Ethan kissed my lips. “I can. It’s what I owe
vou.”
<
That day, he flew to be with Lily.
And I, a few days later, met Kai.
In the best hospital in the country, the best
experts were treating him.
Soon, his memory returned, and he
remembered me.
Kai was injured and lost his memory while
saving a child in a bombing zone.
When he woke up, he hugged me
immediately. A gentle voice echoed in my ear,
“I was gone for ten years, and I made you
suffer.”
My tears immediately flowed.
My empty heart was quietly filled.
Kai and I missed ten years, we didn’t want to
miss another ten.
We got engaged soon.
Kai also asked me if I had fallen in love with
someone else in those ten years, not to make
an impulsive decision that I would regret.
Ethan’s face vaguely flashed in my mind.
But it quickly disappeared.
I shook my head and smiled, saying no.
I stroked the scars Kai got saving a child in
the war zone, and repeated, “No.”
Before Kai asked me, I had a few dreams,
and Ethan was in them.
In my dreams, Ethan sneered at me, telling
me not to get any ideas.
My heart still ached.
But as time went on, I no longer dreamed of
Ethan.
Those six years seemed to have vanished
with the wind.
Zoe, my best friend, would sometimes ask me
if I still thought of Ethan.
I was silent for a few seconds, shaking my
head.
“I hope he and Lily can be together,” I said,
“It’s best for both of them to forget each
Г
other.”
At least I had honestly and completely
forgotten him.
But a few days later, when Kai and I were
having dinner, we ran into Ethan’s classmate.
He greeted us from afar. “Hey man, you’re
back in the country, why didn’t you call-”
He stopped a few steps away, looking
shocked.
Kai was very similar to Ethan, but he had a
scar on his brow from the war zone.
Their temperament was completely different;
he didn’t have Ethan’s frivolous and spoiled
air.
He was more hardened and composed.
The classmate looked at Kai, then looked at
me with suspicion. “Lauren, this-”
He thought for a moment. “Did you put Ethan
in the friend zone?”
I shook my head. “We broke up.”
く
The classmate was even more surprised.
“Didn’t Ethan say you were still waiting for
him…?”
I interrupted him. “This is my fiancé, we’re
getting married soon.”
He was stunned.
Looking at Kai and me holding hands tightly,
he turned and hurried away, making a phone
call as he walked.
I looked up to explain to Kai, but before I
could speak, Kai smiled. “It’s all in the past,
why mention it?”
He helped me arrange my hair. “I can’t expect
you to wait for ten years just because I
disappeared for ten years.”
My eyes welled up, suddenly feeling
overwhelmed with grievances.
The three years when I couldn’t find Kai, I
waited by the phone every day.
My phone was on 24/7; I would jump at every
unknown call.
In the first year, I hoped to receive a call
telling me that Kai was only injured and would
be back soon.
In the second year, I hoped someone would
tell me Kai was still alive.
In the third year, I started to fear the phone,
yet I had to answer it.
When Ethan appeared, I was officially
diagnosed with severe anxiety and panic
disorder.
His face was the last straw keeping me alive.
Being a backup for Ethan wasn’t easy, but I
couldn’t leave that face.
Only by looking at him could I have the
strength to live.
So whether I loved Ethan, I didn’t know.
But I was grateful to him, so grateful that
even though everyone laughed at me for
being a backup, I still accepted it.
For me, those six years, Ethan was a good
man, a good man who saved me from a
desperate situation.
I thought my impression on him would be
good, at least I’d be considered sensible.
But I didn’t expect him to grit his teeth and
call me a liar.
The copyright of this content belongs to
“realnovel“.
Chapter 2
Ethan’s call came late at night.
I got up quietly, not wanting to wake Kai.
I thought he was coming to get his things, but
as soon as I answered, he snarled, his voice
like he wanted to bite me to pieces, spitting
out two words through gritted teeth: “Liar.”
His voice was hoarse and low. “Lauren, you’re
a liar.
You said he was your aunt’s son, you lied to
me!”
<
1
He wasn’t his usual flippant, spoiled self.
He was barely containing his rage, a hint of
hurt in his voice.
Childlike hurt.
I lowered my head and sighed. “I’m sorry.”
I apologized effortlessly.
That’s how I apologized to him for six years.
For many reasons.
Like, not staring at him in front of Lily, it
made Lily unhappy.
Like, not trying to hold his hand in front of
Lily’s friends.
Like, not calling him when he was having
dinner with Lily.
Every time, I apologized, staring at his face,
meekly saying I was sorry.
At first, Ethan would hesitantly pat my head,
like a child. “Just try to be better next time.”
Later, he’d hold his chin, smiling at me.
“You’re so cute when you apologize.”
Then, he stopped making so many rules for
- me.
But my habit of apologizing hadn’t changed,
it came out immediately: “I’m sorry.”
Ethan paused, then gritted his teeth. “This
apology doesn’t work. Lauren, I’m really
angry.
I should’ve let your boyfriend stay in the
warzone his whole life, why did I come all the
way back here to wear a green hat myself!”
My face turned cold.
He seemed oblivious, continuing to question
- me. “Did he touch you?
Lauren, answer me, did he touch you!”
I interrupted his agitated voice. “Ethan, stop
talking about him like that. He’s important to
me.”
There was silence on the other end.
After a while, I heard something break.
Ethan gritted his teeth, smiling word by word.
<
“Lauren, you’ve never said I’m important to
you.”
He said, “Remember, I didn’t tell you to leave,
you’re still mine.”
“I’m not yours,” I frowned, correcting him.
“From the moment you went to America to
find Lily, we were over.”
Ethan was silent for a moment, then softly
asked, “So you’re getting back at me, right?”
He seemed more certain. “You’re with him
because you’re angry at me, right? If I gave
you a chance to regret-”
I frowned even more. “Ethan, stop it. You and
Lily are finally together, just be happy.”
Ethan didn’t speak.
His breathing was low and rapid.
After a while, he said nothing and hung up.
I listened to the busy tone and sighed.
Ethan hadn’t changed.
Whenever Lily was mentioned, his rationality
returned.
Before, when he was drunk, he would call me
in the middle of the night to pick him up.
I ran out in my pajamas and a coat, picking
him up at the bar, drunk.
In the cold weather, my hands were stiff with
cold, but he didn’t want to go home.
His friend couldn’t do anything, apologizing to
me, then video calling Lily. “Let Lily see what
a mess you are.”
Ethan suddenly straightened up, sober as if
he hadn’t drunk anything, opening the car
door and getting in.
His friend and I stood outside the car, staring
at each other. His friend’s face was a mixture
of embarrassment and sympathy. “Sorry, I
really couldn’t do anything, only Lily can make
him listen.”
I shook my head. “It’s okay, I don’t mind.”
That day, I made Ethan hangover soup, taking
く
care of him all night without sleep.
