I Lost The Game But Won In The End Chapter 06
My phone rang almost instantly, but I didn’t answer.
Instead, I called the manager of the hotel handling our engagement party.
“Hello, this is Nora Bellamy.”
The voice on the other end immediately brightened.
“Miss Bellamy, are you calling to confirm the menu for the event?”
“No. The engagement party is canceled.”
There was silence for a few seconds.
“But Mr. Bellamy and Mr. Sinclair—”
“I’m the one getting engaged. I’m not doing it anymore.”
After hanging up, I contacted the bridal studio and stopped work on the custom dress.
Finally, I deleted the engagement announcement from Instagram.
When I was done, I tossed my phone onto the sofa.
Less than ten minutes later, Ethan called.
I didn’t answer.
Then a message came.
Nora.
A second followed immediately.
The hotel says you canceled the engagement party?
A few seconds later, a third appeared.
You’re actually serious about breaking up?
Apparently, once the hotel passed along the news, he finally realized I had been angry for a little longer than usual this time.
When we were done with the island, Sloane and I went back to the city.
The first thing I did was move out.
Ever since Ethan and I started dating, we had lived together in a townhouse on the Upper East Side.
I chose the yard. I picked the curtains.
Even the hideous sofa in the living room had been custom-made because Ethan hated that I was always lying on the rug.
The moment the car stopped, barking erupted from the yard.
“Woof!”
Biscuit shot out of the house.
He ran so fast he nearly tumbled down the steps.
I crouched, and he crashed straight into my arms, his tail wagging so hard it looked ready to fly off.
“Miss me?”
Biscuit frantically licked my hand.
The housekeeper smiled from the doorway.
“Ever since you left, he’s waited by the door every day. At night, he even goes into your room and lies there.”
I held him without saying anything.
Biscuit was the dog Ethan and I had raised together.
When we found him by the side of the road two years ago, he had been small enough to fit in one hand.
Ethan complained about him, but in the end, Ethan was the one getting up in the middle of the night to mix goat’s milk for him.
The first time Biscuit got sick, Ethan carried him to the animal hospital and stayed until after midnight.
Other than photos of Ethan and me, most of the pictures in my camera roll were of the three of us.
Nothing had changed inside the house.
Two pairs of matching slippers still sat in the entryway.
A sticky note in my handwriting was still on the refrigerator.
Ethan, steal my pudding and you’re dead.
Beside it was his handwriting.
Already ate it. Come kill me.
I stared for two seconds, then tore it down.
Sloane asked from behind me, “Do you have a lot of stuff? Want me to call movers?”
So I called a moving company and went upstairs to pack.
Half the walk-in closet was mine.
The moment I opened a drawer, I saw a box.
Inside was a sapphire necklace.
Ethan had given it to me for my birthday last year.
He had a last-minute meeting that day.
I thought he had forgotten.
But when I woke in the middle of the night, he was crouched beside the bed, still in his suit, fastening the necklace around my neck.
“Almost didn’t make it.”
I had wrapped my arms around him and kissed him for a long time.
Now I tossed the necklace into the trash bag beside me.
Then came bracelets, earrings, and little ornaments he had brought me from overseas.
All of it went in.
Sloane leaned against the doorframe.
“You’re seriously throwing all of this away? Some of it’s worth a lot.”
“If you like trash, feel free to dig through it.”
She immediately shut up.
I was halfway through packing when the front door suddenly opened downstairs.
Biscuit barked excitedly.
My hands paused.
A few seconds later, Ethan appeared in the doorway.
He looked as though he had just come from the office. His tie was still on.
But the first thing he said when he saw me was, “You feeling better?”
“Yeah.”
He visibly relaxed.
Then his eyes fell on the boxes behind me.
His expression slowly changed.
“You came back to move out?”