Chapter 3

I turned to go, and Ethan grabbed my hand.

His eyes locked on mine, his voice dropping.

"Claire, half a year and you're still doing this?"

"Yeah, I didn't ask you back then. But you made your point. The silent treatment's dragged on long enough. Isn't it time to drop it?"

Drop it.

That was Ethan's favorite word for me.

He drove drunk Chloe home and told me not to make a scene, it was just a work thing.

I knew Chloe had feelings for him and asked him to move her to another team. He said I was making a scene.

He went on a business trip alone with Chloe but told me it was a team trip. When I found out and confronted him, I was making a scene.

And now, still, I was making a scene.

I shook off his hand.

"You think I'm making a scene?"

Ethan snapped, "What else would you call it? Or are you waiting for me to come chase after you?"

I looked at him and finally laughed.

"You don't need to chase me."

"You should focus on cleaning up whatever's going on with your assistant."

Ethan froze.

Then his brow furrowed.

"Claire, what's that supposed to mean?"

I turned to Chloe.

"Three months ago, I came across an anonymous post on Reddit."

The title:

"I'm pregnant with my boss's baby. What do I do?"

In the comments, she said the father was her boss. Also her college classmate.

She'd been staying at his apartment. One night after too many drinks, they'd slept together.

But he had a girlfriend.

Except now, because of her, they were fighting.

My gut is usually right.

By the time I registered what I was doing, I'd already clicked on the profile.

There was no real name.

But on the profile, there was one office selfie.

The face wasn't visible. Just half a jaw and the lanyard of a work badge.

That pink lanyard, I'd seen it a hundred times.

Chloe wore it every single day.

And her boss slash college classmate could only be Ethan.

Chloe's eyes went red as she stepped forward.

"Claire, what are you talking about?"

"Even if you and Ethan are fighting because of me, you can't just accuse me like this."

The silence stretched. Then someone finally spoke.

"Claire, you're not talking about the post Chloe made, are you?"

I looked over.

The others shifted, uncomfortable.

One of them cleared his throat before explaining.

"That was a punishment. Game night."

"Chloe was drunk. Everyone dared her to post something crazy on a burner account. She deleted it right after."

"We told her at the time it was a bad joke. Said you might see it."

"Guess the algorithm actually served it up to you."

"Claire, you should've asked us first."

I stood there, stunned.

Ethan caught up too.

"That's what you meant?"

"Chloe posted it as a game penalty. Claire, couldn't you have just asked?"

Chloe's eyes were still red.

"So that's what this was about. Claire, it really was just a dare. I never thought you'd actually see it."

"You've got your explanation. Can we drop this now?"