My CEO Boyfriend Bought Her Plan B

I lived with my CEO boyfriend for three years. Every day, I'd make him a homemade lunch and bring it to his company.

The young receptionists all knew me. They'd see me and smile, Here comes Mrs. Blackwood!

I'd smile back, never correcting them.

I'd walk toward his office, insulated bag in hand.

Passing by the break room, I heard voices.

"Ethan, how many times a day should I take this pill?"

The woman's voice was sweet, a little coy.

Then came Ethan Blackwood's voice: "Once a day is enough. Don't forget."

I stopped dead.

The break room door was slightly ajar. Through the crack, I saw the box.

Plan B, the emergency contraceptive pill.

My blood rushed to my head.

I pushed the door open hard.

Both of them spun around.

Ethan saw me and froze. "Skylar, what are you doing here?"

I didn't answer him. My gaze fixed on the woman.

She looked around twenty-three or twenty-four, with long hair and light makeup. Her features weren't strikingly beautiful, but put together, they gave her a fragile, delicate air.

She saw me, and the smile on her face stiffened for a second before quickly returning to normal.

She clutched the pill box in her hand, hiding it behind her back. "I'm Ethan's secretary, Ashley Miller."

I ignored her. I looked at Ethan.

"You bought her emergency contraception?"

Ethan's brows furrowed. "Let me explain."

"Explain what?" I cut him off. "Explain why you're buying your secretary emergency contraception? Or explain what kind of relationship you two have that requires you to buy her this?"

Ashley's face went white. She took a step forward, her voice soft. "You've got it all wrong. My boyfriend is out of state, and I went to see him today. I forgot to bring my pills and was worried, so I asked Ethan to buy them for me."

I looked at her. "Your boyfriend is out of state, and you ask another man to buy you emergency contraception?"

Her eyes welled up. "I... I was too embarrassed to let anyone else know..."

"But you weren't embarrassed to let your boss know?"

She couldn't answer.

Ethan walked over and grabbed my arm. "Alright, let's talk outside."

I shook off his hand. "No need to talk outside. Let's clear things up right here." I looked at him. "Ethan, I'm asking you, do you know what emergency contraception is for?"

He was silent for a moment. "Yes."

"And you still bought it for her?"

He frowned, looking like he was in a tough spot. "She begged me, what could I do?"

"She begs you, and you just help her?" I laughed. "If she begged you to marry her, would you?"

Ethan's face changed. "Skylar, don't be so unreasonable."

Unreasonable.

Those four words felt like a bucket of cold water dumped over my head.

I looked at him for a long time.

Three years. I started dating him at twenty-four, now I'm twenty-seven. The best three years of my life.

He failed his startup twice. I stayed with him. My paycheck paid for our rent. I bought him clothes. I treated his business partners to dinner.

He finally succeeded with his third startup, and the company was finally stable.

Just last week, I went to look at wedding dresses, tried on several, and sent him pictures.

He said they looked good, and that he'd go with me to pick one once he wasn't so busy.

But now, for another woman, he was calling me unreasonable.

I set the insulated bag on the floor. "If you're not going to drink the soup, just throw it away."

I turned and walked out.

Ethan followed, catching me at the elevator.

"Skylar, will you please just listen to me explain?"

"You already explained." My voice was calm. I watched our two reflections in the elevator doors. "You bought her emergency contraception, because she asked you to. That's it."

"Then why didn't she buy it herself? Why didn't she ask a female colleague to buy it for her? Why did she specifically ask you?"

He said nothing.

The elevator door opened. I stepped inside.

He stood outside, looking at me, his mouth opening, but nothing came out.

The moment the elevator door closed, I saw Ashley peek her head out of the break room, watching.

Back home, I sat on the couch, thinking for a long time.

I thought of all the little details from the past six months.

His overtime hours grew longer.

He answered more and more phone calls.

Sometimes he'd smile looking at his phone, and when I asked what he was looking at, he'd say it was just memes from a WhatsApp group.

He'd go on business trips, saying he was alone, but his suitcase would be missing two changes of clothes.

I told myself not to overthink it, to trust him.

After all, we had three years together. After all, we'd been through so much.

But today, I couldn't lie to myself anymore.

A man willing to buy emergency contraception for a woman.

What did that mean?

It meant their relationship had reached a point where they could discuss such a thing.

It meant that woman felt completely unguarded around him.

It meant he implicitly allowed that lack of guard.

My phone rang. It was Ethan.

I didn't answer.

He sent a SnapChat: "Skylar, pick up the phone, let's talk properly."

I didn't reply.

He sent another: "She really is just my secretary, don't overthink it."

I replied: "I'm not overthinking it. You've done too much."

He was silent for a long time.

Then he sent a message: "Are you breaking up with me?"

I stared at the words.

Three years. The first thing he asked when he'd upset me wasn't "Can you forgive me?" or "I'm sorry." It was "Are you breaking up with me?"

In his mind, the end result of this was a breakup.

He'd already made up his mind.

I replied: "Yes."

The next day was Saturday.

I woke up naturally and made myself breakfast: fried eggs, bacon, toast, and a cup of hot milk.

I sat alone at the dining table, eating slowly.

Halfway through, the doorbell rang.

I looked through the peepholeit was Ethan.

He stood at the door, holding a bag, head down, lost in thought.

I opened the door.

He looked up, saw me, and forced a smile. "Morning."

I didn't speak.

He handed me the bag. "I bought you your favorite bagels. They're still warm."

I glanced at the bag. That shop was on the east side of the city, a forty-minute drive from here.

"You went all the way there this morning?"

"Yeah. I was worried you'd be angry and skip breakfast."

I took the bag and placed it on the shoe cabinet by the door. "Come in."

He followed me inside and sat on the couch.

I went to the kitchen, poured him a glass of water, and placed it on the coffee table.

He looked at me, his eyes bloodshot, as if he hadn't slept well.

"Skylar, about yesterday, I'm going to be completely honest with you."

I said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

"Ashley Miller is indeed my secretary. She's been with me for three months. Her boyfriend is out of state, they see each other once a month. Yesterday she asked for time off, saying she was going to see him, and I approved it."

"Later, she called me again, saying she forgot her pills and was worried something might happen, asking if I could help her buy some and deliver them."

"I didn't think much of it at the time, so I bought them and dropped them off for her. I delivered them to the lobby of her hotel. She came down to get them. I didn't even step inside the hotel."

He looked at me. "Skylar, I swear, there's nothing going on between us. It's just a secretary-boss relationship. If you're upset about it, I'll fire her tomorrow."

I looked at him.

His expression was sincere, his eyes earnest.

If I hadn't seen what I saw yesterday, I might have believed him.

But I remembered.

I remembered how close he was to her when he was helping her read the instructions.

I remembered that different spark in her eyes when she looked up at him.

I remembered how natural his tone was when he said, "Once a day is enough," as if he'd said it many times before.

"Ethan," I began.

"Hmm?"

"Why did she ask you to buy them?"

He paused. "Didn't I tell you? She asked me."

"Why did she ask you?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"Does she have other friends? Coworkers? Why did she specifically ask you? You're her boss. Shouldn't she keep her distance from you?"

"Skylar, she's just a young girl. She didn't think much of it."

"Ethan." I cut him off. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

His face changed.

"Over the past six months, how many times have you worked late? How many business trips have you taken? Who did you go with each time?"

"I was really with clients..."

"Clients? Or her?"

He fell silent.

I stood up and walked to him. "Ethan, I'm asking you one last question. Answer me honestly."

He looked at me.

"Do you like her?"

His eyes flickered. Just for a second. I saw it.

He opened his mouth, trying to say something.

I waved my hand. "Alright, you don't have to say it."

I turned and walked toward the bedroom.

He followed, grabbing my arm.

"Skylar, I don't know if you'd call it liking her. But she's different from you. She needs me. She relies on me. She'll flirt with me. She'll say, 'Ethan, you're so great.' We just have this... this kind of relationship. It's not what you think."

I looked at him. "What about me? Don't I need you?"

He said nothing.

"I helped you through the toughest times, supported you with my salary, washed your clothes and cooked your meals, stayed up all night when you were sick. Don't I need you?"

His gaze shifted away. "Skylar, I know you're good to me. But you're too good. So good that I feel... I feel like I owe you."

I laughed.

Owed me.

So, in his eyes, my goodness to him was a burden.

And that woman's reliance on him was what he truly wanted.

"Ethan, you should go."

"Skylar... I..."

"Go."

His face went white.

He stood there, looking at me. His lips moved, but nothing came out.

Finally, he lowered his head and walked toward the door.

At the door, he stopped. "Those bagels, eat them while they're warm."

The door closed.

I stood in the living room, staring at that door for a long time.

Then I walked to the shoe cabinet, picked up the bag, and opened it.

The bagels were still warm. He'd driven out early to buy them.

I took one and bit into it.

It tasted good, from my favorite shop.

But as I ate, tears started to fall.

Not because I missed him.

But because I regretted the three years I'd given.

After Ethan left, I packed his things.

Clothes, shoes, laptop, books, and all his miscellaneous workout gear.

I put them all into boxes and stacked them in the corner of the living room.

Then I called him.

"Your things are packed. When are you coming to pick them up?"

Silence on the other end.

"Skylar, are you really sure about this?"

"Yes."

"We've been together for three years."

"So?"

He was silent again. "I'll come tomorrow."

"Okay."

I hung up the phone and sat on the couch, looking at the stack of boxes.

Three years.

Three years of my life, packed into these few boxes.

Suddenly, I felt so tired. Not physically tired, but emotionally drained.

My phone rang. It was my mother.

"Sweetie, coming home for dinner this weekend? Your father bought your favorite steak."

"Mom, I'm busy this week. Maybe next week."

"What are you busy with again? You haven't been back in three weeks."

"Work's busy."

"No matter how busy work is, you should still come home. Oh, by the way, how are the wedding plans with Ethan going? Maybe you two should just get your marriage license first."

I paused. "Mom, we broke up."

The other end of the line went quiet for a few seconds. "What happened?"

"Personality differences."

"Personality differences?" My mother's voice rose. "You've been together for three years, and now you're saying personality differences?"

"Mom, I don't want to talk about this."

"Sweetie, listen to me. Ethan's a good guy. Ambitious, and he treats you well. Arguments are normal. Don't just talk about breaking up at the drop of a hat."

"Mom," I cut her off. "He bought emergency contraception for his secretary."

The phone line went quiet again.

After a long moment, my mother said, "Do you have proof?"

"I saw it with my own eyes."

"Did he explain?"

"He explained it away. Said his secretary asked him for a favor."

"Well, there you go. He's just soft-hearted, just helping out. You've been home too long and are overthinking things..."

"Mom," I interrupted her. "If it were Dad, what would you think?"

She stopped speaking.

"Mom, I know you mean well. But this... I can't get past it."

I hung up the phone.

That night, I sat alone on the balcony, watching the city lights for a long time.

The city night was bright, full of lights everywhere.

Behind every light, there was a home.

I had a home too.

But in that home, one person was missing.

It wasn't that Ethan had left.

It was that I had sent him away.

The day Ethan came to pick up his things, it was drizzling.

He stood at the door, his hair damp, looking a bit disheveled.

I let him in.

He stared at the boxes in the corner of the living room for a moment. "They're all here?"

"Yeah. Check if anything's missing."

He didn't check. He just looked at me.

"Skylar, I've been thinking all week. I know I messed up."

I said nothing.

"After that day, I fired Ashley."

Still, I said nothing.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me right now. But Skylar, can you give me another chance? Let me prove with my actions that I really want to be with you."

I looked at him. His eyes held sincerity, regret, and something else too. But I couldn't see it clearly anymore.

"Ethan, I have a question for you."

"Ask away."

"If I hadn't gone to your company that day, would you have told me about this on your own?"

He froze.

"If she hadn't asked you to buy the pills, but just flirted with you every day, relied on you, would you have continued to enjoy that feeling?"

His face changed.

"Do you think that as long as nothing 'physical' happened, it's not cheating?"

"Skylar, don't you trust me?"

"Ethan, you bought emergency contraception for a young, pretty secretary. Do you know what that means?"

He didn't speak.

"It means in her eyes, you're someone she can ask for help. It means in your eyes, she's someone worth helping. Your relationship already went beyond ordinary boss-employee bounds. You just wouldn't admit it."

His lips moved.

I turned, walked to the door, and opened it. "Take your things. Don't come back."

He stood there, looking at me, and something in his eyes shattered.

Finally, he picked up the boxes, carrying them out one by one.

When he got to the last one, he stopped.

He suddenly said to me, "Skylar, I'm sorry."

The door slowly closed.

I leaned against the door, listening to the elevator door open and close.

Then I crouched down and buried my head in my knees.

I didn't cry.

I just felt it wasn't worth it for those three years.