I sighed. “It’s for the best. No matter how much I loved you as a friend, I never loved you as a lover. My heart always belonged to someone else, and you knew that. We weren’t meant to be together. Even if Ace hadn’t come into the picture and somehow we were still together, trust me, Warner, neither of us would stay happy. I could never make you happy. So, it was necessary to end it before we made it worse.”

“Well, that’s just your opinion. Because I was very happy with you in our relationship.”

But I wasn’t. I wanted to add but decided against.

“There’s someone out there who’s worthy of your love, Warner. Someone who can give you equal love in return of your affection. And I’m sure you’ll find her soon,” I whispered. “Anyway, let’s not talk about it anymore. How’s everything going in your life? You’re probably going back to Seattle soon, right? I’m quite impressed your boss let you take leave for that long. I thought he was a snob?”

Taking a sip of his coffee, he shrugged. “I quit my job.”

“What?” I gaped. “Why? I thought working in such a massive company was your dream. Everything was going smoothly. What happened?”

His gaze locked with mine. “Achilles Valencian happened.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

He let out a sigh. “As you already know, my boss was an ass. I didn’t know why, but he had an allergy with me taking any leave. Even when I wanted a few days off for Tess’s wedding, he denied. Of course, my main purpose was to see you. But I couldn’t stay in Seattle without sorting things out with you. Yes, I was mad with you, but there was still hope I could win you back.” Casting me a glance, he cleared his throat. “Anyway, I didn’t wait for his approval and left. I told him I was sick and couldn’t work for a few days.”

“Then what’s the problem?” I probed.

“The problem is that the owner of the company found out about my leave and demanded my immediate presence in the office. And if I didn’t, I’d lose my job.” His laughter was dry. “I was surprised about why an owner of a multi-billionaire company would be interested in an ordinary employee’s leave. So, I looked him up on Google. And guess what? What a coincidence, my big boss and your boss turned out to be friends.”

My frown deepened. A warning bell rang in my head. “Friends? You mean Ace’s friend?”

He nodded. “Can you connect the dots? Now I understand why among so many candidates, some even from the most prestigious colleges, they chose me. They made me move to Seattle. Or should I say, he made me. To keep me away from you.”