But he just stands there. Watching. Unmoved. Like I never meant anything to him at all. The hot air slams against me as the guards toss me outside. I hit the ground, knees scraping the pavement, but the real pain is inside me—ripping through my chest. Tears blur my vision. Inside, they celebrate. I am nothing. A sob escapes me.
How could he? How could the man who once whispered promises now act like I don’t exist? Fingers digging into the cold ground, the past rushes back like a tidal wave.
***
"Are you okay?" I knelt beside the man on the mountain trail, his ankle twisted at an awkward angle.
He winced. "I think I sprained it."
I tore a strip of fabric from my jacket, wrapped it around his injury. "This should help until we get down."
He smiled. "You’re pretty resourceful."
I shrugged. "You looked like you needed saving."
We laughed. That was the first time I thought Ethan Caldwell was just an ordinary man.
Back then, I had no idea he was rich. He never told me. Not when he started courting me. Not when he showed up at my workplace with flowers, week after week.
"I can’t stop thinking about you, Claire," he whispered, fingers tracing circles on my wrist. "Let me be the man who makes you happy."
And I let him. God, I let him.
Our wedding was small—only my family was there.
"Where’s your family?" I asked.
Ethan exhaled, tightening his grip on my hands. "They won’t approve of us."
Pain flickered in his eyes. I believed him.
"But I don’t care," he whispered, pressing his forehead to mine. "I love you, Claire. That’s all that matters."
And I believed that too. For years, I thought I had everything. Ethan was the perfect husband.
"I missed you," he’d say, kissing me deeply, hands memorizing every inch of me.
He worked in New York, barely home during the week. But when he was, he made sure I never doubted his love.
"You’re my everything, Claire," he murmured in the dark. "You and our little world."
Then I got pregnant. Pure joy lit his face when I told him.
"We’re having a baby?" His voice broke as he cupped my stomach. "God, Claire, this is the best news of my life."
He became more devoted, always checking in.
"You don’t have to worry about anything, sweetheart," he said, pressing a credit card into my hands. "Buy whatever you want. The best for you and our baby."
I thought I had everything. Love. Stability. A devoted husband. Until the changes started.