บททั้งหมดของ The Man She Thought Would Never Leave: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

Evan Hayes’s latest Instagram Story showed a bank notification.Fifty thousand dollars.The transfer came from Claire Bennett. The note read:Congratulations on becoming an attending. I’ll be there for every celebration from now on.Comments appeared almost immediately.That is one hell of a bonus.Isn’t it Adrian’s birthday today? Looks like Evan is the real guest of honor.Someone even tagged me.I didn’t respond. I reopened the transfer Claire had sent me that morning.Five hundred dollars.Happy birthday. Love you.At seven, she had texted to say the hospital had called an emergency consultation and she wouldn’t make it home.Apparently, the consultation was being held at a rooftop bar.In Evan’s next video, Claire sat at the center of the terrace, champagne in hand.I watched her for a few seconds, and my mind slipped back seven years.After Claire’s parents died, they left behind a table buried under collection notices and an old house the bank was preparing to seize. She stopped

I didn’t answer the receptionist’s question. I only asked her to return the family access card to Claire.I had been coming to this hospital for seven years, yet I had always felt like a temporary visitor. I was never invited to the foundation galas or department dinners. Even when Claire was promoted, I only found out about the celebration the next day through photos someone else had posted.She used to tell me hospitals were complicated places and that she didn’t want her private life affecting her work. I believed her for years.I had once thought that distinction mattered. Claire had never asked me to lie about us; she simply never gave anyone a reason to know I existed. Whenever I came to the hospital, I was the person dropping something off, helping with a project, or waiting downstairs to drive her home. After a while, I stopped correcting people.At first, I told myself the privacy was practical. Claire was still building her career, and hospital gossip could spread fast. But o

“I’m going over for the project launch.”I took my phone back and kept my voice even.“The title comes with the assignment. I need to meet the team and get through the first stage.”Claire kept watching me.“How long?”“I don’t know yet.”I didn’t tell her the contract was for two years. I didn’t tell her I had no return ticket.This wasn’t the first time I had considered going back to full-time architecture.Over the years, the London firm had reached out more than once. Every time I seriously considered it, Claire found a reason staying made more sense.I had been away from a major firm too long. Starting over would be exhausting. Her career was here, and there was no reason to disrupt our life.Each time, I stayed.She never said she couldn’t bear to lose me.She only convinced me that leaving made no sense.Claire’s expression eased slightly.“You’ll come back when the project is done?”“We’ll see.”She clearly disliked the answer, but Evan cut in before she could question me again

By the time I landed in London, I was exhausted.Someone from the firm was waiting at Heathrow and drove me to a small apartment near the office. It had one bedroom, a narrow kitchen, and a desk by the window large enough to spread out a full set of drawings.After unpacking, I opened the old drawing case I had brought from home.For the first time in years, those tools no longer felt like reminders of what I had given up. They felt like mine again.My phone rang just as I finished showering.Claire.The moment I answered, she said, “You actually left.”Her voice was low, worn down by anger and exhaustion.“I told you to wait until I got back.”“I never agreed to.”“Adrian, Evan was in the emergency department. He needed stitches. I couldn’t just leave.”“I know.”“That’s not the point. We hadn’t finished talking, and you went straight to the airport.”“We had finished.”Then I said, “Claire, we’re over.”“I never agreed to that.”“You don’t have to.”Her breathing changed.“Seven year

Claire didn’t move toward the door.“Is this because you think something happened between Evan and me?”I looked at her.“I saw what he posted.”“You saw his posts?”Claire’s face went pale.A few days earlier, a mutual friend had forwarded Marcus several screenshots from Evan’s private account, and Marcus had sent them to me.They weren’t hospital photos.There was breakfast in a hotel room at two in the morning. Claire asleep on Evan’s sofa. Claire on his balcony wearing his jacket.One post had a single line beneath it:She always comes when I call.I held out my phone.Claire looked through the screenshots one by one. By the time she handed it back, there was no color left in her face.“I…”She stopped.“If I told you I lost perspective, would you believe me?”I almost laughed.“There were times I drank too much,” she said quietly. “I let things go further than they should have.”“But you never planned to leave me.”Her eyes lifted.“I didn’t.”“That doesn’t make it better.”Her ey