Love That Slipped Away

Everyone said that I was lucky to marry Eric Carter.

We had known each other since we were seventeen.

Eric was a proud man who had confessed his love for me in front of the entire school when he was eighteen.

At twenty-one, an earthquake threatened the city, and Eric ran against the escaping crowd just to reach me at my sixth-floor classroom. His eyes were red when he said he wanted to take me home.

I stood by Eric when he was building his company, and he did not let me down. He eventually rose to become a business tycoon.

That year, he bought the most expensive pink diamond in the world and used it to make me a tiara. He proposed to me in front of the world.

He told me that I would forever be his princess and that he would never allow anyone to hurt me.

Everyone knew how much he loved and doted on me.

They were all envious of how in love Eric and I were, and everyone talked about how crazy Eric was in love.

That was why no one expected this.

Eric had loved me for seven years.

Yet, no one knew how he had cheated on me with Willow Summers for the same seven years.

For the past seven years, it had always worried me how Eric had to attend numerous drinking sessions with clients at night. I would wait all night on the sofa for him to come home.

All those times, he had been having a passionate affair with Willow and was spending that time entangled in bed with her.

On the day I found out the truth, I finally understood why the pain from heartache could surpass any physical pain.

As I stared at the pictures of them sleeping together strewn all over the floor, the blood dripping from my wrist fell onto Willow's smiling face in the picture as Eric held her in his arms while touching her neck.

It suddenly reminded me of high school when I was locked in the bathroom after being drenched by a bucket of cold water. Eric had broken the door open and held me in his arms as I shivered from the cold. He had promised to avenge me and make sure no one would ever hurt me again.

I fell desperately in love with him that day and gave him all my heart.

When Eric proposed to me, he cried and hugged me tight. "Please love me. Don't ever leave me."

He told me he would always protect me and never allow anyone to hurt me.

Eric was the one who made that promise, but he was also the one who hurt me the most.

He had made the choice. I decided to fake my death and leave. I would vanish from his world and never let him hurt me again. He would lose me forever.

The sun had barely risen when I snuck out of the closet. I stood speechless in the kitchen with a glass of water in my hand.

Eric suddenly gave me a big hug from behind. His nose nuzzled my ear as he mumbled.

"When did you come home, Honey? Why didn't you tell me? I would have gone to pick you up. I missed you so much.”

"Your body feels cold. I'm going to worry to death if you get sick. You're my one and only sweetheart.”

"We're about to get married in a week. You should get some sleep. We're having dinner with your parents tonight."

I stayed silent as I stood in a daze. What a pitiful situation.

How could a man who had just slept with another woman turn to another woman immediately to hold her in his arms and tell her he loved her?