Chapter 6

They were all love letters Hannah had written to Ethan.

The letters took her back five years. A particularly severe strain of seasonal flu had swept through the city, and Ethan had caught it. His fever had spiked to an alarming 106 degrees, and he was rushed to the ER for emergency treatment.

When hours passed without his fever coming down, Ethan, delirious with the heat, became convinced he was dying. He clung tightly to Hannah's hand, tears slipping from the corners of his eyes as he mumbled that he hadn't listened to enough of her love letters.

He begged her to keep reading them aloud, telling her that if he died, she could burn the letters at his grave so he wouldn't have to be alone.

To keep him conscious long enough for the medical team to treat him, Hannah fought back her tears and agreed. She grabbed a notebook and a pen, writing down every small, precious memory from their years together and reading each letter aloud as she wrote.

By the time Ethan's fever finally broke, Hannah had gone through ten pens. Her index finger was swollen and raw from gripping the pen so tightly, and the pages were stained with both her tears and tiny spots of blood.

When Ethan woke up and saw her right hand swollen and cramped into a stiff claw after hours of writing, tears immediately welled up in his eyes.

He threw his arms around her, sobbing as he swore that he would cherish her for the rest of his life, grow old by her side, and never let anything hurt her again.

But ever since Sara had entered his life, he had been hurting Hannah over and over again. Not a single one of those promises had survived.

Hannah took a deep breath, but instead of putting the letters away, she dropped them straight into the trash. Ethan's promises had expired a long time ago. Keeping the letters would do nothing but make her feel disgusted with herself.

Once she finished packing her files, Hannah looked around the nearly empty study and then down at her suitcase, which wasn't even half full.

A bitter, self-deprecating laugh escaped her.

All these years, Ethan was constantly complaining about the pressure of running the company and how tight the cash flow was.

He urged her to save every penny of her salary for their wedding, reminding her that they would need money for the venue, the engagement ring, a down payment on a house, and renovations.

Hannah had foolishly believed every word and cut costs wherever she could.

On sweltering summer days and during freezing blizzards when even two heavy coats couldn't keep the cold out, she stubbornly wore the same cheap flats she'd ordered online, even when they pinched her toes.

Whenever she ordered takeout, she spent endless hours joining coupon groups and waiting for flash sales just to shave a dollar or two off a discounted meal, usually settling for cheap, prepackaged lunch specials.

Every penny she saved went straight to Ethan. And what did he do with it?

He turned around and bought everything on his luxury wish list. He splurged on high-end gaming rigs, wore a designer watch, and presented himself on social media as a wildly successful, glamorous tycoon.

Hannah let out another bitter laugh. She had been blinded by Ethan's empty promises of marriage. Sacrificing her youth and health for a man who didn't even love her had been a complete waste.

If she had invested that same time, money, and energy in herself, she could have become someone infinitely better.

Shaking her head, Hannah forced herself to stop dwelling on a past that couldn't be changed. She grabbed her suitcase and turned to leave when a sharp metallic clatter sounded behind her.

She looked back and saw that one of the suitcase wheels had bumped into the heavy metal safe tucked away in the corner.

It was Ethan's most prized possession. Hannah still remembered the Category 5 hurricane that had hit their city years ago, shattering the apartment windows into deadly shards.

Even then, Ethan had risked his life, ignoring his own safety to drag that safe somewhere secure. No one knew what was inside.

Hannah had been curious about it once. Since the safe appeared to use only a four-digit PIN, she'd tried countless combinations.

She had entered the date they started dating, her birthday, Ethan's birthday, his mother's birthday, and even the day his parents finalized their divorce. Not one combination had worked.

At one point, driven purely by curiosity, Hannah had even hired a professional locksmith to get a look inside.

But the moment he saw the safe, he packed up his tools and prepared to leave. No matter how much money she offered, he simply shook his head.

When she finally managed to persuade him to explain, the locksmith told her that the unimpressive little safe, no larger than a makeup case, was actually a masterpiece of security engineering.

Its locking mechanism used imported, military-grade nano-encryption technology, while the outer shell was forged from a space-grade alloy that was virtually impossible to destroy.

The safe had clearly cost a fortune, and Ethan had spared no expense protecting whatever was inside. Realizing that neither persuasion nor brute force would get her anywhere, Hannah had eventually given up.

Throughout the entire decade she had been with Ethan, she had never discovered what the safe contained. Now that she was finally leaving for good, a lingering curiosity, or perhaps just a sudden hunch, made her walk over.

She hesitated before entering the date of Ethan breaking up with his ex-girlfriend. She wasn't expecting anything since Ethan had never mentioned this ex in front of her.

If she hadn't overheard one of his fraternity brothers drunkenly rambling about it years ago, Hannah wouldn't have even known he'd dated anyone before her.

Then came a sharp beep. The safe clicked open.

Hannah froze, wondering who on earth this ex-girlfriend was. Ethan had guarded her so fiercely that he had once risked his life to protect her memories during a hurricane.

As the heavy lid slowly swung open, Hannah's eyes widened in shock.