Chapter 3When My Fiance Fell in Love With My Sister, I Walked Away

The phone slipped from my hand and nearly hit the floor.

Nausea rose in my throat. I rushed into the bathroom and gripped the sink, retching for a long time, but nothing came out.

In the mirror, my face was pale and my eyes were red like I had been crying for hours.

Clara knocked on the door outside.

“Nora, the soup is ready. Come out and have some.”

Her voice was still so gentle.

I closed my eyes, my throat aching until I could barely speak. Suddenly, I had no idea how I was supposed to face her.

I did not go out for the soup. Through the door, I only said I was too tired and wanted to sleep for a while.

Clara stood outside for a long time before she finally sighed softly.

“Then call me when you wake up. I’ll warm it for you again.”

Only after her footsteps faded did I come out of the bathroom.

My room was exactly the way it had been before I left.

Clara had changed the diffuser by my bed, ironed my pajamas and hung them in the closet, and left the little cat figurine Vincent had given me six months ago on my desk.

One of them was the person closest to me.

The other was the man I loved most.

The more they treated me as if nothing had changed, the more absurd everything felt.

I sat on the edge of the bed for a long time before my phone lit up again.

Vincent had sent a message.

【Something came up at work. I’ll be back later. Eat first. Don’t wait for me.】

If it had been before, he would have added several more lines.

He would have asked if I felt unwell, whether I missed him, and if I wanted him to bring dessert home.

Now there was only this short sentence.

I stared at it for a long time and suddenly smiled.

So this was what happened when someone’s heart was no longer fully yours. Even his concern became scarce.

I wiped away my tears, changed my clothes, and prepared to go out.

Clara was cutting fruit in the kitchen. When she saw me, she quickly wiped her hands.

“Nora, where are you going?”

“The office.” I tried to make my voice sound steady. “I need to submit the report for the Sicily project.”

Clara frowned.

“You just got off the plane. Your face looks terrible. Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

She truly worried about me.

She had also truly betrayed me.

Holding those two truths together felt like being torn in half.

I lowered my head and avoided her eyes.

“I’ll be back soon.”

She wanted to say more, but in the end, she only packed the sliced fruit into a container and handed it to me.

“Take this with you. Eat some on the way. Your stomach is weak. Don’t go hungry.”

I took the container and said, “Thank you.”

The words clearly startled Clara.

I had never thanked her before. There had never been a need between us.

But now, it seemed that only such polite words could put even a little distance between us.

When I arrived at the office, my manager was about to leave.

The moment he saw my pale face, he was startled.

“Nora? Didn’t you just get back from Sicily?”

“Yes.”

I placed the documents on his desk.

“The port line in Sicily is closed. I’ve sorted out the handover here. You mentioned before that Chicago was short on people. I’d like to apply for the transfer.”

He froze.

“Didn’t you keep refusing? I tried to persuade you for so long, but you said Vincent was in New York, Clara was in New York, and you didn’t want to be too far from home.”

I lowered my eyes.

“I’ve changed my mind.”

He studied me for a while, then his expression slowly turned serious.

“The Chicago project is long-term. At least three years. Once you go, you’ll be very busy. In the beginning, you may not even be able to come back often. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

The moment I said it, something in my chest went hollow.

My manager did not try to talk me out of it again. He only asked me to fill out the transfer request with HR and sent me the project files.

“If you’ve really decided, there’s a flight tomorrow morning. Headquarters is rushing us, so you’ll need to finish the handover tonight.”

“Okay.”

I sat at my desk and organized the client information, project passwords, and contact lists one by one.

With every word I typed, it felt as though I was peeling myself away from this city piece by piece.