Ditching Me for His 'Soulmate'? His Loss. Next Stop: My New Life novel Chapter 130

Chapter 7

John Sterling even made a trip to the agency where I had once worked, desperately searching for any sign of me.

The employees and management all gave him the same answer: I had never come back.

Only one of my closest friends there dared to respond, her voice dripping with biting sarcasm.

“So, you’re the famous CEO, John Sterling? The one who insisted on being my friend’s boyfriend?”

She didn’t wait for him to reply and continued without pause.

“No need to explain. We already know the story. You were cold and heartless, weren’t you? That’s exactly why Claire left you!”

John’s expression twisted into confusion. “What are you talking about?”

My friend, her anger barely contained, nearly flung her phone at him.

“Are you seriously asking that? Don’t play innocent!”

“Do you even realize what you’ve done? The news has been blasting article after article about it!”

“You told Claire you wanted her to be your girlfriend, but then Clare Harper came back, and you ran off to propose to her instead!”

“What do you think that makes Claire? Just a temporary stand-in to you?”

“She may have started as a professional substitute, but she spent two real years in a relationship with you. She’s a human being, John! She has feelings!”

“And after everything, you treated her like a game? Anyone would be devastated.”

For the very first time, John began to piece it all together.

He stared blankly at the headlines displayed on her phone, the truth slowly dawning on him.

“So, you all think I was planning to propose to Clare Harper?”

John let out a bitter, humorless laugh. “That’s not the case at all.”

“The person I truly wanted to propose to… was Claire.”

“She’s my fiancée.”

That day, John laid everything out for my friend.

He confessed that when Clare Harper returned, he briefly entertained the idea of rekindling their past romance. After all, Clare had been the woman he’d loved for many years.

But as they spent more time together, he found himself constantly comparing her to me.

Every time Clare lit a cigarette, he frowned, wanting to stop her.

Every glance at her brought memories of me flooding back, and slowly, Clare began to feel like the stand-in — not the other way around.

John realized Clare had become a stranger to him, while his mind was consumed with thoughts of coming back to me.

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