The Red Rose of Manhattan Chapter 2

Ethan sat in his impeccable suit, back straight, composed as ever.

He showed no surprise or panic at her sudden appearance. Still wearing that same unflappable expression, as if mountains could crumble around him and he wouldn't blink.

But it was exactly this calmness—like salt poured into her bleeding wounds—that proved he didn't care about her at all. If he'd had even the slightest feelings for her, he couldn't possibly react this way!

She walked up to him, staring at the face she'd loved for three years, her voice hoarse: "Ethan, don't you have anything to say to me?"

Ethan looked up, meeting her eyes with perfect calm.

"Nothing to say. It is what you heard."

"We have a friends-with-benefits arrangement. I thought you understood that."

"Bella bet you that you could get me, and if you won, you could pick any car from her garage. If cars aren't enough..."

His elegant fingers pulled a black credit card from his inner pocket and slid it across the coffee table toward her.

"There's a hundred million in there. Consider it payment for three years of... being on call."

"We're done now."

With that, he stood to leave.

But as he passed her, Lily suddenly grabbed his wrist with desperate strength!

Her hand was ice cold, her knuckles white from the pressure.

Ethan stopped.

Then he heard her—this proud woman—using every ounce of her strength to hold onto him like a lifeline, her voice breaking but clear in the silent room:

"But... I fell for you!"

Ethan, I fell for you!

She didn't even know when it happened.

Maybe it was that winter when she was too lazy to put on shoes, and he knelt down, his warm palm wrapping around her cold ankle as he slipped slippers onto her feet.

Maybe it was during her appendectomy when she woke up in pain and confusion to find him sitting by her bed, dark circles under his eyes.

Maybe it was all those late nights when he came home from business dinners, smelling faintly of alcohol but still remembering she was afraid of thunder, pulling her into his arms...

Little moments, seemingly insignificant, but they'd built into a tidal wave that drowned her completely.

And now he was casually telling her she was just a bed partner?!

Ethan, how cruel can you be!

His lips parted to speak, but his phone rang.

He pulled it out, the screen lighting up with a text preview that Lily couldn't help but see.

[Ethan, it's been three years. I tried. I only want you. Let's get back together.]

In that instant, Lily felt her world completely collapse.

Ethan's gaze lingered on the screen for a moment, then he slowly, deliberately peeled her fingers from his wrist.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I never fell for you."

With that, he walked away without looking back.