Chapter 3

He froze.

His eyes flickered, and he couldn’t meet mine.

After a long silence, he forced out a strained smile.

“Nina, you know how things are. I’m not ready to get married right now. The company just went public, and there’s still so much to deal with...”

I already knew the answer.

Why humiliate myself by making him say it out loud?

I covered the chill in my chest with a faint, brittle smile.

“I know. I was joking,” I cut in, not wanting to hear one more of those familiar excuses.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to get married.

He just didn’t want to marry me.

That realization was like a dull blade, sawing through me over and over again.

I should have understood a long time ago.

From the way he always refused to take photos with me.

From the way he never introduced me to his family.

From the way, in public, I was always just his secretary.

The signs had always been there.

I was the one who chose not to see them.

“Then what do you want?” he asked quickly, sounding almost relieved. “Shares? A bonus? Whatever you want, just say it.”

I shook my head. “Tell you when you get back.”

Then I turned and walked into the bedroom to start packing.

His things.

And mine.

A string of incoming texts caught my attention.

As expected, they were from Chloe.

"Nina, Ethan’s leaving on his trip tomorrow. Don’t forget to pack the new clothes I bought him today. Pretty good taste, right? He looks so much younger in them.

"From now on, I’ll handle buying his clothes. You’re obviously not as capable as people say—at the very least, you couldn’t even keep a man."

I had bought almost all of Ethan’s clothes.

But today, there were a lot of new things in the closet.

In the pocket of one jacket, I found several unopened condoms.

I knew Chloe had left them there for me to find.

A warning shot.

But I didn’t react.

I simply blocked her number.

Then I went back to packing the last of my things.

After seven years, I owned so little here that everything fit into a single suitcase.

That was about right.

My place in Ethan’s life had always been something that could be cleared out at any moment.

When I reached the few dresses he had bought for me, my hand paused.

He had actually taken me shopping for them himself before last year’s company gala.

“Nina, you look beautiful in this one,” he said with a smile, straightening my collar with his own hands.

Now I could see it for what it really was.

A reward from a boss to a valued employee.

Nothing more.

Nothing to do with the tenderness I had imagined.

I was zipping up the suitcase when I heard his voice from the study.

He was on the phone.

“Ethan, are you really proposing to Chloe tomorrow? And what about Nina? Can you actually bear to do that to her?"

“Of course I can’t,” he said. “So keep your mouths shut. Don’t let her find out.”

“Mr. Cole really does get the best of both worlds—his dream girl and the woman who’s always there.”

“What ‘always there’?” Ethan gave a dismissive laugh. “Don’t compare her to Chloe. She’s nowhere near Chloe’s level. She’s the one who can’t live without me.”

...

I stood there like I’d been nailed to the floor.

Unable to move.

Listening to the man I had loved for ten years reduce me, casually, to something pathetic.

There was no affection in his voice.

Only disdain.

However long he spoke, I listened.

Word by word.

Each one like a dull blade dragging across my heart until even the pain went numb.

A college photo slipped out from between the pages of a book.

In the picture, I was standing beside Ethan, smiling like an idiot.

And him—

his gaze wasn’t really on the camera.

It was fixed somewhere beyond it, as if he were searching for someone.

Now I knew who.

He was looking for Chloe.

Even back then, when Chloe was overseas.

Even back then, when I was the one beside him through every hard moment.

Not once—not for a single second—had his heart ever belonged to me.

I threw the photo into the trash.

Along with my seven years of youth.

Along with my love.

The next morning, when I woke up, Ethan was already gone.

All he’d left behind was a note on the table:

"Nina, wait for me to come back."

I picked it up, crushed it in my fist, and threw it in the trash.

With my suitcase in hand, I stopped at the door and gave the place one last look.

From the tiny rental apartment we started in to the house we eventually bought, I had thought we were building a home together, piece by piece.

Only now did I understand.

That had been my fantasy, not our future.

My phone buzzed.

It was a text from Ethan.

"Nina, I left the gift for the client at home. Find it for me and send it to this address."

I didn’t need to ask.

I knew it was the ring.

Still, I had a courier deliver it, then flagged down a cab and headed for the airport.

On the way there, I sent Ethan one last message.

"Ethan Cole, we’re over."