Chapter 2

Ethan' s eyes pleaded with me.

The silence in the hall was heavy, everyone waiting for my answer.

I looked at him, truly looked at him.

The love I once felt was gone, replaced by a vast, cool emptiness.

Before I could speak, a voice cut in.

"Ethan, man, give her a second. It's a lot to take in."

It was Mark, Ethan's best friend from college. He always did Ethan's bidding.

Mark walked over, placing a hand on Ethan's shoulder, then looking at me with a sympathetic smile.

"Sarah, Ethan's been through hell," Mark said, his tone earnest.

"He realized his mistake with Chloe not long after you left. He even fixed your academic record, got your degree reinstated. It took a lot of work."

Fixed it? A hollow gesture, years too late.

"He never stopped loving you, Sarah," Mark continued. "He's been waiting for you."

Waiting for me? As if I was some lost puppy.

I focused on Ethan, still kneeling.

"Get up, Ethan," I said. My voice was steady, devoid of the storm that once raged inside me.

He looked hopeful. He started to rise.

"It doesn't matter what you did with the university," I told him. "And you weren't waiting for me. You were waiting for a ghost."

Mark frowned. "Sarah, he's serious. He wants to-"

"I've moved on, Mark," I cut him off, my gaze still on Ethan. "Completely."

Ethan's face fell. The hope vanished.

"Moved on?" he repeated, his voice barely a whisper. "What does that mean?"

I remembered the sacrifices.

The money, every spare cent I earned from my part-time jobs, went into his first startup idea.

Late nights I spent proofreading his business plans, making coffee, encouraging him when he doubted himself.

I gave up a scholarship to a better university in another state to stay with him, to support his dreams in our hometown.

He was charming then, full of promises.

"We'll build an empire together, Sarah," he used to say, his eyes shining.

I believed him. I invested my heart, my future, everything I had.

I remembered the small apartment we shared. It wasn't much, but it was ours.

I cooked, I cleaned, I managed our finances while juggling my own demanding studies.

He was my world.

My friends warned me. "You're giving too much, Sarah."

I didn't listen. Love made me blind, and deaf.

Ethan was my sun, and I revolved around him, happily.

He'd thank me with sweet words and kisses that made me forget all the hard work.

"You're my rock, Sarah," he'd whisper. "I couldn't do this without you."

Those words were like fuel, keeping me going, making me believe our future was bright and shared.

He was everything to me.

And I thought I was everything to him.

How wrong I was.