The next day, Kyle took me to a private banquet room at a high-end hotel downtown.
The second I stepped inside, Lena spotted me and came over with a bright smile.
“Ella, you came!”
She took my hand like we were old friends.
“I saw you feeding stray cats the other day. I wanted to say hi, but I was in a hurry. I feed them too.”
She was weirdly friendly for someone I had only met a few times.
As she pulled me to a seat, I asked uncertainly, “You’re the one who invited me?”
She winked. “I hope you don’t mind. I just felt like we’d get along.”
Before I could say much else, the event started.
Lena got called away. I sat there, mildly confused, until the host began speaking.
Then it hit me.
This was her engagement party.
I turned in disbelief toward Kyle.
Lena’s fiancé was not Kyle.
Not even close.
The comments exploded harder than ever.
Wait, what am I watching?
Why is the heroine getting engaged to some random guy?
Not random. Isn’t that her childhood neighbor? I think they’ve liked each other forever.
Then what about the male lead?
What about him? He’s had the side character next to him the whole time. Maybe this story was weird from the start.
Honestly, whoever’s cute together, I’ll ship.
I barely heard the rest.
On the drive home, my thoughts were so tangled I almost felt dizzy.
Later that night, Kyle was in the bathroom hand-washing my underwear again like this was a normal way for a man to spend his evening.
I happened to pass by and said casually, “Lena’s with someone else.”
He didn’t react.
So I walked by again a minute later and repeated, “Lena’s really with someone else.”
This time, he frowned.
My heart sank.
I knew it. He did care.
Then Kyle looked up and said, visibly annoyed, “I know she got engaged. What does that have to do with me? Even if I’m her boss, I can’t exactly control who she marries.”
I stopped.
He went on, irritation rising in his voice. “Ella, if you have so much energy to worry about other people’s lives, maybe spend some of it on me.”
I blinked. “You… don’t like Lena?”
Kyle gave a short, disbelieving laugh. “Since when? Did I lose my mind? Why would I like her instead of my own girlfriend?”
My confusion only got worse.
If the comments had been wrong… then what about everything else?
As if on cue, they appeared again.
Oh my God. He never liked the heroine at all. He liked the side character the entire time.
That explains so much.
Didn’t anyone notice? He acted distant when she got clingy, but his body was always honest.
I finally found the bonus chapter. The pillow thing? He was the one who asked the heroine to buy it, because he saw the side character had no pillow in the guest room.
And the call from the heroine that night? It really was work. Her office caught fire. He had to go.
I sat there in a daze, trying to process all of it.
Meanwhile, Kyle had apparently started processing something else entirely.
He lowered his gaze, looked weirdly serious, and said, “I get it now. I didn’t make you feel secure enough.”
Then he added, with alarming determination, “I’ll do better tonight.”
My entire body jerked.
I tried to run.
He was faster.
One arm wrapped around my waist, hauling me back against him. Then he kissed my eyelids with infuriating tenderness and murmured against my skin, all sticky and shameless, “I’m sorry, baby. I like you. I only like you. Don’t leave me again, okay?”
That kind of clinginess should have been illegal.
I slapped him on reflex.
He only got worse after that.
By the time we finally fell asleep, it was nearly dawn.
And I was so tired I could have cried.