My Fiancé Lived With My Best Friend So I Left Chapter 01
In the seventh year of our long-distance relationship, I resigned from my post in the dock district and returned to Chicago, moving back into the estate Damian and I had agreed would be our marital home.
I entered the password three times. All three times, it was wrong.
On the fourth try, the door opened from the inside.
The person who opened it was my best friend, Bianca.
She was wearing Damian’s shirt, the hem barely covering the tops of her thighs. She smiled at me naturally.
“Valentina, you’re back?”
“I had a fight with the person I was living with, so I’ve been staying at your fiance’s estate lately.”
Hearing her voice, Damian came out of the bathroom. His upper body was bare, and the only thing covering him was a pink towel wrapped loosely around his waist.
He said, “Don’t block the doorway.”
“The master bedroom is already Bianca’s. You can sleep in the guest room tonight.”
His face was full of impatience, but that familiar inner voice sounded again.
[We’ve been separated between two cities for so long. Have you fallen for someone else?]
[Valentina, hurry up and say this is our home. Tell her she isn’t allowed to stay.]
[Make a scene. Let me know you still care about me.]
For seven years, he had always been like this.
If I replied to a message late, he would ask Bianca to meet him at the dockside bar.
If I spent one less night with him, he would let Bianca stay over.
In the past, I would question him. I would cry. I would make a scene exactly the way his inner voice wanted me to.
But this time, I looked at the pink towel around his waist.
Then at the women’s underwear hanging on the balcony.
Suddenly, I didn’t want to ask anything anymore.
I took a step back, pulled up the handle of my suitcase, and left.
I would not live in a three-person estate.
…
Bianca reached out and grabbed my suitcase.
“Valentina, it’s only that you couldn’t open the door. Are you really angry?”
“Don’t overthink it. I couldn’t remember the old password, so Damian changed it to my birthday.”
Damian gave a soft scoff.
“She’s just being dramatic. It’s just a string of numbers. What’s the big deal about changing it?”
His expression was disdainful, but his inner voice grew more frantic by the second.
[Say something. Say that was the day we got engaged. Say I wasn’t allowed to change it.]
[Valentina, why aren’t you reacting at all?]
I said nothing.
Bianca leaned against the doorframe and yawned.
“Aren’t you coming in? We’re going to sleep.”
I took out my key and placed it beside the door.
“No. You two sleep.”
Damian froze for a moment.
“If you’re not coming in, then get lost!”
He slammed the door shut. I stumbled back a step.
My bag fell to the ground, and a stack of old train tickets slid out.
The one on top was dated seven years ago.
That was the day I had been assigned to the dock district, and Damian had seen me off at the station.
The boarding reminder sounded three times before he finally let go of my hand.
“Valentina, go. Don’t look back.”
He said it lightly.
But in that instant, I heard his inner voice for the first time.
[Valentina, I can’t bear to let you go.]
[But I can’t stop you.]
[I love you. You have to wait for me.]
My hand froze over my ticket, and tears rushed to my eyes.
After we were separated between two cities, I took that five-hour night train again and again.
Even when I had to settle cargo-line accounts until dawn, I would still rush back to see him.
Until that one time, after staying awake for two nights in a row, I collapsed at the dock office and missed the train to see him.
When I woke up in a private clinic, the first thing I did was call him.
On the seventh call, he finally picked up.
“I’m helping Bianca deal with something at the bar.”
His tone was colder than I had ever heard it.
“Why are you crying? If you’re too busy, am I not even allowed to go to her?”
“Isn’t she your best friend? With her watching me for you, what are you worried about?”
That night, Bianca posted three updates.
An Italian restaurant, a bar, and the street at three in the morning.
Meanwhile, I lay alone in a private clinic, hooked up to fluids all night.
My tears fell onto the train ticket.
I reached out to wipe them away, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get it clean.
The door opened again.
“If you can’t bear to leave, get in here.”
When Damian saw my tears, his expression softened a little.
“How many days are you back for this time?”
I didn’t tell him I had already resigned from my post in the dock district.
There was no need.
I had given up everything in the dock district just to end this seven-year relationship stretched across two cities.
But he and Bianca had already started living together.
Bianca came out of the bathroom with a towel.
Naturally, she began drying his hair for him.
Damian did not dodge. He even lowered his head.
His inner voice said he loved me.
But he had long since grown used to Bianca’s company.
There was no place for me in this home anymore.
The stack of train tickets was still scattered on the floor.
I did not pick them up. I walked straight toward the elevator.
Damian gave a cold laugh.
“Valentina Rossi, if you walk out of here today, our engagement is over.”
I pressed the elevator button without looking back.
His inner voice erupted in panic.
[Valentina, don’t go. I only wanted to see you jealous.]
[If you turn back, I’ll coax you.]
The elevator doors opened, and I stepped inside.
[Please, don’t go.]
I heard it.
But this time, I did not stop.
The elevator doors slowly closed, blocking out his face and cutting off his inner voice.
Just then, my phone rang.
“Valentina Rossi, the seat at the Northern Commission is still being held for you. Have you thought it through?”
I wiped away my tears and cleared my throat.
“Vincent Romano, I’ll report in tomorrow.”
