Chapter 2

2.

Early the next morning, Claire's parents and her aunt and uncle all showed up.

As soon as they walked in, Claire's mother asked, "Where is Claire? Is she still in bed?"

I gave a faint, indifferent smile. "She hasn't come home yet."

Their faces darkened instantly.

Claire's father patted my shoulder while saying to her mother, "Honey, call her and get her back here. A woman staying out all night with another man? What does that look like?"

"Silas, don't take it to heart. You haven't had breakfast yet, right? We bought some for you. Come and eat."

I looked at them and took a deep breath. I didn't say anything and just sat quietly at the table to eat.

Claire's mother called her.

Claire said on the phone that Liam's mood was still unstable and she couldn't leave yet.

Everyone looked at me awkwardly.

I just smiled at them like it didn't matter.

"Sir, Ma'am, I have to go to work. You guys can wait for her here. I'm heading out."

I changed my shoes, grabbed my bag, and left.

There was a security camera in the house, and Claire's family was still there.

I was busy at the office until noon before I remembered to check the camera.

Claire still hadn't returned.

For some reason, I wasn't disappointed or angry. I actually felt a bit of relief.

I knew it would end like this.

The family waited until 2 PM, and since Claire still wasn't back, they left.

Claire's mother sent me a message saying they already considered me family.

She promised they would make Claire give me an explanation this time.

I didn't care about an explanation anymore. I just replied, "Busy with work," and stopped looking at my phone.

...

Near the end of the day, I got a call from an old college senior, Sierra.

She was asking for the last time if I wanted to move back to Chicago to work at the design institute.

The salary was higher than my current job, and I wouldn't have to deal with annoying clients.

I had turned her down before.

It was because Claire and I had already bought a house here, and I was planning to propose.

We were talking about marriage and planning for kids.

Claire didn't want me to go, either. She said she hated long-distance relationships.

"Okay, but I need to wait until I've handed over my current projects."

Sierra was stunned for a second.

She probably thought she'd need to work harder to convince me.

Seeing that I agreed, Sierra laughed. "Silas, you finally said yes. If you hadn't, I would have flown over there to drag you back."

"I will go tell the boss. The Creative Director position has been reserved for you."

I thanked her, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Sierra said, "I should be thanking you. Things will be much easier once you're back."

We chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up.

I found a resignation letter template online, made a few changes, and sent it to my boss.

Less than ten minutes later, my boss called me into his office.

He asked if I was unhappy with something and why I was suddenly quitting.

I told him I was going home.

The boss hesitated and asked, "What about your girlfriend..."

"We're breaking up," I said.

The boss told me to head out and that he would process the paperwork.

Everyone at the company knew I stayed in Seattle for Claire.

Now that we were breaking up, it made sense for me to quit.

The resignation date was set for the 1st of next month.

I counted the days. Exactly twenty days left.

Thinking back, I had given up too much for Claire.

She was an only child, and her parents didn't want her to leave Seattle.

So, I quit my job in Chicago and moved to this city alone to start over.

Now it seemed like none of it was worth it.

While I was still young, I wanted to choose for myself for once.

I had a lot of work on my plate, and I was going to be very busy for a while.

I planned to officially tell her it was over right before I left.