Chapter 3

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of Ashley humming in the kitchen. She was making breakfast, something she hadn't done in years. It was another act in her play, the role of the considerate, albeit conflicted, fiancée.

She placed a plate of pancakes in front of me. "I thought you could use a good breakfast. Big day today, right? We're going to see the venue for my... for the wedding."

She had the gall to look at me, expecting me to eat the pancakes and smile. I looked down at the plate, then back at her. The rings. I had to see how far she would take this lie.

"Ashley," I said calmly. "I'd like to see the rings."

Her cheerfulness faltered. "Ethan, we talked about this. They're in the safe. They're fine."

"I'm not hungry," I said, pushing the plate away. "I want to see the rings I designed for us."

A flicker of anger crossed her face. "Why are you being so difficult? It's just a piece of metal."

"It's not just a piece of metal to me," I said. "Or at least, it wasn't."

She let out an exasperated sigh, the long-suffering martyr. "Fine! You're acting like a child." She stood up and walked towards the bedroom. I followed her. She knelt by the closet, her back to me, and fiddled with the lock on the small safe. Of course, she didn't open it.

"Damn, I can't remember the code," she said, shaking her head. "I must have been so stressed yesterday I changed it and forgot. It's probably for the best, keeps them extra secure."

She stood up and turned to me, a picture of innocence. "I'll call a locksmith later. I promise, they're in there. Now, can we please just get on with the day?"

I looked at her, at the face I had once loved, and I felt nothing. It was like looking at a stranger. A very good actress, but a stranger nonetheless. For six years, I had believed in the character she played for me. The loving partner, the ambitious but devoted girlfriend. Now, the mask was off, and I was seeing the real Ashley for the first time. Selfish, manipulative, and utterly ruthless.

"You're right," I said, my voice flat. "It doesn't matter."

A relieved smile spread across her face. She thought she'd won again. "Great! Now, get dressed. Liam will be here soon."

I went into the bathroom and looked at my reflection in the mirror. The man staring back looked tired and defeated. But his eyes held a cold resolve. I took out my phone and sent a single text to my sister, Sarah.

`The plan is on. Tell Chloe I'll see her in a week.`

Then I went to my contacts and found Ashley's number. I pressed 'Block.' I did the same for her mother, her assistant, and everyone in her orbit I could think of. A small, symbolic act, but it felt like severing the final thread. I was emotionally disconnected. The pain was still there, a dull ache in my chest, but it was background noise now. My focus was on what came next.

When I came out, one of the bodyguards Ashley had posted at my door was standing in the middle of the living room. He was a big, hulking guy named Tony.

"Ms. Davies said you're to stay with me today," he grunted, not bothering to look at me. "Don't try anything stupid."

The disrespect was palpable. I was a guest in my own home, a prisoner under guard.

Then I noticed it. The large cardboard boxes stacked by the door. My boxes. The ones from my home office, filled with my filmmaking equipment, my scripts, my awards from film festivals years ago.

"What's this?" I asked, my voice sharp.

"Ms. Davies is having the apartment cleared out for redecoration," Tony said, chewing on a toothpick. "She's moving your stuff into storage."

She wasn't just postponing a wedding. She was erasing me from our life together. Before we were even officially over, she was moving me out. I walked over and opened the top box. My camera, my lenses, all carefully packed away. Underneath them, files of my financial records, my personal documents. She was literally boxing up my entire life.

Just then, the front door opened and Ashley walked in, laughing, with Liam by her side. They were holding hands. They stopped when they saw me standing over the boxes.

"Oh, Ethan!" Ashley said, feigning surprise. "I was going to tell you. I just thought, with the wedding coming up, it would be nice to have a fresh start. A new look for the place!"

"A new look," I repeated, my voice dead.

"Yeah!" Liam chimed in, squeezing her hand. "Ash has amazing taste. She was telling me she wants to go for a more minimalist, modern vibe."

He called her Ash. No one called her Ash except me.

"And my stuff doesn't fit the 'minimalist, modern vibe'?" I asked, looking from the boxes to their intertwined hands.

Ashley had the decency to look slightly uncomfortable, but Liam just grinned. "Don't worry, man. We'll find a great storage unit for you. The best!"

I heard them talking as they walked towards the kitchen, their voices low but clear.

"Is he going to be a problem?" Liam asked.

"Don't worry about him," Ashley's voice dripped with condescension. "He's a filmmaker. He's overly emotional, but he's harmless. He'll get over it. He always does."

Harmless. That's what she thought of me. After six years, I was just a harmless, emotional man she could push aside whenever it was convenient.

I had to get out. I turned to walk towards the door, but the second bodyguard, a man I didn't know, stepped in my way.

"Ms. Davies' orders," he said stonily. "You're not to leave."

I was trapped. My fiancée had stolen our rings, was moving my life into a storage unit, and had posted guards to keep me from leaving my own home.

Suddenly, my phone rang. It was an unknown number. I hesitated, then answered.

"Ethan Miller?" a gruff voice asked.

"Yes?"

"We have a package for you. We're downstairs."

"I didn't order a package," I said, confused.

"It's from a... Chloe Peterson. A gift, it says."

My heart jumped. Chloe.

"I'll be right down," I said.

The bodyguard blocked my path. "You heard the man. You're not leaving."

"I'm going to the lobby to pick up a package," I said, my voice cold and hard. "You can come with me if you want. But if you try to stop me, I will call the police and report that I am being held against my will in my own apartment. Do you want to explain that to them?"

The guard hesitated, then grunted and stepped aside. He and Tony followed me into the elevator, standing on either side of me like I was a criminal.

The lobby was empty except for two men in delivery uniforms standing by the main doors. They were holding a large, flat box.

"Ethan Miller?" one of them asked.

"That's me," I said, stepping forward.

And then everything happened at once.

Before I could reach them, the two men dropped the box. It wasn't a delivery. They moved with a speed that was terrifying. One of them grabbed my arms from behind, pinning them. The other one clamped a cloth over my mouth. It had a sweet, chemical smell.

My head swam. I tried to struggle, to shout, but my limbs felt heavy, my vision blurring at theedges. I looked at Tony and the other guard. They were just watching. They weren't moving to help. They just stood there, impassive, as I was being abducted in the lobby of my own building.

My last conscious thought before the world went black was of Ashley's smiling face, telling Liam that I was harmless.

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