Chapter 8

As soon as Ernest got home, he submerged himself in a warm bath.

The heat of the water made him feel alive again.

Soon, his phone vibrated. It was an automated reminder of his flight, which was set to depart the next morning.

With that, he submerged his head to allow his mind to go blank.

In that state of trance, memories from the past five years began to replay in his mind in a rapid-fire montage.

He remembered daily scenes of him helping Milana through her rehabilitation.

He remembered the way Milana’s face furrowed with deep concern when he pretended to lose his hearing.

One time, they lay down on the grass together, smiling while dreaming of what the future had in store for them.

There was the scene of Milana crying as she accepted the ring after he had gotten down on one knee to propose.

There were countless memories. The past was so wonderful, a sharp contrast to reality, which felt suffocating beyond belief.

Eventually, when he started to run out of breath underwater and his lungs began to constrict, he pulled his head above water.

After wrapping himself in a towel, he removed the ring he had worn for the past five years.

Rather than a symbol of love, the ring symbolized shackles for the past five years. It was time to let go for good.

He tossed the ring into the trash can without so much as a second thought.

After getting dressed, he began to tidy up the room one last time.

That was when he discovered a diary tucked away at the bottom of Milana’s nightstand.

He felt a wave of uneasiness mixed with other feelings inside him when he flipped to the first page, which read, [Miles Garrett, I still can't forget about you.]

His heart dropped, but he could not stop himself from flipping through the rest of the diary.

Page two.

[Miles, I don’t think I can ever walk again. How am I supposed to stand by your side?]

Page three.

[Miles, I might as well leave this world if I can’t stand by your side.]

Page four.

[Miles, I promise I will return to your side when I can walk again.]

Then the next, and the next… All the way to the very last page.

[Miles, it’s been five years, but now, I can stand again. Wait for me.]

He read every page of the diary like a masochist.

Miles was mentioned on every page, nearly every single line, but Ernest’s name did not appear even once.

Not even once!

He felt a sharp sting in his nose, accompanied by an urge to cry. He slumped against the edge of the bed with his head hung low as if the gesture was enough to stamp out the overwhelming agony inside him.

A streak of moonlight spilled in through the window and beat across his face, accentuating the desolate look in his eyes. His eyes were two puddles of stagnant, dead water, utterly devoid of any spark of life.

As it turned out, Milana had never loved him in the past five years. Not even once.

The past five years of romance had been nothing but the work of fanciful invention on his part.

All this time, he believed he managed to bring some light into the darkness of Milana’s world, that he brought her some solace during the darkest moments of her life.

But now, he had to confront the bitter truth. He was nothing more than a transition toward her romance with Miles.

She had trampled over him while on her way to Miles.

While drowning in despair, he wrote a passage on the last page of the diary.

[Milana, if I could turn back time, I wish I had never met you.

[If I could do it all over again, I would never pour out my feelings for you for five years.]

He wrote with such force that the tip of the pen nearly cut through the paper.

Once he was done packing, he took one last look at the place he called “home” for the last five years.

Just as he was preparing to leave with the suitcase in hand, Milana suddenly opened the door.

The moment she noticed his luggage, a flicker of panic cut across her eyes. She asked anxiously, [Where are you going? What’s with the packing?]

There was a brazen look of panic in her eyes while she clutched the suitcase firmly.

For the first time in his life, Ernest lied to her, "Since the wedding is tomorrow, I figured I’d stay at the hotel since it’s closer to the wedding venue."

The tension written across Milana’s face dissolved in an instant upon hearing this. She gently kissed him on the cheek before sending him out of the house.

While he walked away, she called out in an elated voice, “We’re getting married tomorrow! I can’t wait to be by your side forever!”

Ernest did not look back. He hardly even slowed down.

The only thought in his mind was that there was not going to be anything resembling a “forever” between them, not even a future.

The rental car faded into the dark borders of the night.

He arrived at the airport a little past midnight.

He proceeded to draft a message and scheduled it to be sent at a later time.

Then, he decisively deleted everything related to Milana from his phone before snapping his SIM card in two and tossing it into a trash can.

When the sun rose above the horizon, he was already miles above the ground, looking at a sea of clouds.

While all this was happening, Milana was panicking back home. The wedding was drawing closer with every passing second, but the groom was nowhere to be seen.

When the wedding was about to start, she received a text.

[Milana, I’m not going to marry you. I don’t want to be with you forever.]