The Billionaire's Substitute

The Break-Up

A week passed by since Rachel made the decision to work on herself, choosing to be a better person and have a purpose in life. She felt great despite not having Ethan beside her. Not once did he contact her or passed a message to Gabriel to let her know what he wanted. She figured an assertive man like Ethan would have made a move by now. The only conclusion she could come up with is that he was giving her space before they'd make things official. It was fine by her since it gave her time to focus on Emma's Haven. Emma made her feel like she mattered, letting her experiment and take charge. The shop was doing great, it reminded her she still had to thank Ryan for his efforts. She knew the guy would pretend he had no clue what she was talking about, but she wouldn't let him brush this off as if it meant nothing at all. Her eyes wandered to the door, knowing that any minute now Ryan would walk through that door with a smile spread across his face, brightening the entire room with his mere presence. She was looking forward to it.

"I'll be in the back." Emma called to her, the teasing tone not going unnoticed by Rachel, "Say hi to Ryan for me."

"Sure," Rachel called back, shaking her head at her partner.

Partner, that was who she was to Emma. It was insane, Rachel would never have dared to imagine she'd be capable of running a business. But here she was doing just that together with Emma. She ran her fingers through her short locks, not being able to contain her smile. New hair, new job, the next step she had to take was to look into finding herself a new apartment. Gabriel reassured her that it was no bother to the couple at all if she stayed a while. She didn't want to intrude though. She was aware that her sister was pushing Gabriel to connect with his family. She wanted to be out of their way so they could focus on their new life. A sigh left her lips, she turned her back to the door and reached for the tray filled with chocolate muffins.

"That was one long sigh, I'm pretty sure your soul escaped."

"It did not." Rachel turned around, meeting Ryan's amused gaze, "I can assure you that I'm still the same old Rachel."

"But you're really not." Ryan reminded her, "In just a week the whole air around you changed. I can feel the confidence radiating from you." He pointed at her when a smile spread across her face, "The most important thing of all is that you're smiling all the time. You seem more at ease."

She nodded, "I made some drastic changes which helped me create a more positive environment for myself."

He frowned at her being vague, she knew he wouldn't understand unless she told him the truth.

"I broke up with Ethan." She told him, "Well, not officially I suppose." She shrugged a shoulder, "We argued about you being my ride to Gabriel and Valerie's, then I realized that no matter what I do Ethan will never fully trust me. So I made the decision to end it because it's tiring to try and make something work which was doomed to fail in the first place."

"You broke up with Ethan?" Ryan asked, "But not officially." He continued, "What does that even mean?"

"Well, it means that I left the apartment to stay at my sister's, knowing that Ethan got the hint. I mean he hasn't contacted me once. So I assumed the feeling was mutual."

Ryan reached for the paper cup which she pushed toward him, "Thanks. So you're unofficially single again?" He asked her.

The fluttering in her stomach got worse when he smirked at her. She got the hint and she had to admit that she didn't dislike the idea. Ryan was a good guy, charming and handsome. Not to mention that his suits were always on point. He was close to Gabriel and Valerie. The thought of seeing where things could lead was very appealing. But then there was the little fact that Ryan Parker was in the same league as Ethan and Gabriel. She made a promise never to make her world revolve around such a guy again. So going down that path was going against everything she promised herself when she cried her eyes out that one night.