He Kept My Replacement. I Took His Empire

I spent three years studying abroad. When I came back, Ethan Reed had a girl by his side who looked a lot like me. Before I left, he had sworn he would marry me when I returned. But now he held that girl protectively in his arms, making his choice clear to everyone. My friends told me she was only my stand-in. Now that I was back, she would have to step aside. I just smiled, completely unbothered. Were we seriously still doing the whole replacement-girlfriend thing? Cheating was cheating. Refusing to admit it was bad enough. Dressing it up as some noble love story? Disgusting. After three years abroad, the first person I went to see when I got home was Ethan. A friend had warned me that he had grown close to a girl who looked a lot like me. At first, I didn’t believe it. Ethan and I had been in love for years. I had gone abroad alone to further my studies because I wanted to help him. But faced with the scene in front of me, I had no choice but to believe it. Ethan really had fallen for someone else. From across the street, I watched him sitting with a girl inside a coffee shop. She carefully lifted her cup and took a sip. Then, looking delighted by how good it tasted, she held the cup to Ethan’s lips, inviting him to try it. He didn’t hesitate. His eyes were full of tenderness as he took the cup and drank from it. I strode into the café. The sharp click of my heels made Ethan turn toward me. Surprise flashed through his eyes when he recognized me, but his expression quickly settled. “Claire? You’re back?” Ethan came over to greet me. In his tailored suit, he looked every inch the successful businessman. He was nothing like the broke young man who once couldn’t get anyone to hire him. “My flight home wasn’t exactly a secret. What’s wrong, Mr. Reed? You have time for coffee with your mistress, but not to check your phone?” At the word “mistress,” the girl’s expression visibly darkened. She lowered her head, tears glistening in her eyes. Still, she put on a brave face and fought to keep them from falling. The sight clearly broke Ethan’s heart. Anger crept into his voice, and he even gave me a rough shove. “Claire Bennett, what the hell are you talking about? What mistress? This is my girlfriend, Sophie Miller.” I let out a cold laugh. “Your girlfriend? Then what am I? Funny how I never heard I’d become your ex.” Ethan’s gaze shifted, but he refused to back down. “Stop twisting things, Claire. I broke up with you a long time ago. Have some self-respect. Stop making a scene and interfering with my life.” I froze. Broke up? When? Why didn’t I remember that? “You broke up with me? When?” He looked at me with a trace of contempt. “Pretending you don’t remember won’t help. If you’re trying to win me back, you’re too late. I’ve found the woman I want to spend my life with. Stop coming after me.” Before I could process that, he wrapped a protective arm around the tearful Sophie and walked straight out. I stood there, baffled. Had he really broken up with me? Why couldn’t I remember a thing about it?Unable to make sense of it, I called a friend and asked when Ethan and Sophie had gotten together. She said it had been around March of last year, possibly earlier. They were already going everywhere together by then. March of last year. I scrolled back through my messages with Ethan. Sure enough, I found a vague text from around that time. That night, like so many others, I had stayed up late to talk to him. Then he had sent me something strange. “Staying up every night must be affecting your work. To keep your research on track, maybe we should just be friends for now. We can figure everything else out when you come home.” At the time, breaking up hadn’t even crossed my mind. I thought he was just worried about me. I had sent him a cute sticker and jokingly told him he would have to make it up to me when I returned. Apparently, the line I had taken as a joke was his version of a breakup. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. For a moment, I was speechless. We had been together for years. I had moved to a foreign country alone to further my studies for the sake of his career. All so I could help him when I came home. In the end, I hadn’t even earned a clear, honest breakup. My thoughts drifted back to three years ago. Back then, Ethan had been broke, full of ambition and dreams he couldn’t make real. I couldn’t bear to watch him grow more defeated by the day, so I made the decision to study abroad, research patents, and learn new technologies. I shared my research with him. With that technology behind it, his company finally started turning a profit. But when I wanted to come home, Ethan talked me out of it. He asked me to hold on a little longer. His company was still far behind the major players, he said. He needed more help. I agreed. Just like that, I spent three full years overseas. In those three years, I helped turn Ethan from a nobody into a celebrated success. On the way home, I had been secretly thrilled. Three years of sacrifice had finally paid off. At last, I wouldn’t have to walk the rest of the road alone. Reality, however, was cruel. I had returned full of hope and found nothing but disappointment. Everything I had worked so hard for had ended up serving someone else’s happy ending. Tears spilled down my cheeks despite my efforts to stop them. I would have been lying if I said it didn’t hurt. I had truly loved Ethan. I took a deep breath and curled up on the couch. As I slowly calmed down and wiped away my tears, my thoughts became clearer. Ethan had used my research to build his company, then fallen for someone else once he became successful. He had betrayed me first. I wasn’t about to let that slide. And I certainly wasn’t going to hand my research over for free to a man with no morals. I was going to make him give back every last thing he had taken.That evening, I dressed carefully and drove to a restaurant. A few friends were throwing me a welcome-home dinner. I was sure Ethan and his little mistress would show up, too. I arrived early. Only a few people were in the private dining room, so I took a seat and chatted with friends. Before long, everyone had arrived—except Ethan and Sophie, who made their entrance late. When Ethan led Sophie inside by the hand, eyes around the room drifted toward me. A close friend sitting beside me leaned over and whispered in my ear, “She looks a little like you. Is she supposed to be your replacement?” I laughed. “Don’t start. If she’s my replacement, does that make me the unforgettable first love who comes home to ruin everything? Am I the villain now?” While my friend and I joked, Ethan kept watching us. His stare made me uncomfortable, so I lifted my head and met his eyes. The instant our gazes crossed, he looked away. Our friends noticed, and I could practically see them itching for gossip. Sophie shot me an unfriendly glance, then looped her arm through Ethan’s as if staking her claim. “Ethan, I’m a little cold.” He immediately took off his jacket and draped it gently over her shoulders. Then he called a server over and asked them to turn up the room’s temperature. After that little performance, Sophie gave me a smug glance, her eyes full of triumph. Several people started praising Ethan. Honestly, calling it anything but sucking up would have been generous. “Who would’ve thought? Mr. Reed looks so unapproachable, but he’s so thoughtful with his girlfriend. Young, successful, and devoted? That’s a rare combination!” “If only my husband were half as considerate. Sophie, you’re so lucky to have such an amazing boyfriend…” … One compliment followed another until they had practically put Ethan on a pedestal. Sophie lifted her chin so high I could see up her nose. Beside me, Jenna Hayes looked even angrier than I felt. She muttered in my defense, “These people are such status-obsessed suck-ups. Without your help, there would be no Mr. Reed. And now he’s acting like he did it all himself. Shameless!” 5. I gently patted Jenna’s shoulder, trying to calm her down. But the comments around us only grew more outrageous, and blunt, outspoken Jenna finally couldn’t sit still. “You know what’s funny? Ethan, I remember when you were just some broke guy. “If Claire hadn’t given you everything she had and spent three years overseas for you, you wouldn’t be where you are today. “Now that you’ve made it, you’ve tossed her aside. “Aren’t you afraid karma’s going to catch up with you?” Her words brought the lively room to an abrupt silence. Ethan’s expression darkened. He slammed his silverware onto the table, his voice laced with menace. “Jenna Hayes, I have no idea what makes you think you can speak to me like that. “If you have such a problem with me, I don’t see any reason for our companies to keep working together.”“You…!” I stood and took Jenna’s hand, signaling that she didn’t need to worry. Then I turned to Ethan with a gracious smile. “Well, Mr. Reed. You’ve certainly learned to throw your weight around since I last saw you. “No one would guess that a few years ago, you were just a broke guy begging me to help you.” My words ripped straight through Ethan’s polished image, exposing the desperate man underneath for everyone to see. He was clearly furious. His face couldn’t have looked any darker. “Claire Bennett, you think that can hurt me? I’m not that broke kid anymore. “Whatever you say, I’m the successful one. If you ask nicely, I might overlook this and give you a job at my company. “Otherwise, I have the power to drive you out of Ashford and make sure you never hold your head up again!” I gave a cold laugh. “Ethan, you’ve gotten a lot dumber these past few years. I guess it’s true—you really are the company you keep. “You got where you are because of the technology I gave you. “But don’t forget, technology becomes obsolete. The knowledge in my head isn’t going anywhere. “I’ve never worried about finding work. Talent is hard to come by. “You, on the other hand, will go under once your technology falls behind. “And I doubt anyone will want to help a backstabbing ingrate. “Why would they, knowing they’ll end up just like me?” Ethan had no answer. He could only glare at me as if he wanted to burn a hole straight through me. The people who had been kissing up to him fell silent, too, concentrating on the food on their plates. Then Sophie stood. She stepped in front of Ethan protectively and spoke with fierce conviction. “Ms. Bennett, maybe you deserve some credit for Ethan’s success, but most of it came from his own hard work! “While you were living it up overseas, Ethan stayed awake for days working for his company. He drank with clients until his stomach bled! “Where were you when he was lying in a hospital bed? Partying abroad! “I was the one by his side. I watched him build himself up. I took care of him when he was sick. I comforted him when he was hurting. “And now you come home with your fancy credentials and dismiss everything he’s done with a few careless words! “Do you know he still has stomach problems from all that drinking? “You don’t know anything. What gives you the right to judge him?” By the end, Sophie was so worked up that she had started crying. Ethan’s eyes reddened, too. He pulled her tightly into his arms and planted a loving kiss on her forehead. The rest of us stared, stunned. Not because we were moved, but because… we were disgusted.