Chapter 3

Claire's POV

I went back to the house Ethan and I had been living in for the past year.

It was supposed to be our wedding home, but the curtains were jet black, my least favorite color.

The floors were covered in gray tiles instead of the hardwood I'd always wanted. Even the paintings on the walls were dark and creepy, the kind that made me uneasy just looking at them.

I'd asked Ethan several times if we could brighten the place up a little. Even swapping out a few decorations would have made a difference.

But he'd never answered. He hadn't even bothered to look at me.

Maybe he hadn't heard me. Or maybe he had, and he just didn't care.

I left the lights off and sat in the dark, writing a short resignation letter and booking a one-way ticket back to my hometown. Then I turned off my phone and went to bed.

At 4:00 am, the bedroom door slammed open.

Ethan walked in and immediately switched on the lights. The harsh light made me wince.

"Claire, what were you thinking, disappearing without telling anyone? Do you have any idea how worried Tessa and I were?"

I squinted against the light and asked, my voice hoarse, "So worried that you didn't come home until almost dawn?"

Ethan paused, suddenly sounding a lot less sure of himself. "That's because… because we were out looking for you! Tessa was so worried she started crying. I had to calm her down before I could come home."

I gave a bitter smile and held up my phone. "Is that what you call calming her down?"

On the screen was a photo of Tessa on Ethan's back, leaning in to whisper in his ear.

Silence hung between us for several seconds.

Ethan cleared his throat, looking briefly uncomfortable. "Tessa's short. She couldn't see the fireworks over everyone else's heads, so I gave her a piggyback ride. That's all. Are you seriously jealous of your own best friend?"

I couldn't believe he was dismissing it as nothing.

I wanted to ask if lending her his jacket had meant nothing, too. I wanted to confront him about holding her hand and the kiss she'd planted on his ear.

I couldn't help wondering how many other intimate moments they'd shared behind my back.

But in the end, I simply rolled over and closed my eyes. "You two can do whatever you want from now on."

When I woke up the next morning, Ethan was no longer beside me. There was a cup of warm milk on the nightstand.

I got out of bed and found him busy in the kitchen. "Morning! Come have breakfast. I made your favorite oatmeal."

I sat down at the table, looking at the scrambled eggs and the steaming bowl of oatmeal he'd prepared.

For a moment, it was almost possible to believe that yesterday had never happened. That he still loved me.

Ethan walked over with a smile and pulled a ring from his pocket. "Claire, we don't need some big, cheesy speech, do we? You know how we feel about each other."

He took my hand and slipped the delicate ring onto my ring finger.

Before yesterday, I'd dreamed of this moment more times than I could count. But now, instead of happiness, all I felt was a dull ache in my chest. Tears welled up in my eyes.

Ethan seemed to think I was crying because I was happy. He pulled me into his arms and muttered, "Hey, don't cry."

When I was 20, Dad died, and Mom fell seriously ill. Everything happened so suddenly that I spent night after night in tears, unable to sleep or figure out how I was going to get through it all.

Ethan had been there through everything, running errands, handling family matters, and taking care of all the things I couldn't manage on my own.

Every night, he would hold me just like this, gently patting my back as he whispered, "Hey, don't cry. You've got me. I'll always be here for you."

The memories came rushing back, each one making my chest feel tighter until I could barely breathe.

I couldn't hold back any longer. I leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Ethan, why did you fall out of love with me? What does Tessa have that I don't? You fell in love with me first—"

"Claire, what did you say? I didn't hear you."

Just then, his phone lit up on the marble table. Ethan immediately let go of me and picked it up. The screen illuminated his face, revealing the faint smile tugging at his lips.

I was less than four inches away. I could see the screen perfectly. The message was from someone he'd saved as "My Tess."

Her chat was pinned at the top, with a gray background. Mine was farther down, unpinned, with the usual white background.

"I need to take care of something. Go ahead and eat without me." He took his phone and walked straight into his study without another glance at me.

For a long moment, I sat there staring after him. Then I looked down and tried twisting the ring around my finger.

It was too small. The band was digging into my knuckle, and it hurt.

I tried several times to pull it off, but it wouldn't budge. Eventually, I gave up.

I stared at my swollen, reddened finger, then lowered my head onto the table and cried.