Todos los capítulos de Ruined: My best friend's father is my new obsession : Capítulo 31 - Capítulo 40

The day after the rehearsal dinner felt strangely quiet. Most of the guests had left. The lawn still had a few tables waiting to be cleared, and the house smelled faintly of flowers and leftover wine. Chloe was moving slower than usual, like the weight of everything was finally catching up with her. Sophia stayed helpful but distant. Julian was around, but even he seemed less sharp for once. I used the quiet. While Chloe was on a long call with the planner, I sat in the guest house with my laptop and opened three job listings I had saved days ago. One was for a junior communications role at a small firm in the city. Another was an assistant position at a publishing house. The third was remote, which felt safer somehow. I updated my CV, fixed a few lines in my cover letter, and sent all three applications before I could talk myself out of it. It wasn’t much. But it was something that belonged only to me. When I walked back to the main house, Chloe was in the living room with

I couldn’t stay in the guest house after reading the rejection.The words kept replaying in my head. "We have decided to move forward with other candidates."Another door closed. Another reminder that I had nothing solid waiting for me outside this estate.I changed into a simple black swimsuit, grabbed a towel, and walked down to the pool.The lights around the water were dim. The house behind me was mostly quiet. Chloe’s window was dark. Sophia’s too. Dominic’s study still had a low light on, but the curtains were drawn.I left my towel on one of the loungers and stepped into the water.It was cool enough to make my skin tighten. I swam a few slow laps, trying to clear my head, but the quiet only made the thoughts louder.This was where it started.I stopped near the deep end and held onto the edge, floating in place. My mind went back to that first night, the heat, the job rejections piling up, the man down the hall who made it hard to breathe. I had slipped out of the guest house

I didn’t even put on proper shoes.The second I read Chloe’s message, I grabbed a hoodie, locked the guest house behind me, and ran across the path toward the main house. The night air was cool against my face. My heart was already moving too fast.The front door was unlocked. I stepped inside and called her name.“Chloe?”There was no answer from the ground floor. I took the stairs two at a time. Her bedroom door was half open, light spilling into the hallway.I pushed it wider.Chloe was sitting on the floor with her back against the bed, her phone still in her hand. Her face was pale. Her eyes were red and wide in a way I had never seen before.“Chloe.” I dropped to my knees in front of her. “What happened?”She looked at me, but it took a second for her to actually see me.“He called it off,” she said.The words came out flat, like she still couldn’t fully believe them.“What?”“Marcus.” Her voice cracked on his name. “He called. He said he can’t marry me tomorrow.”I felt the air

Chloe didn’t come downstairs the next morning.I took tea up to her room and found her sitting on the floor with her back against the wardrobe. The wedding dress was still hanging inside. She hadn’t opened the door, but she kept looking at it like it might speak.“I brought you tea,” I said.She didn’t reach for it. “I can’t stay in this house.”I set the cup down on the nightstand and sat near her on the floor.“Everywhere I look, there’s something from the wedding,” she said. “The boxes in the hallway. The programs on the table. Even the smell of the flowers hasn’t fully left.” Her voice stayed flat. “I walk into a room, and it feels like the day is still waiting for me.”“We can pack some of it away.”“That’s not the point.” She finally looked at me. “I need to not be here. Even for a little while.”I didn’t answer right away. Downstairs I could hear Dominic moving around, taking another call, handling another cancellation. The house had become a place of quiet damage control.“Hav

Julian found me in the hallway near the guest wing just before noon.I had been carrying a folded tablecloth back to the storage closet when he stepped into my path. He didn’t look hurried. He looked settled, like he had already decided how the conversation would go.“I’m leaving this afternoon,” he said.I waited.“Since the wedding is no longer holding,there's no reason to stay and watch my brother play house.” His tone stayed light. “So I’ll give you the short version.”“I don’t need a version from you.”“You do.” He glanced down the empty hallway, then back at me. “Victoria is still waiting. The wedding delay bought you both a little time. That time is almost used up.”I shifted the tablecloth in my arms. “If you’re leaving, then leave.”“I will.” He smiled without warmth. “But absence doesn’t mean silence. I still have what I have. The photos, the timing, and it's enough to make Chloe ask questions she doesn’t want answers to.”“You’ve said this already.”“And I’m saying it again