Chapter 4

Ethan finished his brief, polite exchange with my father and turned to leave. His eyes met mine for only a second. There was no warmth, no anger, just a cool, unreadable assessment. It was the look you'd give a stranger on the street. It made the hollowness inside me feel even bigger. He gave a curt nod to my parents and started toward the front door.

He was just going to leave. Like I wasn't even there.

A part of me, the part that had learned to survive by being silent and invisible, screamed at me to let him go. Don' t make a scene. Don' t give them another story to tell.

But another part, a new part that was cold and hard and didn't care about their stories anymore, took over.

"Wait."

The word was quiet, but it cut through the strained politeness of the room. My parents froze. The housekeeper, who was holding the door open, looked startled.

Ethan stopped, his hand on the doorknob. He turned around slowly, his expression guarded.

I walked toward him, my steps even and measured. The expensive rug felt soft under my shoes. I stopped a few feet in front of him, creating a formal distance between us. My parents watched, holding their breath.

"Mr. Hayes," I said.

The name felt strange on my tongue, but correct. It was a verbal line drawn in the sand. We were not Ethan and Sarah anymore. We were strangers. I saw a flicker of something in his eyes-surprise, maybe pain-but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

I reached into the pocket of my cardigan and pulled out a small, tarnished silver locket. It was shaped like a heart. Simple. Cheap. Something a college student would buy for his girlfriend.

I held it out to him on the palm of my hand.

"I believe this is yours," I said. My voice was completely steady.

I let my mind drift back for just a second. I saw him fastening it around my neck outside the campus library. His fingers were warm against my skin. He had said, "So you'll always keep me close to your heart, Sarah."

I watched his face now. His eyes were fixed on the locket, and for a moment, the mask of the powerful CEO slipped. I saw the boy I used to know. The one who had given me this cheap, silly piece of jewelry as if it were the most precious thing in the world. His jaw tightened, and a muscle twitched in his cheek.

He reached out, his hand not quite steady, and took the locket from my palm. His fingers brushed against my skin for a brief, cold second. The contact sparked nothing. No memories. No pain. Just the feeling of a stranger's touch.

He closed his fist around the locket, his knuckles turning white.

He looked at me one last time, his eyes dark and empty. He didn't say thank you. He didn't say anything at all.

He just turned and walked out the door. The housekeeper closed it behind him with a soft click.

The sound echoed in the silent hall. It felt like the closing of a book. The end of a story that had been over for a very long time.