I never had the courage to confess my feelings. My mom, heartbroken by my quiet pining, secretly tried to play matchmaker. She was effortlessly shut down by Carter. "You've got to be kidding. I absolutely despise it when elders meddle in my personal life." "Even if I were looking to settle down, she wouldn't even make the list." I nodded and accepted his words without a fight. Terrified my mom would blame herself, I packed our bags and moved us out of the city overnight. One month passed. Then two. Carter remained completely silent. But on the day I finally agreed to a setup with someone new, he suddenly tracked me down. "My family is arranging a marriage for me. She's a real estate tycoon's daughter." I pressed my lips together and said, "Congratulations." Carter's face darkened with sudden, fierce anger. "Chloe, do you really have to speak to me like that?" 1 When he first found out I liked him, Carter raised an eyebrow and asked, "Your mom says you have a crush on me. Is that true?" I had just run through the pouring rain to deliver files to a client. I was drenched to the bone, but my face flushed hot as I started to nod. Carter just laughed. "Why didn't you tell your mom that we are just friends? Strictly platonic." I felt the blood drain from my face in an instant. I didn't understand. Friends. How could we be just friends? In the five years I'd known Carter, he had never missed a single important moment in my life. When I was fresh out of college, I didn't know how to say no to my boss's unreasonable demands. At a corporate networking event, a client tried to take advantage of me. It was Carter who threw a punch, dragged me out of there, and handled the fallout so my background check for a new job wouldn't be ruined. When I had to travel out of state for work, he volunteered to come along, joking that he was my personal bodyguard. Two years ago, a doctor back home found a shadow on my mom's lungs and suspected cancer. I was completely paralyzed with fear. It was Carter who contacted a top specialist, secured a hospital bed, dropped all his work, and stayed by my side in the waiting room day and night. When we found out it was a benign tumor, I held him and cried tears of pure joy. My mom saw everything. From then on, she'd intentionally bake him pies and send him care packages, trying to boost my image in his eyes. Carter would always laugh and tease that he was reaping the benefits of knowing me. My mom knew all of this. Just like my friends, she knew everything Carter had done for me over the years, and naturally assumed it was only a matter of time before we got together. That was why her heart ached for my unrequited love, prompting her to approach him. But no one expected that right when I was ready to confess, Carter would beat me to the punch to remind me of my place. I opened my mouth to ask why, but Carter seemed to read my mind. He answered with cruel consideration. "Everything I've done for you was just because I view you as a friend. That's all it is." 2 I had been berated by clients all day and forced to drink at a luncheon. My head was pounding. But I still wanted to fight for myself one last time: "But the way you treat me crossed the line of a normal friendship a long time ago." Who drives across town in the dead of night to buy expensive ingredients, just to cook a meal to cheer up a friend? My face was dripping wet. Tears mixed with the rainwater, sliding down the hem of my shirt and soaking into his carpet. Carter raised his hand, seemingly wanting to grab a towel to dry me off. But halfway there, his hand stiffened, and he diverted toward a drawer instead. He pulled out a ridiculously expensive luxury watch and slowly clasped it around his wrist. His tone was completely detached. "Chloe, you just haven't seen much of the world. That's why you treat a little bit of basic decency like a lifeline." "Go out and date a few more guys. You'll realize what I did was nothing." My intuition screamed that I was losing him. I wasn't ready to let go. Like a drowning woman clutching at a rope, I pleaded. "But I think you're incredible. So many people in the world go from friends to lovers. We've known each other for so long, we know everything about each other, and there are no other women in your life. Can't we just try? I really, really like you, Carter." "At the very least, you like me as a friend. That means there's hope, right?" I wanted to list them out. I wanted to list every moment he had been good to me, to prove that there was at least a spark of love between us. But Carter chuckled, finally sounding impatient. "You know we only have a platonic connection, so because you weren't confident, you had your mom try to force my hand?" His voice was laced with confusion and amusement. "What were you thinking? Did you think even if I didn't like you, I'd be too polite to reject an elder?" I froze. My immediate reaction was to explain: "No, that's not—" I honestly didn't know my mom was going to do that, nor did I want to pressure him. But before I could get the words out, Carter spoke, his voice dripping with disappointment. "Stop joking around, Chloe. You know I despise it when people meddle in my business." "Even if I were looking, she wouldn't be on the list." As if to punctuate his words, the watch on his wrist caught the light, gleaming with cold indifference. It stung my eyes. I belatedly realized it was the newest season's release from a top-tier luxury brand. Something a regular working-class person could never afford in a lifetime. For a modest paycheck, I swallowed insults from clients and ran through torrential rain to deliver papers. I was standing there looking like a drowned rat, begging for his affection. And all he had to do was stand there and let a single watch remind me of the massive chasm between our worlds. If my mom hadn't accidentally forced this confrontation, he probably never would have revealed his true background to me. This so-called friendship felt like a massive, humiliating joke. My throat tightened. After a pause, he added, "Even if you do like me, why did you have to go about it this way?" In that moment, it hit me. Carter was blaming me. Blaming me for breaking the delicate balance of our friendship. Blaming me for confessing my feelings using the one method he hated most. Blaming me for not knowing my place and having delusions of grandeur. The damp chill of the rain seeped into my bones, bringing an agonizing ache. I suddenly shivered. Carter frowned and half-raised his hand to do something. But he stopped, remembered himself, and dropped it back to his side, clenching it into a fist. Perhaps realizing his words had been too harsh, he shifted to a coaxing tone. "Stop crying, okay?" "If I actually liked you in that way, I wouldn't bear to see you looking this miserable. Do you understand?" I suddenly felt utterly pathetic. Not wanting to lose any more of my dignity, I nodded and hoarsely whispered that I understood. I turned around to leave. Carter called out after me. "I'll have someone bring you up some hot tea." I shook my head. "No need." Carter hesitated for a fraction of a second. But in the end, he said nothing. 3 Maybe because of the rain, I slept terribly. I tossed and turned, trapped in endless dreams. In my dreams, Carter's disappointed voice echoed on a loop. "Chloe, I thought you were different. I thought you'd never let parents interfere in my life." His face slowly blurred away. The dream rewound through time, landing on the early days of our friendship when I dragged him to a pottery class to relieve stress. Carter was a perfectionist; he demanded flawlessness in everything he did. But he had been restless that day, unable to focus, and naturally couldn't sculpt anything decent. I pointed to my own lopsided clay lump and said, "You don't have to be so serious. It can be whatever you want it to be." "Even if it's a total mess, you can still enjoy the messy process." He smiled then. He told me that everyone in his life loved trying to control his decisions. People wanted his money or influence, and when they couldn't manipulate him directly, they used his parents to force his hand. He had said, "I love hanging out with you because you give me room to breathe." What did I say back then? I confidently told him that I considered him my best friend. And best friends understand and support each other. They never interfere in each other's lives for selfish reasons. But now, I had become exactly like the people he despised. Because of my one-sided feelings, I let a parent apply pressure. Even though it wasn't my intention, to him, the result was exactly the same. I had crossed his ultimate boundary. 4 I took a sick day to rest. When my head finally cleared, I went back to the office. My coworker, Jess, who was helping me set up a conference room, suddenly grabbed my arm, buzzing with excitement. "Chloe! I just saw your guy, Carter. He is dressed to kill today!" "Did he get dressed up just to see you?" "Come on, spill it. Where is he taking you after work?" A tiny spark of hope flared in my chest out of habit, but it was instantly extinguished when I remembered what had happened. I forced a tight smile. "No, he's not here for me. Probably just visiting." After all, during the two days I was home sick in bed, he hadn't sent me a single text. Jess didn't look convinced, but she dropped it. Soon, Carter appeared. But he didn't walk toward me. Instead, under the spotlight of everyone's attention, he walked straight onto the main stage. —Speaking on behalf of the Hayes Group regional branch. This wasn't on the original conference agenda. It must have been a last-minute addition. "The speaker is the heir to the Hayes Group. Rumor has it he just started taking over the family business a few weeks ago, starting with this branch. Today is his first official public appearance." Jess whispered the fresh gossip in my ear, shaking her head. "Wait, Carter has been picking you up from work for years, and nobody knew he was the Hayes heir? He hides it well. And you—your best friend is a billionaire and you didn't even tell me—" She nudged my arm, turning to tease me. But when she saw how completely drained of color my face was, she hesitated. "Chloe, you didn't know... did you?" I really didn't. That watch a few days ago was the only clue I had that his family was wealthy. I was just finding out today that he was the heir to the Hayes Group. He had hidden it flawlessly all these years. I let out a self-deprecating laugh, realizing in a daze that this was an incredibly ruthless way to reject someone. He was telling me he had never considered me a true friend. And he was reminding me that the gap between us was astronomical. If I knew what was good for me, I'd stay far away. I swallowed the bitter lump in my throat and went back to work. As Carter's speech neared its end, some corporate employees from the Hayes Group nearby started gossiping about how handsome he was. The conversation inevitably shifted to his love life. After mentioning the endless string of high-society setups his family arranged, one woman scoffed: "The craziest part is, a few days ago, some working-class mom actually ambushed Mr. Hayes trying to set him up with her daughter. Since when can just anyone walk up and pitch themselves to the heir?" I knew secrets didn't stay secret, but I couldn't believe it had spread this fast. The voices continued. "Your intel is off. I heard the daughter actually knew Mr. Hayes for years, claiming to just be a platonic friend." "But get this: she hung around him for years playing the 'friend' card, and the second she found out he was taking over the company, she threw herself at him. Talk about looking for a payday." Someone else chimed in: "Worse than that. She even sent her small-town mom to do the dirty work. Does she think she's some aristocratic heiress, demanding an arranged marriage?" My face turned ashen. I didn't even realize that to outsiders, this was the narrative. Was this how Carter saw me too? Jess frowned and asked me, "The girl they're talking about..." I looked up just as Carter was walking past our section toward the backstage area, and our eyes met. My voice was dry. "Yeah. It's me." Carter's gaze swept over me, landed briefly on the gossiping women—he definitely heard them—and his expression remained completely blank. He didn't stop. He just kept walking. Jess instantly flared up. "What is his problem?! Why is he telling everyone about this?" "He lies about his identity for years, yet he's perfectly fine letting you take the fall and get dragged through the mud? What a jerk!" I dug my fingernails into my palms, not sure if I was answering Jess or comforting myself. "It means we aren't friends anymore." Because I presumed to cross a boundary, we were no longer friends. And I needed to drop the delusions once and for all. 5 The drama with Carter eventually made its way back to my mom. My older sister, Sarah, was out of town for work, and my mom was at her place watching my nephew. When I went over, she wiped her hands nervously on her apron and asked, "Did I do something wrong, honey? Did I cause you trouble?" I pressed my lips together and shook my head. "No, Mom. Carter just doesn't like me back. It's really not a big deal." If there was one person in the world who genuinely just wanted me to be happy, it was my mom. She didn't know the politics. She just saw my heartbreak. She just wanted me to smile. To distract her, I mentioned that I was going to ask my company for a transfer to our Boston office. A promotion and relocation was something HR had offered me months ago. Back then, Carter had frowned and said the city he hated most in the world was Boston. So, I had stood in solidarity with him and turned the offer down. But looking at it now, Boston was exactly where I needed to be. I didn't want my mom staying here and hearing the nasty rumors, so I used the excuse that I needed her to cook for me, asking her to move to Boston with me. While I handed over my projects at work, my mom started packing. We planned to leave the moment Sarah got back from her business trip. During this time, Carter and I didn't exchange a single word. But halfway through the week, the school called and demanded I come in, claiming my nephew, Noah, had tripped a classmate. Sarah didn't know Carter and I had cut ties, so before I left, she texted: "If it gets messy, ask Carter to go with you. He helped us get Noah into that school, so he knows the staff better." I didn't reply. The situation was actually very simple. Another kid was running blindly, didn't see Noah quietly playing on the floor, and tripped over him, getting a bloody nose. When I got to the office, the principal said it wasn't entirely our fault, but the other kid was pretty banged up. He suggested I just apologize to the parents to keep the peace. It should have been easy. But when the parents walked in, it was a man and a woman—and the woman was Brittany, a girl who used to aggressively pursue Carter. Back in the day, Carter had used me as a shield to get Brittany to back off, which resulted in her making my life miserable for a while. It only ended when Carter stepped in and gave her family some kind of brutal warning. The man was Brittany's cousin, Todd. He immediately recognized me. With an oily, flattering smile, he asked: "Wait, aren't you Carter's..." Before he could finish, Brittany impatiently whispered something in his ear. Todd's expression shifted to hesitation. He stepped outside to make a phone call. I don't know what was said, but when he walked back in, his attitude had completely changed. He was arrogant and aggressive, insisting that Noah had maliciously tripped his kid, demanding that my nephew apologize in front of the entire class. I refused. We argued for a long time. In the middle of it, Brittany stood next to me, smirking. "Chloe, Carter isn't going to protect you anymore. You're dead meat." I rolled my eyes. Brittany was determined to escalate things, trying to direct all her anger at me. She glared and shouted, "Chloe, it's because this kid is raised by a shameless social climber who throws herself at rich men that he acts like a little delinquent!" Mindful of the principal standing right there, I held myself back from slapping her. Taking advantage of my silence, Brittany pulled out her phone and dialed a number. The moment it connected, she put on a sickeningly sweet, whining voice, completely twisting the story: "Carter! Chloe is bullying my nephew at school, aren't you going to do something about it?" I realized then that Brittany must have finally gotten her claws into Carter. Not wanting to hear his voice through the speaker, I casually stuck my foot out and tripped Todd. He stumbled forward and knocked the phone right out of Brittany's hand. Brittany was furious, but all she could do was glare at him. Eventually, another parent who had witnessed the playground incident stepped in and corroborated my story. The school dismissed the issue. After thanking the helpful parent, I walked out to the parking lot. Near the school gates, I saw a familiar car. It was Carter's old car. The one I had helped him pick out years ago. We had haggled with the salesman for hours to get the price down. When he finally bought it, he picked me up in it all the time, promising that the passenger seat was exclusively mine. But that was all in the past. For the billionaire heir of the Hayes Group, that car was practically garbage. I had no idea why he was still driving it. Brittany ran up to it, thrilled, whining coquettishly. "Oh, you didn't have to come all this way for something so small! I know you've been so busy. Todd and I handled it." Todd stood nearby, smiling like a lapdog. "Yeah, yeah, exactly. Just a little playground squabble. We handled the unreasonable people." I was speechless. I didn't even have the energy to argue over who was actually unreasonable. I just turned and walked away. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Carter looking in my direction. Afraid he was going to back Brittany up and cause a scene, I walked even faster.
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