Rejected At Christmas, Chosen By His Billionaire Best Friend

"Four years, Cora. If he doesn't propose tonight, we are proposing for him," Margaret's cousin joked, and the whole table laughed.

“Well, I don't think he would let this night go to waste like that.” Margaret, Cora's mom chuckled and everyone cheered.

It was the annual Christmas dinner hosted jointly by the Vieamore and Calloway families that had always been loud, warm, and a little chaotic.

The long dining table was glowing with candles and pine garlands, with the familiar teasing. Tonight, all of that teasing had settled on one couple.

Cora smiled shyly and tucked her chestnut hair behind her ear, and her hazel eyes flickered down to the small velvet box resting beside Eyan's champagne glass.

Across the table, Sebastian Brooks watched her quietly, and his sharp gray eyes softened.

“Alright,” Eyan chuckled at the joke and pushed his chair back as he stood. Every eye turned toward him with affectionate expectation.

"If I could have everyone's attention for a moment," he said in a calm voice.

Cora's breath caught, and a fragile, hopeful smile parted her lips.

Eyan looked around the table, and then, "Cora and I have broken up," he announced.

The words did not land at first. A few polite smiles lingered because no one understood what he had just said.

Cora's smile faltered, and confusion clouded her hazel eyes. "What?" she whispered, and her face drained of color.

Eyan set his glass down, and his expression remained detached. "We broke up," he repeated, as if he were clarifying a business detail.

Before anyone could fully process it, the soft click of heels came from the kitchen doorway. Vanessa Laurent walked in carrying another bottle of champagne, and her emerald eyes glittered; she slipped naturally to Eyan's side, and Eyan reached for her hand without hesitation.

"This is Vanessa," he declared, and his fingers laced tightly with hers. "Our marketing manager as Cora knows, this is the woman I love instead, and this is the woman I intend to propose tonight."

The room collapsed into stunned silence, and Helen Calloway's hand flew to her mouth as horror twisted her kind features.

Cora stared at their joined hands, and her chest rose and fell in sharp, uneven breaths. "No," she breathed, she shook her head while her hands began to tremble. "You cannot be serious right now. We have been together for four years."

“Well, I am dead serious. I'm sorry but I have fallen out of love, Cora.”

"Eyan, please don't say that," she pleaded, and her voice cracked. She stood up and went to him, tears spilled down her cheeks. "If I did something wrong, just tell me and I will fix it. You cannot end us like this in front of everyone."

Margaret shot to her feet, her gentle face flushed with fury. "Eyan, have you completely lost your mind? How dare you humiliate my daughter like this on Christmas?"

Richard placed a firm hand on his wife's shoulder, "You have lost my respect tonight, son," he stated, and his voice was low and final as his jaw locked tight.

“I'm sorry but I can't keep faking love to your daughter if I don't feel anything for her anymore.” Eyan shrugged nonchalantly.

Helen turned to Cora with tears in her eyes, and her lips trembled uncontrollably. "My dear child, I had no idea he could be this cruel," she cried, and her face crumpled with sorrow.

Vanessa stepped forward then, and she placed a delicate hand on her chest with perfect poise.

"Cora, I never meant to come between you two," she interjected, her voice dripping with false concern, "I’m sorry but, the heart wants what it wants, it was Eyan's decision to choose me instead."

Cora ignored her completely, and her desperate gaze stayed locked on Eyan alone. Her entire body shook as she gathered the last of her courage.

"Eyan, look at me," she begged, and her hazel eyes searched his face for any trace of the man she had loved. "After everything we have been through, are you really going to throw it all away for her?"

Eyan finally looked down at her, and his brown eyes remained detached and empty.

“I'm tired of being with you Cora, you are too clingy and too immature and too colorless for me. I don't want a woman who's always too available.”

His dad Daniel Calloway slammed his palm on the table, and shame burned in his eyes. "Enough with your crap Eyan! You will apologize to Cora right this instant," he barked, and his voice shook with barely controlled anger.

“I'm sorry dad, I can't force myself to love someone I don't want in my life. I've chosen Vanessa, we get along better.”

Sebastian, his best friend, gritted his teeth but said nothing.

“N-No! Eyan, what are you talking about? You were never like that. What happened please talk to me. You can't leave me like this when we were supposed to be together I–”

"Do not embarrass yourself by begging me to stay," he warned, and his lips curled with cold irritation as he stared down at her.

The room fell into an unbearable silence. Cora went pale.

A chair scraped loudly against the floor, and Sebastian rose to his feet.

"The only person embarrassing himself tonight," he retorted, and his jaw clenched, "is the man who just destroyed a woman who loved him for four years in front of everyone she cared about."

Cora did not wait to hear more, and she pushed open the front door and stepped into the freezing snow. She reached the front gate before her knees threatened to give out, and a raw sob finally escaped her lips as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Footsteps crunched in the snow behind her, and she wiped her face frantically while a shattered hope flickered in her eyes.

"Eyan?" she choked, and her voice trembled with a desperate ache.

It was not him.

Sebastian stood behind her with his coat draped over his arm, and snow dusted his dark hair while quiet anguish softened his sharp features.

Cora stared at him in stunned silence as he gently placed his coat around her shoulders.

"You shouldn't have to leave alone," he murmured, and his eyes searched hers with unwavering sincerity. “I'm here for you now.”