Dumping Dr. Perfect
Chapter 1My boyfriend and I ended up on different rungs of the ladder when it came to school.He was on his way to a PhD, and I stopped at a bachelor’s and went straight into the workforce.He told me more than once he would never judge me over a degree.Then I heard him telling his friends, “Lynn Adams has gotten so material these days, every time I talk to her I feel like I can’t breathe.”After that his old crush came back from overseas. He helped her look at apartments, sat with her through interviews, coached her like he had discovered some new sense of purpose as a man.Somewhere in there he decided I was no longer good enough for him.It dragged on until I was the one who finally brought up breaking up.I gave a small, calm smile and said, “Once you have worked long enough, you see it clearly, some people have great scores and terrible skills.”You can tell who only knows classrooms and who has really lived just from their expression and the way they carry themselves.Ethan Carter was riding high that night, celebrating with a big group of friends because he had just been accepted as a PhD candidate.The private room in the bar was loud, full of toasts and cheers.“Congrats, Ethan, that is huge.”“Guess we should start calling you Dr Carter.”“Be honest, do you really think Lynn Adams is still a match for you now? Are you two actually going to work out down the road?”Ethan paused for a second, then brushed it off. “We will just keep going the way we have. It has been years. I am used to it.”Someone hurried to flatter him. “Lynn hit the jackpot landing a guy like you. With her degree, she would not even get a chance to meet you now.”The others chimed in, acting like they were speaking up for him. “Exactly. If she had not stuck with you back when you were at your lowest, there is no way she would be with you now.”“Yeah, and it is not like you are taking advantage of her. She has had plenty of fun on your dime. Would not surprise me if she even chips in extra for you.”Their words made Ethan feel secretly pleased, the corners of his mouth twitching up before he forced himself to look serious, convinced he could hide the contempt in his chest.“Cut it out, we are in a real relationship. I have treated her just fine.”Right then one of them circled back to me. “Still, Ethan, your charm is something. You have had Lynn wrapped around your finger for years.”“You two have been together forever. When are you putting a ring on it?”“She is not that young anymore. If you keep dragging your feet it will be hard for her to find anyone else. She must be freaking out inside.”Ethan fell quiet, completely out of sync with the rowdy, cheerful room around him.Glasses clinked and drinks kept coming. The topic drifted away and no one pushed it further.I was standing outside the door, watching everything through the crack, listening to every word. I did not storm in, did not ruin their party, did not make a scene for anyone.I turned around and walked away without letting them see me.After leaving the bar, I went straight home.To land that big project I had pulled three all-nighters in a row. When it finally wrapped up, I downed a huge cup of coffee just to stay upright.Right then all I wanted was to go home, crash into bed, and let myself breathe for a while.Chapter 2All that caffeine in my system kept me from crashing the second I got home.I was not completely shattered, but the mix of cold disappointment, humiliation, and hurt kept rising in my chest.Ethan’s words kept looping in my ears, as if he had just wiped out my entire youth with a single sentence.If I had not seen everything with my own eyes, I would still be blissfully ignorant.He and I had done everything couples in love are supposed to do, and from the outside we looked exactly like that kind of couple.At our sweetest we had promised each other forever.Now I knew that in his mind I no longer matched him at all.The more I thought about it, the angrier I became, and the angrier I was, the harder it was to sleep.I got up for a glass of cold water, trying to cool myself down.After a while my phone buzzed with a new notification.It was a message from my bank, my bonus had been deposited.A full six figures.My anger melted away in an instant.Right after that Ethan sent a text.I opened the chat.“You should go to bed first, don’t wait up for me. I’m going on a night ride with some friends, so I’m not coming back tonight.”A moment later he added, “Don’t worry, it’s all guys.”I looked out at the thick darkness beyond the window, swallowing the humiliation.It was hard to believe this was the Ethan I had known for so many years, the man I had once thought I would marry.Just a few days earlier we had fallen asleep in each other’s arms, that turned out to be the last time we were that close.He had looked at me so seriously when he promised, “I’ll marry you. Let’s stop using protection, okay? I don’t want anything between us.”He also said, “Once we have a baby, we’ll get married. I’ll marry you then.”In that moment I was completely swept away and honestly believed he loved me.By the time the sun came up, the lovesick haze had lifted a little.He knew I was about to be promoted. If I got pregnant, it would not just cost me the promotion and the raise, I might lose the job entirely.My career was finally starting to climb. He had endless possibilities in front of him. I did not.I took the morning-after pills from my desk drawer and swallowed them, and only then did my heart settle a bit.He was my first love, and the distance between us felt like we lived in two different worlds.I had been the one who confessed and started everything.Back then I treated him like someone far out of my reach. One night after drinking I finally blurted out how I felt, thinking I would give my youth a neat ending, then let our lives go their separate ways.I never expected him to say yes.Later I found out he agreed because his first love had broken up with him to move overseas.Even so, I had been genuinely happy.Looking back now, he had never really been mine. I was just the girl who showed up when he was lonely, the one he did not chase, yet never turned away.I stared into the night outside the window. So many lights glowing in all those windows, and not a single one felt like it was left on for me.All of a sudden my best friend Emma sent a text.Then she sent a photo.
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