Chapter 13
1671 Words
Claire stood near the living room window, staring at the message on her phone.
Now that you’ve heard Sophie’s side, perhaps you should ask Ryan what he knows.
He hasn’t told you everything either.
She read the words several times before locking her phone.
For weeks, Ryan had been the person she turned to whenever things with Ethan became unbearable. He had listened to her, remembered the little things, and made her feel important when she felt invisible in her own marriage.
But now she was beginning to wonder whether she had ever truly known him.
Ethan approached her.
“Are you going to call him?”
Claire nodded.
“I need to hear his side.”
Ethan looked uncomfortable.
“And what if he tells you something you don’t want to hear?”
She turned towards him.
“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing for months?”
He had no answer.
Claire picked up her handbag.
“I’m going out.”
“Claire, we could talk about this.”
“We’ve talked enough for today, Ethan.”
She walked towards the door, leaving him standing in the middle of the living room.
Ryan answered on the second ring.
“Claire?”
“Can we meet?”
There was a brief silence.
“Of course. Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know. But I have some questions.”
“Is this about Ethan?”
“It’s about you.”
Ryan paused.
“All right. Where do you want to meet?”
They agreed on a quiet café away from their usual places.
When Claire arrived, Ryan was already waiting. He stood as she approached and pulled out the chair opposite him.
“You look tired,” he said.
“I haven’t been sleeping well.”
“Is everything getting worse between you and Ethan?”
Claire placed her phone on the table.
“Someone has been sending me messages.”
Ryan’s expression changed.
“What kind of messages?”
“Messages about Ethan and Sophie. About things that happened between them. And now they’re telling me you know something you haven’t told me.”
Ryan looked down at the table.
Claire noticed the hesitation.
“Do you know who is sending them?”
“No.”
“Ryan, please don’t lie to me.”
He looked up.
“I’m not lying.”
“Then tell me what you know.”
Ryan took a breath.
“Before I do, I need you to understand something. I never wanted to hurt you.”
Claire’s expression hardened.
“That’s not an answer.”
Ryan leaned back in his chair.
“About three weeks ago, I received a call from Sophie.”
Claire blinked.
“Sophie called you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She wanted to know whether you and I were still seeing each other.”
Claire stared at him.
“What did you tell her?”
“The truth. That we were.”
“And then?”
“She told me Ethan had ended things with her. She also told me that he was trying to repair his marriage.”
Claire folded her arms.
“Why would she discuss that with you?”
“Because she was angry. She felt Ethan had made her believe there was a future, only to walk away when things became complicated.”
“And what did you say?”
“I told her that you deserved better than being kept in the dark.”
Claire looked away.
It sounded familiar. Almost too familiar.
“What else?”
Ryan hesitated again.
“She told me Ethan had considered leaving you.”
“I know that already.”
“She also said something else. Something I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it would help.”
Claire’s heart began beating faster.
“What?”
“She said Ethan had asked her whether she thought you would ever leave him.”
Claire frowned.
“What does that even mean?”
“I don’t know. But Sophie believed he was trying to understand how serious things were between you and me.”
Claire stared at him.
“So he was asking another woman about my feelings instead of asking me?”
Ryan nodded.
“That’s how I understood it.”
Claire looked down at her hands.
For months, she had been caught between two men who claimed to care about her. One had been her husband, the person who had promised to stand beside her through everything. The other had offered comfort when her marriage felt empty.
Yet both seemed to have conversations about her that she was never part of.
“Why didn’t you tell me when Sophie contacted you?” she asked.
Ryan reached across the table.
“I didn’t want to add to what you were already dealing with.”
She moved her hand slightly away.
“Or did you think keeping it from me would give you an advantage?”
His expression changed.
“That’s not fair, Claire.”
“Isn’t it? You knew I was trying to understand what was happening with my marriage, and you kept information from me.”
“I didn’t want to lose you.”
Claire looked at him.
There it was again.
The same fear. The same selfishness.
“Ryan, you cannot keep things from me and call it protection.”
He looked down.
“You’re right.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Claire asked the question she had been avoiding.
“Are you involved in sending those messages?”
Ryan looked genuinely surprised.
“What?”
“The unknown number. The messages about Ethan and Sophie. Are they coming from you?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Claire, I swear. I haven’t sent you a single message.”
She searched his face, trying to decide whether she believed him.
“I need you to understand something,” she said. “I cannot keep living like this. I can’t have another relationship built on secrets.”
Ryan’s voice softened.
“Then don’t.”
“What does that mean?”
“Choose what you actually want. If it’s Ethan, tell me. If it’s me, tell me. But please don’t keep me somewhere in between.”
Claire looked at him for a long moment.
“I don’t know what I want.”
Ryan nodded slowly.
“Then perhaps you need to find out without me standing beside you.”
When Claire returned home, Ethan was sitting on the sofa with his laptop open.
He looked up immediately.
“How did it go?”
“Ryan told me Sophie had contacted him.”
Ethan closed the laptop.
“Why?”
“She wanted to know whether we were still seeing each other.”
Ethan looked uncomfortable.
“What else?”
“She told him you had been asking questions about me. Whether I would leave you. Whether I was serious about Ryan.”
Ethan rubbed his jaw.
“I was trying to understand what was happening.”
“Why didn’t you ask me?”
“Because I was afraid of the answer.”
Claire looked at him.
“And what answer did you expect?”
“I didn’t know.”
She sat in the armchair opposite him.
“Ethan, you keep saying you were afraid of losing me. But every time you were afraid, you chose to hide something rather than talk to me.”
He looked down.
“I know.”
“Ryan isn’t innocent either. He kept things from me because he was afraid I’d walk away.”
Ethan looked up.
“Are you ending things with him?”
Claire was silent for a moment.
“I don’t know what I’m doing yet. But I know I cannot continue living two separate lives.”
Ethan nodded.
For once, he didn’t ask her to choose him.
Later that night, Claire stood in the bedroom doorway.
Ethan was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at an old photograph on his phone.
It was from their first anniversary. They were laughing at a restaurant, Claire’s head resting against his shoulder.
“Do you remember that evening?” she asked.
He smiled faintly.
“Of course. You spilled wine on my shirt.”
“You insisted it was my fault.”
“It was.”
She almost smiled.
For a few seconds, the familiar warmth returned.
Then Ethan put the phone away.
“Claire, can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“Did Ryan tell you he wants you to leave me?”
She nodded.
“And what did you say?”
“That I don’t know what I want.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Do you still love him?”
Claire took a moment.
“I care about him. But I don’t know whether that’s love or whether I became attached to the way he made me feel.”
Ethan nodded, absorbing her words.
“Thank you for telling me.”
She sat beside him.
“I don’t want us to become people who stay together only because we’re afraid of starting over.”
“Neither do I.”
Their shoulders touched, but neither reached for the other.
Just before midnight, Claire’s phone vibrated.
Another unknown number.
She opened it.
Ryan isn’t the only one who knows what happened that night.
Her expression changed.
A second message appeared.
Ask him why he was outside your apartment the night Ethan came home late.
Claire’s heart skipped.
She remembered that evening. The late dinner. Ethan’s excuse about work. The missed call from Sophie.
And suddenly, another memory returned.
A car parked outside their building.
A familiar silhouette standing near the entrance.
Ryan.
She had thought it was a coincidence.
Now she wasn’t so sure.
Claire looked towards Ethan, who was getting ready for bed.
Then she opened Ryan’s contact.
Her thumb hovered over the call button.
There was one question she needed answered.
Why had Ryan been outside her apartment that night?
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