Chapter 4

Not long after Ethan left, Sylvia updated her Twitter.

"Mentioned pancakes in passing, and they showed up the next morning. Thanks for making it so easy to brag about you."

Attached was a picture of maple pancakes, exactly like the ones on my breakfast table. Ethan’s chef never used to make pancakes, but Ethan had him learn because I loved them. He had once promised me that his special maple pancakes were just for me.

I turned off my phone quietly, wiping away the tears that had welled up again.

Mrs. Triton was still struggling to clean up the damaged pancake pieces Ethan had angrily thrown to the floor. The sticky syrup had seeped into the rug, leaving a stubborn, dark stain.

"Just toss it out," I said, my voice flat.

Even that rug was a gift from Ethan. In fact, I went around the house, gathering every single thing he had ever given me, boxing them up to be thrown out. After all, every gift felt as carelessly thrown my way as those pancakes that morning.

Ethan didn’t reach out for days after that. Every other time we’d fought, it was always me who broke the silence first, but not this time.

I blocked him on Twitter and on my phone.

I changed the security code for the house and instructed Mrs. Triton not to let him in, no matter what.

Just as I finished packing, Ava called, inviting me to get away for a while.

I phoned my parents, who were on a business trip, and told them I was planning to head to the Arctic to see the Northern Lights. I figured if I stayed with Ava until the end of summer, I could go straight to college without ever crossing paths with Ethan again.

As I pulled my suitcase toward the front door, I ran into Ethan’s mom, Mrs. Luciano, at the entrance to the villa. She’d always been kind to me, completely unaware of the fallout between me and her son.

"Oh, are you going on a trip?" she said, eyeing my suitcase. "Where’s Ethan? Isn’t he coming to pick you up? He told me he was taking you to Switzerland for a summer trip, and I fully support it. You two should travel while you’re young."

I forced a polite smile, even as confusion stirred in my mind. Ethan had once promised to take me to Switzerland, but he’d always complained it was too far and too much hassle. He never actually agreed to go. Furthermore, given our current situation, how could he possibly plan a trip with me now?

I brushed it off, thinking it was just a misunderstanding, and continued to the airport.

However, as I approached the departure gates, I saw them: Ethan and Sylvia.

He was there, holding her bag with a casual, protective ease.

On a particularly exhausting day, I had once asked Ethan to carry my bag for me. He had flatly refused, saying I should handle my own stuff. He had even mocked my bag, saying it didn’t match his "tough guy" image.

So, it turned out those little things weren’t a bother at all when it came to someone you truly cared about.

I took a deep breath, trying to clear my mind of him.

Ava had arrived early and was waiting for me at the gate. I kept my distance, following Ethan and Sylvia from afar, not wanting to draw his attention.

Ethan seemed distracted, constantly checking his phone as if he was trying to call someone, but never quite succeeding. Sylvia spoke to him a few times, but he seemed too lost in his thoughts to even hear her.

Finally, I reached my gate and broke away from their path.

Just as I met up with Ava, my phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number.

I hesitated but answered it.

"Cynthia," Ethan’s voice came through, thick with barely contained anger. "Fine, ignore me for a few days, but what the hell is with blocking me? What’s with the attitude? You’ve got some nerve. Just try and keep me blocked. Let’s see who you run to for help when you’re alone at college."

His voice was rising, the tone I knew all too well. They were the warning signs of an incoming blow-up.

Nevertheless, I didn’t say a word. There was no way I was going to tell him that I had secretly changed my college plans.

"I’m boarding now. Just take me off your block list," he snapped. "I’m going abroad for a few days, so don’t expect to hear from me."

I bit my tongue, resisting the urge to curse him out, and simply hung up.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Ethan in the distance, his face twisted with frustration, gripping the phone like he was about to hurl it at the floor.

I grabbed Ava’s hand and kept walking toward the gate, never looking back.