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Chapter 2
I completely lost my composure, my eyes burning with unshed tears. I quickly excused myself to the bathroom.
The moment the door closed behind me, tears streamed down my face.
Thankfully, the club was loud enough to mask my stifled sobs.
My phone chimed with a message
from Raine: [I’m waiting for you outside.]
Only ten minutes had passed since I’d arrived full of happiness.
Now I felt like I’d been dragged into ice–cold water, my entire body frozen, my hands trembling uncontrollably.
In such a short time, I hadn’t processed everything yet. How could I accept that the man I thought was equally committed to me had never taken me seriously?
Being with me was just pity. His heart belonged to someone else.
Pain stabbed through my chest like needles. I took a long time to compose myself, finally wiping my tears and stepping out.
Raine was leaning against the wall waiting.
Looking at him, I nearly broke down again.
We hadn’t seen each other for a month. He’d been overseas on business, only returning today.
We’d planned to meet tomorrow. But I couldn’t wait, so I’d come here tonight.
He slowly approached me, staring at my red–rimmed eyes before finally saying:
“I’m sorry.”
It’s amazing how those two simple words work. They’re what every girl wants to hear when her boyfriend makes a small mistake–a soft apology that melts away anger. But when there’s a fundamental problem in a relationship, they become the most hollow words imaginable–no explanation, just a death sentence for our love.
“Raine, don’t you have anything to explain about what you said?” I asked.
He avoided my eyes, not directly answering: “Why are you being so sensitive? It’s just guys talking trash. You don’t need to take it seriously. I think I’ve been a pretty decent boyfriend.”
Am I being too sensitive?
Maybe. Sensitive people always suffer double the pain.
Tears fell again despite my efforts. He reached out to wipe them away, but I turned my head to avoid his touch.
10:29
Secretly Dating My Brother’s BFF… Until His Hotter Rival Stole the Spotlight
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Chapter 2
I took a deep breath and continued: “If you have feelings for Jade, why did you pursue me?”
Hearing her name, his expression instantly darkened, and he snapped: “Don’t act like you didn’t know I had feelings for her. Why are you pretending now?”
The club was warm, but I suddenly struggled to breathe. My chest tightened painfully, and my head felt dizzy from
the heat.
This was the first time her name had come up in our conversations, and he immediately dropped his usual gentleness, becoming almost unrecognizable to me.
Clearly, Jade was his breaking point.
I wanted to yell at him, but my throat closed up, preventing any sound.
His phone rang with impeccable timing, showing an international number with no contact name. But my intuition told me it was Jade.
His eyes immediately brightened, and he rushed past me to answer before the phone had even rung for ten seconds, as if terrified of keeping her waiting a moment longer.
Through the music, I heard his tender voice as he walked away: “Jade…”
Huh! My intuition was right. But it had never warned me that Raine didn’t love me.
When I returned to the private room, Maddox and the others were discussing Raine.
“He never loses his cool no matter how much we tease him. Why did he get so angry today? It’s really about Jade,
right?”
Maddox sipped his drink and replied casually: “What else? He’s been drunkenly calling her name for years. When she first went abroad, he secretly flew over to see her. Something happened that he never talks about, and he came back depressed.”
“Then he started dating that girlfriend, and I thought he was moving on. But did you see his face when he heard Jade was coming back? I called his name several times before he even heard me.”
I’d never seen Raine drunk, never heard him call another woman’s name, and never knew he’d traveled abroad
find her.
They continued talking about the love letter he never delivered on her 18th birthday, how he collected all her debut recital recordings… There was so much I didn’t know.
I listened numbly as they praised his dedicated love and his patient devotion. I maintained my expression, but my fingernails dug painfully into my palms.
Even the notorious playboy at the table commented: “His girlfriend is the pitiful one, wasting two years…”
Duathan’s DrT Until His Hotter Rival Stole the Spotlight
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Chapter 2
I pretended to rub my eye while wiping away tears.
After sharing these insights, Maddox turned to me with a serious expression.
“So, Lyra Hayward, never trust men.”
Raine had been so convincing that even my brother almost believed in him. He lured me into a beautiful illusion and then shattered it with a casual “sorry.”
I nodded and whispered: “Yeah, I won’t be that stupid again.”
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.