The Secret Pregnancy of the Billionaire's Ex-Wife novel Chapter 311

Christopher POV

After spending the night on Angela’s couch, I woke to the smell of coffee brewing. I found her sitting at her small kitchen table, face buried in her hands, a steaming mug in front of her. She looked up when I entered the kitchen, her amber eyes bloodshot and weary.

“I made coffee,” she said, gesturing to the pot on the counter. “Least could do after you dragged me home last night.”

I poured myself a cup and sat across from her. “How’s the hangover

“Brutal.” She winced, massaging her temples. “Christopher, I’m really sorry for being such a mess. That was… embarrassing.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

She hesitated, her fingers tapping nervously against her mug. “Did I say anything weird last night? I have a habit of talking too much when I drink.”

I laughed, though there was no real humor in it. “You mean about being in love with Sean for six years? That’s hardly a state secret, Angela. Everyone can see it. Everyone except Sean himself.”

Her face fell, and I immediately regretted my bluntness.

“Maybe he’s not oblivious,” she said quietly. “Maybe he knows and just doesn’t care. Maybe he doesn’t love me back, so he doesn’t see it.”

I took a sip of coffee to hide my expression. The irony wasn’t lost on me. Here she was, blind to my feelings while lamenting Sean’s blindness to hers. I wanted to say something–You’re doing the same thing, Angela. You can’t see that I’ve loved you since that day in the library–but the words stuck in my throat.

“His loss,” I said instead.

I spent the next few weeks trying to cheer her up. I’d show up at her apartment with terrible horror movies that we’d mock together. I’d “accidentally” spill drinks on pretentious guys who tried to hit on her at bars. I’d make up elaborate stories about Christina’s plastic surgery disasters that weren’t true but made Angela laugh despite herself.

On the surface, she seemed to be moving on. She smiled more. She even managed to hang out with all of us together–me, Sean, and Christina–at weekend picnics or group dinners, acting like nothing had happened. She’d laugh at Sean’s jokes, congratulate Christina on her internship, pour wine for everyone with a steady hand.

But I could see through it. I noticed how her smile would falter when she thought no one was looking. How she’d leave early from these gatherings with flimsy excuses. How she’d drink a little too much when Sean and Christina showed any affecti

I wanted to tell her that Sean didn’t deserve her loyalty or her heartbreak. I wanted to tell her that I would never hurt her like that. But the timing never seemed right.

***

At our college graduation ceremony, I drank more than I should have The flask in my pocket emptied quickly as I watched Angela in the crowd, her eyes tracking Sean as he crossed the stage to receive his diploma.

Today was the day, I decided. After four years of friendship, of standing in Sean’s shadow, I was finally going to tell Angela how I felt. The alcohol in my system gave me a false confidence, dulling the fear of rejection.

But as I stood to find her after the ceremony, my phone rang. My grandfather’s name flashed on the screen.

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“Christopher, his voice was grave, lacking its usual sharpness. “Your mother’s in the hospital. She tried to kill herself again.”