Chapter 5

The girl you were at eighteen really did love me.

When I came back to myself, I looked at the young Claire, who was now sobbing uncontrollably.

“Claire, now that you’ve seen everything, can you promise to stay away from me?”

Her breath caught.

Neither of us spoke as we struggled to collect ourselves.

After a long time, she finally broke the silence.

“You’re disappointed in me because of who I become at thirty, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“If I listen to you and stay out of your life, you’ll be happier, won’t you?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t love me anymore, do you?”

Tears slipped down my face before I even realized I was crying.

I tried to smile, but it looked more painful than tears.

The answer caught in my throat.

“Yes.”

“Okay.

“I promise.”

My hands curled into fists at my sides.

I smiled, even as my heart hurt more than ever.

“Thank you.”

Thank you for trying to protect me when I was in danger.

Thank you for truly loving me once.

And thank you for agreeing to leave me.

“One last question,” she said.

“You did love me once, didn’t you?”

This time, a sob broke from my throat.

“Yes.”

I loved you once.

I loved you more than anyone else in the world.

Neither of us spoke again.

Only the wind moved across the empty field.

After what felt like forever, she said quietly, “Ethan Lawson, Claire Lane at eighteen really does love you.”

A flash of white light swept over us.

We returned to our own worlds.

Claire, I lied to you.

At thirty, I still loved the girl you had been at eighteen.

After getting my wound bandaged, I returned to that cold, empty house.

Nothing had changed.

Claire and our son still weren’t home.

No one was waiting for me.

I opened a drawer and took out the divorce papers I’d printed days ago.

Then I sat on the couch for a long time.

I wanted to end this twelve-year relationship with my own hands.

I wanted to say a proper goodbye to Claire.

She finally came home at eleven that night.

She walked through the door with our son and immediately ordered, “Go make dinner. We’re both starving.”

Then she noticed the bandage around my ear.

Her expression changed, and she stopped in her tracks.

“How did you get hurt that badly?”

I didn’t accept her belated concern.

Instead, I took out the divorce papers and held them out to her.

“Claire, I want a divorce.”

Her face stiffened.

Then fury took over.

“Ethan Lawson, have you lost your mind?

“We have a child. Why would we get divorced?

“Stop being ridiculous.”

That was right.

We had a child.

Yet when danger came, she hadn’t cared about me.

She hadn’t even protected our son.

I drew a deep breath and met her eyes.

“I’ve already signed them. You should sign them as soon as possible.”

Claire scoffed and stared at me with a cutting gaze.

“You want a divorce?

“Not in this lifetime.

“Ethan Lawson, from the moment you turned eighteen, you were destined to stay by my side.”

She snatched the papers from my hand and threw them into the trash.

I said nothing.

I crouched down to retrieve them.

But my hands passed straight through the trash can.

They were slowly becoming transparent.

The clock on the wall began to chime.

Its hands had reached midnight.

And the lives Claire and I had known began to reset.