He Chose Wrong I Chose Better (Irene and Ewing) novel Chapter 4

The party ended in disaster.

Not because of me.-

It was the two women at the next table who stormed off.

One of them jabbed a finger at Magnolia and snapped, "You pretend to be just friends, but your behavior screams otherwise. Are you two fooling anyone?"

Ewing hadn't even gone pale yet.

Magnolia hadn't had a chance to defend herself.

Then the second woman stood up, glaring at them both. "Don't invite me to these things again. Don't talk to me about 'soulmates'—emotional cheating is still cheating!"

I just smiled and kept quiet.

I'd said those exact words more than once myself.

Every time, before Magnolia could say anything, Ewing would jump in to shield her, and every time, something sharp and sour twisted inside me.

It's not that it doesn't hurt anymore—it's just that, after being cut so many times, scars have formed.

Melvin's good intentions in arranging this gathering were wasted in the end.

I took the subway home, heading left, while they drove off to the right. None of us looked back.

Out of everyone, I was the one most on the outside.

A faint, hollow ache drifted through me.

It was like packing away something you never really wanted to let go of, tucking it away in some forgotten storage room.

It existed, but it was never good. And it would never be again.

…

My train reached the station.

I walked home slowly, the chilly wind making me shiver. A single leaf broke free and spiraled down from a branch.

Its fall was natural, but absolute.

A sign that something was ending.

Maybe it was finally time to let Ewing go.

I was thinking about how I'd say it.

But when I opened the door, I found him already inside, sitting quietly.

For once, Ewing spoke first. "You seemed to be in a good mood while I was away."

"Yeah, you were busy, and so was I."

He sounded like he was picking a fight, but I didn't want to argue.

"It was Magnolia who insisted on coming."

His tone caught me off guard, and all at once I realized—he was trying to explain.

In the past, whenever he and Magnolia were together, I'd be eaten up with jealousy and anxiety. Now, I felt nothing, but he…

The irony of it almost made me laugh.

"Of course. She's your best friend, after all." I brushed him off, wanting to end the conversation.

But he hesitated, searching for words.

If this were before, I would have been frantic, desperate to get answers.

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