I Told My Roommate My Date Rejected Me… Her Next Words Left Me Speechless
Chapter 10
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Claire’s eyes were wet.
“The person I rejected was me.”
I said nothing.
She gave a small, embarrassed laugh.
“I tried to move on from you.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought you only saw me as your roommate.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“You thought I didn’t—”
“I knew I was falling for you.”
She looked down.
“And I thought telling you would ruin everything.”
I sat beside her.
“You went on a fake date?”
“No.”
She laughed.
“I told you I had a date because I didn’t want to admit I was upset about you.”
I smiled despite the tension.
“That is the most complicated sentence I’ve ever heard.”
“I know.”
“So when I told you Emily rejected me…”
“You thought I was comforting you.”
“You were.”
“I was also jealous.”
I stared.
“Jealous?”
“Very.”
“That means…”
“Yes.”
I laughed softly.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“You could have just told me.”
“I was terrified.”
“Of what?”
“That you’d say you didn’t feel the same.”
I reached for her hand.
“I feel the same.”
She looked at me.
“You do?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes closed.
“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.”
“Both?”
She laughed.
Then she cried.
Then I hugged her.
For the first time, the distance between us disappeared.
But our happiness lasted only a few minutes.
Because Claire’s mother called.
Ryan had taken Olivia’s side.
He had stolen the remaining evidence.
And he knew where the original ledger was.
We had been so focused on our feelings that we’d forgotten the danger.
“Where is he?”
“Heading to the old warehouse,” her mother said.
We drove there immediately.
Inside, Ryan was waiting.
He held a copy of the ledger.
“You finally figured it out.”
Claire stepped forward.
“You were using us.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your fathers kept the money from my family.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does if you know the whole story.”
Ryan explained that Olivia had stolen the money from several companies.
But Thomas discovered it.
Instead of going public, he negotiated.
He recovered part of the money.
Then Olivia retaliated.
Ryan’s father became involved.
And years later, Ryan continued the operation.
“But why come after me?”
“Because your father hid the final evidence.”
Ryan looked at me.
“Where’s the original ledger?”
I raised the real one.
“Right here.”
Ryan smiled.
“You’re too late.”
“Why?”
“Because Olivia already sent the evidence to the press.”
Claire froze.
“Your name is all over it.”
I looked at the pages.
My employee records.
My father’s account.
Fake transactions.
A perfect story.
The ledger had been altered.
Someone had changed the entries.
Ryan smiled.
“In an hour, the entire city will think you’re part of the fraud.”
Claire stepped in front of me.
“They’ll know it’s forged.”
Ryan shook his head.
“Maybe.”
Then he looked at her.
“But you won’t get the chance to prove it.”
He raised a phone.
A video appeared.
Claire’s mother.
Bound to a chair.
Claire screamed.
“Mom!”
Ryan smiled.
“Bring me the original ledger.”
Claire turned to me.
I shook my head.
“No.”
“But she’s my mother.”
“They want you to trade evidence for her.”
“I know.”
I looked at Claire.
She was crying.
And I realized the choice was no longer about money.
It was about whether we could trust each other when everything was at stake.
