SLAP!
Another handprint bloomed on his other cheek.
“Ethan, if you could go find the anesthesiologist and get the truth now, why couldn’t you do it then?” My voice was low and dangerous. “Was it that you couldn’t? Or that you just didn’t want to?”
He shook his head frantically, grabbing my arm. “It wasn’t that! It was the liquor bottles at home… I just… you never drank, Audrey. And then suddenly, you started. I just assumed…”
“You’re right, Ethan,” I said, my voice turning dead calm. “I only started drinking around that time.”
He looked up, confused.
I pulled my arm from his grasp. “I was drinking,” I said, my voice cold and clear, “because my heart was bro-
ken.”
I let the words hang in the air for a moment before delivering the final, crushing blow.
“Every single one of those bottles in the fridge had your name written on it.”
With that, I picked up my bag and walked toward the exit.
I heard a thud behind me. He had fallen to his knees.
His voice, thick with sobs, followed me. “Audrey… I really did love you. I do love you. You have no idea what these last three years have been like. Every second without you has been torture.”
His pathetic cries didn’t make me turn back. I just paused at the door.
“Ethan,” I said, without looking at him. “Are you honestly going to tell me you never had feelings for Chloe?”
“That ring I threw away… it wasn’t because I was angry, and it wasn’t because the diamond was too small.”
“It was because the band was too big.”
“Even if I had wanted to wear it, it would have slipped right off my finger.”
“You’re not a stupid man. You know what that means. So please, stop bothering me. My warning from the
other day still stands.”
I left without another word. I didn’t see his expression, but the sound of his raw, broken sobs echoing down
9/11
20:34
20:34
Chapter 2
the empty hall told me everything I needed to know.
Outside the building, a familiar Ferrari was waiting.
The moment I got in, the atmosphere was thick with tension. It was cold… so very cold…
“Honey,” I ventured, “aren’t you going to buckle my seatbelt for me?”
Leo grunted, then leaned over to pull the belt across my chest. The next second, I had wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into a fierce hug.
“What’s wrong, my love?” I murmured into his shoulder.
He clicked the belt into place, his ears turning red, but his expression remained stormy. “I saw him go into the school. Did he bother you again?”
“He did,” I admitted.
The speech Leo had clearly been preparing died in his throat. “What did he say?”
“The usual,” I sighed. “Begging for forgiveness, saying he wants to marry me.”
Leo snorted, his eyes full of derision. “Doesn’t he have any new material? It’s always the same old song and dance.” He gripped the steering wheel. “And what did you say?”
I watched his white–knuckled grip, a smile playing on my lips. “I…”
