I Saved Him, Now I’ll Leave Him

Chapter 2

When my father was still alive, he arranged a marriage for me.

Later, I fell in love with Ralph, and fought tooth and nail against this arranged marriage. I said many cruel things to Julian just to get out of our engagement. But when the news of my death got out, Julian shot himself in his apartment halfway across the world the very next day, clutching a childhood photo of me tightly in his hand.

Only then did I learn of the deep, patient love he had harbored for me all those years.

If there was anyone in this world who truly cared about me, it could only be him.

My phone suddenly rang.

Julian spoke, his voice laced with joy and hesitation. "Claire, how did you suddenly change your mind?"

I had just woken up not long before, so my voice was terribly hoarse. "Don't ask so many questions. We'll talk when we meet."

"Alright," he agreed without hesitation. "I’ll fly back to New York in a week. I’ll come pick you up then."

The moment I ended the call, I saw Ralph step through the door.

We hadn’t seen each other in years. He looked more mature now, steadier somehow, but there was still a faint strangeness between his brows.

When his eyes landed on me, surprise flickered first, followed by awkwardness, then indifference. Not a trace of joy remained.

"Claire, you’re awake. How are you feeling?"

I didn’t answer. My gaze simply drifted to the hands he and Sophia were still tightly holding.

He didn’t even try to hide it. Instead, he pulled Sophia closer into his arms.

"For the past three years, Sophia has been by my side," he said flatly. "She took care of me, comforted me. Claire, I’m grateful you saved my life. Our engagement still stands. Once you recover, I’ll marry you. But I already have Sophia in my heart. No matter what you do, that won’t change. You only have yourself to blame for waking up too late. We can’t go back to how things were."

His words cut through me like a dull blade, never sharp enough to end it, only enough to make it hurt again and again.

And yet, three years ago, he had knelt before me, promising he would never let me down for the rest of his life.

When he noticed I still hadn’t spoken, Sophia suddenly broke into tears. "Claire… it was wrong of me to fall in love with Ralph. It’s all my fault. You can hit me, yell at me, anything. You just woke up… your body is still weak. Please don’t get angry because of me."

I looked at her quietly, at her tear-streaked, helpless face.

"Then tell me," I said at last, "over these past three years, how exactly did the two of you end up together, right beside my hospital bed?"

If I were honest with myself, I had never once treated Sophia badly in all the years we were friends.

Back in high school, her parents were going through a messy divorce. Her home was always cold, no warmth, no proper meals, no one to care for her. So I would invite her over, pretending we were just studying together.

I’d cook full meals, set out an entire table of food, and when she left, I’d always pack her a big bag of snacks to take home.

She would stand beneath the streetlamp outside my house, clutching that bag of snacks, her eyes red and glistening with tears.

"Claire," she once said softly, "you’re the only person in the whole world who’s ever been kind to me. We’ll be best friends forever."

And now, that same best friend was holding my fiancé’s hand, telling me she loved him.

"Claire, stop this!" Ralph stepped in front of the pale-faced Sophia, shooting me a furious glare. "Sophie is pregnant now. If anything happens to her or the baby in her belly, I will never let you get away with it."

The wariness in his eyes cut straight through me, leaving a dull, lingering ache.

I looked at him steadily, my voice quiet. "Ralph… have you forgotten the child you and I once had together?"

A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes, but just as quickly, he dismissed it.

"That baby… just wasn’t meant to be." He paused, then added coldly, "Besides, Sophie is different from you. She’ll keep this baby safe."