- 8.
“Ethan, let go!”
The sounds of a scuffle downstairs woke me. I
pulled back the curtains and saw Ethan and Ashton gripping each other’s collars.
I rushed downstairs and stood in front of
Ashton, frowning at Ethan.
I glanced down at Ashton, concern in my voice.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Mr. Hughes, please go.”
Ashton handed me the breakfast he’d brought
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but hesitated to leave. I insisted.
There were some things I needed to say to Ethan.
Once Ashton was gone, I took Ethan to the place where we’d lived ten years later.
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“Ethan, I had a long dream. In the dream, we were together, but you treated me badly. You told me you couldn’t make everyone as lonely as me, but you forgot that in the dream, you were the one who made Mia lonely.”
The day before the fire, Ethan’s first love,
Olivia, had returned.
She was pregnant.
The baby wasn’t Ethan’s. That same day, I’d
also found out I was pregnant.
I’d wanted to share the good news with Ethan,
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but when I called, the first thing he said was
that he wanted a divorce.
“Mia, let’s get a divorce. Olivia’s back.”
I told him I wouldn’t divorce him. My love for
him had become an obsession by then.
It was no longer the pure affection of high
school.
Ethan yelled into the phone, “Mia, do you want
everyone to be as lonely as you? I don’t love
you. I never have. Olivia’s back, she’s pregnant,
and she needs me. I’ll have my lawyer draw up
the divorce papers. Look them over tomorrow,
and we’ll finalize it quickly.”
I was lonely.
But hadn’t I once been just like them?
Because Ethan didn’t like my friends, I’d
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gradually drifted away from my social circle.
Because Ethan didn’t like me being “out there,”
I’d transferred my company shares to him.
But it wasn’t that he didn’t like me being “out there.” He just didn’t like me.
Seven years of marriage, and he’d had a
constant stream of women around him. I was
just a tool, holding the title of Mrs. Ethan Carter.
Ethan listened intently as I told him the story of our future.
His expression shifted from confusion to panic, mirroring my own helplessness as I shielded my
belly in the fire.
His eyes grew redder, tears clinging to his
lashes before falling. His voice choked with
emotion. “But I’m not him. The Ethan of ten
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years from now doesn’t love Mia, but I do. I love you.”
I shook my head, feeling a sting in my nose, but not from being moved by his words.
I was grieving for the woman who died in the fire.
The Mia who spent her entire life waiting for the man she loved to say, “I love you.”
In her final moments, all she’d received was
despair and unimaginable pain.
Those three little words remained forever out of
reach.
And now, when I no longer needed them, they
were finally spoken.
I took a deep breath and looked at Ethan’s
apologetic face. He shouldn’t feel guilty. He
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hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Ethan, it’s true that I loved you once. It’s also true that I don’t anymore. We both deserve to move on. I used to think my world revolved around you, but I’ve realized that when I’m not
focused on you, I can actually be happy.”
Since letting go of Ethan, I’d rediscovered my weekends. I went shopping and karaoke with
friends, gossiped, and laughed.
High school without Ethan was… fulfilling.
Ethan nodded tearfully and turned to leave.
