Chapter 2
Blake’s smile froze on his face, his voice dropping to a whisper.
“What are you saying… you’re my friend.”
I forced out a smile uglier than crying, dodging his attempt to touch my hand and yanking off the ring to throw at him.
“Blake Pearson, what do you take me for?”
“Which friend would sleep with you? Which friend would give you so much money to start your business?!”
Blake’s expression changed, his voice filled with disbelief.
“Zoe, how can you think of me like that?”
He took my hand, raising it to swear to the heavens.
“All these years, I’ve been sincere to you, I swear.”
This was how Blake always coaxed me whenever he did something wrong, and this time was no different.
I pressed down on his hand, persisting with my question.
“Then when are you going to marry me?”
Blake’s lips pressed into a thin line, and after a long while, he finally spoke.
“Zoe… you’ve already enjoyed my best years. All my firsts were yours, you already have so much.”
I stood there stunned, unable to believe my ears.
He looked up, ruffling my hair as if to appease me.
“Don’t be angry… I’ll make it up to you, okay?”
“I have to meet a client tomorrow, have you ironed my clothes?”
Tears finally broke through the dam, and I bit my lip hard, keeping my head down to avoid looking at him.
He pushed me, forcing me to look up. Seeing my expression, he suddenly frowned deeply.
“Tsk, what are you crying for…”
“Zoe Chapman, I’m not going to marry you.”
“You’ve been by my side for so many years, aren’t you satisfied yet?”
With that, Blake left in anger, pausing to wipe his leather shoes that had been dirtied by the wooden door - those shoes were the birthday gift I had given him last month.
My mood was far from good, so I slumped down on the floor, examining the ring on my hand.
It was the simplest women’s ring, without even a diamond, probably worth less than a hundred dollars.
Yet Blake had just closed a million-dollar deal a few weeks ago.
Perhaps… in his eyes, this was all I was worth.
My phone kept buzzing. I saw the company group chat exploding with congratulatory messages.
“Congratulations on Mr. Pearson’s successful proposal!”
I opened the video to see Blake kneeling before Lily White on a yacht deck covered in rose petals, holding out a ring.
It wasn’t a diamond ring.
It was the pinky ring he had worn for seven years.
His voice trembled with tenderness.
“Because I met you, I finally realized…”
“It wasn’t that marriage couldn’t bring me happiness, but that I hadn’t met the right person.”
I stared at the screen many times until my eyes stung.
On my birthday during our senior year of college, I had secretly tried on that pinky ring while Blake was asleep.
He had suddenly woken up and snatched the ring back.
“Don’t touch this, it’s very important to me.”
So it was because I wasn’t the right person.
I lowered my gaze, casually placing the ring aside. The sound of metal rolling on the floor rang out crisply.
All these years I had accompanied Blake, sharing my connections, taking care of his daily needs, paying attention to his hobbies.
In return, all I got was a statement that we were just friends.
Initially, it was a bet with a friend that sparked my interest in Blake.
Who knew that one bet would last 7 years.