Page 204 of My Ruthless Neighbor

It’s odd how the thought of her with another man is killing me when my soul is already dead.

My hand presses against my chest and I feel the air seizing in my lungs.

I screw my eyes shut as I feel the beginning of a panic attack. Sweat is beading on my brow. I mop it away with the back of my hand.

She gave my life a new beginning. I don’t know when or how but Summer became the reason for my existence. And now I have to learn to live without her.

Drawing one knee up. I brace my uninjured hand and rest my forehead against it.

I wish I could be brave like you, Summer. The way you opened your heart even after what happened to you is admirable. Not everyone can do it. Not me.

I broke my own rule today. I lied to her to make her believe that all that I felt for her was disdain. It was the only way she could truly stop loving me.

My breathing becomes shallow and irregular as another picture of Summer’s desperate eyes flashes in my mind. She looked so heartbroken, defenseless as she ducked her head and hid her pain before leaving.

Even if she moves on in the future, would I ever be able to forgive myself?

Someone places a hand on my forearm, startling me. My head snaps up and I find Raleigh frowning at me.

“You okay?” He asks gruffly. I shrug him off and pick myself off the floor on a grunt, feeling ridiculously vulnerable.

“You’re bleeding.” He says, his voice emotionless. But his eyes still had the remnants of burning anger he felt toward me.

Good. His anger is better than concern. Because that concern would give birth to questions that I won’t answer.

I’ve always been good at shutting people out. And while Raleigh and Hannah used to attempt finding ways to make me talk, I think today I made them give up on me as well.

This is good. I don’t bother responding to his observation. “Why are you here?” I ask as I round my desk, making a mess on the floor with my blood. I face away from him purposely as I bend to grab the box of tissues that was lying on the floor.

“I’m here to tell you that this is not over.”

Raleigh expected my silence because he doesn’t wait more than two seconds before continuing, “I am going to find out who leaked our campaign and I am going to prove it to you that Summer is innocent.”

His voice is filled with contempt and muted fury. It pleases me to think that Summer would always have a friend like Raleigh in her life. Today he proved how great a friend he is.

“Mark my words. I will prove that you did the biggest mistake of your life by hurting that poor girl over a crime she didn’t even commit. Sooner rather than later, I’ll prove in front of each and every one that she did not betray us.” There’s a sound of footsteps as he shuffles closer. “And when that day comes, you better be ready to apologize to her in public the same way you humiliated her today.”

With that, Raleigh spins and leaves.

???

Three days. Three days has passed since Summer announced she was quitting her job. Three days since Genesis Media plagiarized our campaign.

It was a good thing I had a backup plan. I forwarded the new concept I was working on to the creative team. Raleigh and his team are working on it relentlessly while still investigating about the leak on the side.

I know this because Raleigh has been in touch with my lawyers. He’s been doing everything possible to salvage the contract because the client which this campaign belonged to had seen the ideas and progress of it. So handling them had been another headache.

I on the other hand had been watching helplessly as they worked nonstop. Burying myself under the workload is not helping anymore because I can’t concentrate. I spend more hours than I usually do at the office but all I can think of is Summer. And she is MIA.

She is not home. I know it because the day she quit; I went to her apartment. To talk about her car. Because before leaving the building three days ago, she handed over her car keys to the receptionist.

So I went to talk to her. There was no way I was going to let her return the car.

But she wasn’t home. I waited for her and when she didn’t come home that night, I thought she was spending the night at Hannah’s.

But she didn’t return the next day. Or today for that matter.

This morning when I tried to approach Hannah, she gave me the cold shoulder. I receive the same treatment from pretty much everyone. They entertained me as long as my questions were work related. The moment I tried to hint at Summer, they shut me down hard.

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