After Dating My Biker Stepbrother, I Dumped Him

Chapter 2

I hesitated for a second. "Sure. I'm coming."

Before long, everyone was seated in a private dining room at a restaurant.

Nolan sat beside me and handed me the menu. "Ladies first."

I took it, ordered a few dishes, then told the server, "I'm allergic to onions, so please leave them out."

"Of course, ma'am."

I was about to hand the menu back when I caught Nolan studying me.

"You are too, Ms. Lane, allergic to onions?"

My fingers tightened around the menu. I forced myself to look puzzled. "Who else is?"

Nolan gave a faint laugh. "Never mind."

One of his teammates, who had also been his college roommate, grinned at me.

"You probably don't know, Ms. Lane. Nolan's old online girlfriend was allergic to onions too. She once ended up in the hospital after eating some by accident. I still remember when Nolan couldn't reach her, he waited outside her dorm all night. And if that wasn't bad enough, he dragged me along with him."

As the girl at the center of that story, I remembered it very well.

The whole story had been discussed on the university forum for ages.

Everyone wanted to know who Nolan's mystery girlfriend was.

When I woke up that morning, I texted him immediately. His reply came almost at once.

Nolan: I want to see you. If something like this happens again, I want to be there with you.

I refused without hesitation.

Lena: I'm not ready.

Remembering how close we had once been left a bitter ache in my chest.

'If only my mom had never married Nolan's dad.'

The director immediately sensed there was a story there, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"An old online girlfriend?"

I looked over just as Nolan said, "It was just a game. I only dated her because I lost a bet with some friends."

My smile froze.

When we had been dating online, Nolan had confessed his feelings to me again and again. He said he wanted to grow old with me. He said he would love me forever.

I had believed every word, even though Lena wasn't even my real name.

And now he was dismissing all of it as a game.

I swallowed the grief and anger rising in me and looked straight at him.

"Don't you think saying that makes you sound like a jerk who plays with people's feelings?"

Nolan lifted his glass and gave a mocking smile.

"Later, I had someone look into the name she gave me. Turns out, it was fake."

His gaze sharpened.

"Wasn't she the one who played with my feelings first?"

I had no answer.

Nolan studied me with open curiosity. "You're awfully worked up about this, Ms. Lane. Have you ever dated someone online?"

Panic flashed through me, but I forced on a professional smile.

"No. I'm sorry. Occupational habit. I'm always tempted to dig deeper, so I'll have something interesting to write."

The others sensed the tension and quickly changed the subject.

When dinner ended, I remembered we still had work to coordinate and stopped Nolan before he left.

"Nolan, let's exchange numbers. It'll make coordinating the follow-up easier."

He thought for a moment, pulled out his phone, and had me scan his QR code.

The moment I accepted his w******p request, he sent me his phone number.

"I don't check w******p very often. If you need something, call me."

With that, Nolan turned and walked away.

I stood there staring at the familiar profile picture. Before I knew what I was doing, I had opened his Status.

His latest post was a photo of him standing close to a woman.

The caption read: Finally found the one I want to spend my life with.