadn't made a scene, no one would have noticed her." Every word chilled me to the bone. All the emotions I had bottled up burst out. "For God's sake, Ethan, use your brain. You manage your company just fine. Why can't you see clearly when it comes to Violet?" "You two got intimate right in front of me, and I'm supposed to stand there like a statue, "pretending nothing happened?" "Don't forget you promised to marry me." "So what? Are you threatening me? If it weren't for my mother's dying wish, "do you think I'd want someone as sickly as you? "Violet is better than you in every way." His voice filled the once-quiet room. Every word stabbed into my heart. "Why couldn't you be the one dying? You're so petty. You disgust me." He hated me so much that he wished I would die. I braced myself against the wall, overwhelmed by anger and pain. I had lived with hereditary epilepsy since childhood. After my parents died, I became an orphan. When bullies harassed me at school, Ethan had saved me. He had looked out for my feelings, stayed with me when I was sad, and given me a shoulder to lean on. He bought me my favorite snacks. He held an umbrella over me in the rain and watched the snow with me in winter. Back then, he seemed so good and kind. I had carried a crush on him for ten whole years. Only after Violet went abroad did I get the chance to be by his side. When he was down on his luck, I comforted him. I stayed with him through it all. After several days of silence, Ethan came to make peace. He said he had been wrong. He only felt sorry for Violet. The way she had no one to rely on reminded him of me back then. I was surprised. I had always been the one soothing him. Proud as he was, he had actually admitted he was wrong. He sent me a message: Claire, we're getting married tomorrow. You'll be the most beautiful bride. But on our wedding day, he ran out on me. He answered a video call from Violet. "Goodbye, Ethan. Congratulations on your wedding." She held a small kitchen knife against her wrist. As she cut, she said, "You promised, Ethan. "You said you'd stay by my side. You said I was the only woman who would ever stand beside you as your bride." Violet certainly knew when to attempt suicide. She had picked my wedding day. Anyone with eyes could tell she didn't really want to die. But Ethan fell for it. He spent a long time soothing her. "Violet, don't do anything stupid. Put down the knife. Don't hurt yourself. "It'll break my heart." He watched her with nothing but tenderness in his eyes. Ethan and I had already made our marriage legal. We were just one step away. The wedding I had dreamed of for ten years was about to fall apart. My years of longing had finally been returned. The guests' whispers threatened to swallow me. My chest hurt so badly I couldn't breathe. I felt as though I might die at any moment. Swallowing the bitterness in my throat, I took Ethan's hand and choked out, "This is our wedding day. You promised to marry me. Are you going back on your word?" That set Violet off. Her face twisted. "Ethan belongs to me! If I die, he'll remember me forever." The blade hovered over her wrist, and Ethan's expression grew colder. He shook off my hand. "Be good. She needs me right now. I'll come back. You're the only woman I'm going to marry." I pressed my lips together. "If she's hurt, can't she go to a hospital? Does it have to be you? If you walk out today, "don't ever come back." Ethan stripped off his black suit jacket and shoved me out of his way. Pain tore through my lower abdomen. He didn't know I was carrying his child.