We Couldn't Make It Till the End

People always said Hannah Robbins had the Midas touch. She could turn a worthless penny stock into a market sensation overnight, and eligible bachelors from all over the world lined up to court her. Yet out of all of them, she chose Ethan Turner, a man who hadn't had a penny to his name. Ten years later, that once-broke young man was sitting on hundreds of billions in assets, building a conglomerate from the ground up. Everyone praised Hannah for her brilliant foresight, envying her as the day finally approached when she would walk down the aisle with Ethan. But when she excitedly rushed to City Hall, she waited until dark without Ethan ever showing up. Instead, she saw a provocative Instagram post from his assistant, Sara Russell. [My boss saved me from an arranged marriage. From now on, he's not just Mr. Turner, but my Mr. Turner!] In the photo, the freshly stamped marriage certificate held up by Sara and Ethan was glaring. The news spread like wildfire, and everyone seemed to wait to watch Hannah lose her mind with jealousy. Instead, she left a like and commented: [Congrats! I'll be sure to send a big gift for your wedding.] And the guy who had been silent all day called her soon after. "I only get marriage certificate with Sara because of an emergency. Her parents suddenly called and tried to force her to quit and go home for an arranged marriage. "I couldn't afford to lose top talent like her, so I agreed to marry her just to get her parents off her back. It's not a real marriage, so why are you being so petty? "You have one minute to delete that comment and apologize to her. Once we handle her parents, I'll divorce her and marry you." Hannah listened to the arrogant tone of Ethan, whose heart had strayed. All she gave him was a cold, contemptuous laugh. "That won't be necessary. We're done." Chapter 1 Ethan Turner paused on the other end of the line. When he spoke again, the anger in his voice was unmistakable. "How many times do I have to explain this to you? I already told you that getting the marriage certificate with Sara was just for show. It was nothing more than a formality to get her parents off her back. Do you really have to be this petty about it? "I already promised I'd marry you eventually, so what else do you want from me? There's a limit to how long you can keep throwing tantrums. Do you really think you can just toss around the word 'breakup' whenever you're upset?" Hannah Robbins said nothing. She simply tightened her grip on her phone, looked around the empty City Hall lobby, and gave a bitter smile. For the past ten years, marrying Ethan had been the ultimate pursuit of her life. She had spent years imagining the happy life they would have together after finally tying the knot. In fact, she had started preparing long ago. The wedding favors and invitations had been ordered months in advance, and she had already chosen the photography studio, designed their wedding outfits, and scouted the perfect venue. The moment he gave the word, she would have walked down the aisle without hesitation. Yet every time she brought up setting a wedding date, he found another excuse. There was always some urgent business matter, some critical stage of the company's growth, some reason they needed to wait until things stabilized. To help him get the company through those difficult years, she took on all the dirty work, pulling late nights and working herself to the bone alongside him. When the company finally stabilized, he simply changed his excuse, saying that he wasn't ready yet and asking her to wait a bit longer. And so, she waited, and she waited for ten full years. It wasn't until yesterday, after she successfully closed a massive cross-border acquisition for the company, that Ethan finally relented. He agreed to go to City Hall and get the marriage certificate with her, calling it a reward for all her hard work. Overjoyed, Hannah believed her years of patient waiting had finally paid off. She was so excited that she barely slept a wink. She even took the entire day off and arrived at City Hall early that morning. She waited until dark, but Ethan never came. When she finally checked her social media feed, she found Sara Russell showing off her marriage certificate with Ethan. To avoid running into her, they had even driven to a neighboring city to make it official. The certificate in the photo seemed to stab straight through her heart. So, it wasn't about being ready. He simply hadn't wanted to marry her. Hannah took a deep breath. For once, instead of swallowing her hurt and pretending everything was fine, she snapped back. "Right. It's just a formality. From getting the registration forms to walking out with a marriage certificate, it takes less than ten minutes. Yet after ten years together, you refused to do that simple thing with me, but you went and did it with Sara. "And let's not forget, you were the one who brought up getting married today in the first place, only to stand me up for an entire day. Don't I have the right to be angry?" Ethan fell silent, clearly caught off guard by her fierce response. But it didn't take long for his tone to turn bossy and condescending again. "Can you stop making a big deal out of nothing? Didn't I already tell you there was a reason for this? I couldn't just stand by and watch Sara get pushed into an arranged marriage and sent off to a miserable life. "Do you have any idea how much money the company has invested in training her? I did this to keep a valuable employee from leaving. Are you seriously saying I was wrong for doing my job?" Listening to Ethan dress up his selfishness as some noble sacrifice, Hannah found the whole thing laughable. Plenty of employees at the company faced pressure from their families to get married. So, why hadn't Ethan rushed to rescue any of them? Why was Sara the only one he cared so desperately about keeping? And what exactly made Sara so special? Her performance was practically nonexistent. She couldn't even handle basic Excel tasks, routinely ranked at the bottom of her department, and hadn't closed a single deal in the six months she'd worked there. With any other employee, Ethan would have torn them apart over a poor performance review. If they failed to bring in even a dollar of revenue or asked too many questions, he would have chewed them out and had HR put them on the chopping block. But when it came to Sara, he always found an excuse. He would claim she was deliberately letting other employees take credit so they could earn a living, or insist that when the company faced a genuine crisis, she would somehow step up and save the day. Hannah knew exactly what was happening. If Ethan hadn't been taking her projects and handing them to Sara to inflate her performance numbers, Sara would have been fired months ago. Ethan might not even have realized it himself, but his favoritism toward Sara had already seeped into every corner of his life. It was subconscious protectiveness, an instinctive and unconditional bias toward her that he couldn't hide. A wave of exhaustion washed over Hannah. She sighed under her breath. "You're right. You didn't do anything wrong. I did." Ethan immediately relaxed, smug satisfaction creeping into his voice. "In that case, go delete that comment right now and apologize to Sara. How is anyone in the office supposed to look at her when you're constantly making scenes like this..." "No." Hannah cut him off. "My biggest mistake was not dumping you sooner." "Seriously? You're being completely unreasonable!" Ethan snapped. "Fine. If you're determined to be this stubborn, then just wait and see." The call ended abruptly. Moments later, Hannah's phone started buzzing with notifications. Ethan had unlinked all their shared couple accounts across various apps. He had even changed their matching profile picture, but Hannah didn't even blink. She had seen this routine too many times before. Whenever he got angry, Ethan pulled the same stunt, cutting off their little signs of intimacy in the hope that Hannah would realize she'd gone too far, swallow her pride, and come crawling back to apologize. But this time, she was genuinely exhausted. She had no desire to coax him, placate him, or soothe his ego anymore. Just as she was about to turn off her screen, Sara suddenly tagged her in the company's main Slack channel. Sara: [Ethan and I getting the marriage certificate was just a special situation. He was only being kind and helping me deal with my parents. Good, caring bosses like him are so rare these days, so please don't misunderstand. [If I'd known you'd mind this much, I never would have posted about it on social media. It's all my fault. I'm really sorry.] Ethan immediately replied to her message. [Sara, you didn't do anything wrong, so don't apologize. The only person who owes anyone an apology is the one making passive-aggressive remarks and jumping to malicious conclusions.] The rest of the office quickly picked up on the subtext and rushed to flatter him. [Exactly. Sara, this isn't your fault at all. Hannah is just unbelievably petty. She's obviously jealous because you're young, gorgeous, and so highly regarded by Mr. Turner. That's why she's spreading false rumors.] [Mr. Turner is incredibly compassionate, but as his girlfriend, Hannah is cold-hearted and lacks empathy. She deserved to get stood up today. Well done, Mr. Turner! Someone needed to knock her off her high horse anyway.] Hannah stared at the flood of venomous replies without a change in expression. Ever since Sara joined the company and Ethan began favoring her, these sycophantic coworkers had routinely sucked up to Ethan, thrown Hannah under the bus, and talked trash about her behind her back. She had long since become numb to it. Their petty chatter couldn't hurt her anymore. Tired of the entire farce, she locked her phone. The clerk at the City Hall counter gave her a sympathetic look. "Hey, you've been waiting here all day. Has the person you were waiting for still not shown up? We're closing soon. Maybe you'd like to try again tomorrow?" Hannah shook her head and lowered her eyes. "He already got married to someone else. He won't be coming. And I won't be back tomorrow either." She looked down at the crumpled form in her hand, a bitter smile touching her lips. She had been the first person to arrive that morning, yet she was the last to leave. With one swift tear, she ripped the form to pieces and dropped the scraps into the trash. She was done waiting for a man who would never come and for a wedding that would never happen. She no longer wanted a one-sided relationship that demanded everything from her while giving her nothing in return. Without hesitation, she turned and strode toward the glass doors. Just as she reached the exit, her phone began to ring with a call from Ethan. The very man who had blocked her just moments ago was now calling her back. Chapter 2 Hannah initially wanted to decline the call, but sheer habit made her swipe to answer. The moment the line connected, Ethan's arrogant voice came barking through the speaker. "Have you come to your senses yet? I'm giving you a chance to make up for your bad behavior. "Sara spent all day traveling to get the marriage certificate and hours standing out in the cold. She needs to rest, so you're taking her place at the client dinner tonight. If you do a good job, I might even overlook that passive-aggressive attitude of yours earlier..." Listening to him order her around like a servant, Hannah let out a cold, bitter laugh. This guy seemed to have forgotten that she was the one who had stood outside City Hall from sunrise to sunset, shivering in the bitter cold while waiting for him. There had been a time when all it took was a sneeze from her in a drafty room for Ethan to look at her with deep concern, immediately taking off his coat and draping it over her shoulders. Back home, he would rush to make her hot tea with lemon and honey and bring her cold medicine, terrified that she might catch a chill and get sick. And now? He was ordering her around like some disposable tool, completely indifferent to how she felt. And he seemed to have forgotten something far more serious. Hannah was severely allergic to alcohol. She couldn't even have a drop. During the early years, when she had helped him build the Turner Group from the ground up, they had constantly been forced to entertain clients and endure drinking dinners just to secure contracts. Back then, Ethan had treated her health as his top priority. Whenever possible, he turned down drinking engagements altogether. When there was no way out, he would step in and take every drink for her. More than once, he had come home completely drunk, clutching the toilet and vomiting until there was nothing left in his stomach. Yet even then, he would force himself to endure the discomfort, reassuring her that he was fine and telling her to get some sleep so she wouldn't worry herself sick. His entire world used to revolve around her, and now he had given his heart to someone else. Snapping back to reality, Hannah refused to make another pathetic compromise to save a relationship that had already fallen apart. "I'm allergic to alcohol. I can't do it," she said flatly. "Besides, that dinner is Sara's responsibility. It's not part of my job." Her blunt refusal caught him off guard, but his surprise quickly turned into fury. "I reached out to you with an olive branch, and this is how you respond?" he snapped. "I pay your salary. When I tell you to do something, you do it. That's what your job requires." "Then I quit," Hannah said evenly, ending the call before Ethan could respond. Then she dialed a number she hadn't called in a long time. When the call connected, she spoke seriously. "Mr. Carter, I'm accepting your offer." The man on the other end was the CEO of a major international design firm, one of the industry's biggest players. They met a year ago during a joint venture. Just before they signed the contract, she happened to notice a critical structural flaw in one of the company's flagship products, which was about to launch. The defect had resulted from an aesthetic design choice that could easily have caused mechanical failure and triggered a massive public-relations disaster. After Hannah pointed it out, Ernest Carter immediately ordered a full investigation and modified the assembly line just before the official launch, saving the company tens of millions of dollars in potential losses. From that day forward, Ernest became one of the few people Hannah considered a true friend. After looking into her situation and learning that she was being sidelined at Ethan's firm, he had flown in overnight more than once to recruit her, offering her the position of Design Director along with $100 million in stock options. But Ethan suffered from lingering childhood trauma and refused to move abroad, preferring to stay close to home. Because of that, Hannah had repeatedly turned down Ernest's lucrative offers, sacrificing what could have been a brilliant career just to remain by Ethan's side. Back then, she genuinely believed her devotion would eventually be met with the same devotion in return. Instead, she had lost everything. Looking back now, she realized she'd spent the best years of her youth sacrificing herself to help Ethan survive a decade of struggle, only to discover that he hadn't even considered her worthy of a simple marriage certificate. It had all been a terrible waste. Now, it was finally time to put herself first. ... Ernest's delighted voice pulled her back to the present. "Are you serious, Hannah?" he asked. "Our doors are always open for you. But didn't you say you were getting married and settling down? What made you change your mind?" Hannah let out a self-deprecating laugh. "It's nothing. I broke up with my boyfriend." Silence fell over the line. Then Ernest offered warm words of comfort. "I don't know the whole story, but I know your character. Losing you is entirely his loss." Moments later, Hannah's phone chimed with a notification: a bank transfer of $100,000. "Take that for now and use it to get your affairs in order," Ernest said. "I'll be waiting for you whenever you're ready to fly over." Hannah smiled quietly. After briefly discussing her new responsibilities, she ended the call and prepared to accept the transfer when Ethan posted another update on social media. Chapter 3 The photo in the post showed Ethan and Sara sitting in a trendy new French bistro, surrounded by plates of escargot, foie gras and other fine dishes. The caption read: [Enchanted at first sight, still falling for you till this day.] Hannah stared at the photo of Ethan grinning as Sara fed him a bite of steak and couldn't help letting out a bitter, sarcastic laugh. Ethan had once claimed to hate European cuisine more than anything. The root of that hatred went back to his father, who had been seduced by a French woman and abandoned him and his mother when Ethan was only three years old. Because of that childhood trauma, Ethan had developed a deep aversion to anything European or foreign. He refused to get involved in international business and insisted on working exclusively with domestic clients. That rigid attitude had cost the Turner Group hundreds of millions of dollars in missed opportunities for overseas expansion. When Hannah took him on their first date, she had known nothing about his history. Eager to make the night special, she spent an entire month's savings taking him to the most luxurious French restaurant downtown. But the moment a several-hundred-dollar steak was placed in front of him, Ethan's expression turned thunderous. He flipped the table on the spot, sending the scalding steak flying into her face before turning around and walking out without a word. Hannah had been left standing there alone, surrounded by stunned patrons whispering and laughing as they stared at her. When she returned to their apartment, Ethan gave her the silent treatment for an entire week. It wasn't until she spent half a day apologizing and transferred tens of thousands of dollars into his account as compensation that he finally let the matter go. ... And now, as Hannah watched Sara feed him a cheap, heavily processed, freezer-burned piece of steak, Ethan looked completely radiant. There wasn't even a flicker of disgust on his face. So, love really was a miracle cure. Apparently, it could heal even the deepest psychological scars. Snapping out of her thoughts, Hannah glanced down at the comments beneath Ethan's post. Their coworkers were flooding the section with congratulations and heart emojis. In the past, Sara had only posted vague, suggestive updates on social media. Everyone in the office knew something was going on between the two, but no one dared say a word because Ethan had never officially acknowledged the relationship. Now that Ethan had posted the photo himself, it was practically a public announcement. Naturally, everyone rushed to offer their congratulations and demonstrate their loyalty. And Ethan, who normally maintained a stern, stoic image, dropped his usual reserve and replied to the comments with playful laughing emojis. Hannah almost laughed out loud. She knew full well he was doing this on purpose to spite her, hoping she would grovel and beg for his forgiveness like she used to. This time, however, she simply closed the app. It wasn't until her stomach gave a loud growl that she realized she hadn't eaten a thing all day. She immediately pulled up her messages and texted her best friend, Megan West. Hannah: [Down for some late-night tacos and barbecue?] Megan replied instantly: [I'm in!] ... At the late-night food spot, Megan was halfway through a grilled skewer when she suddenly paused. She glanced at her watch, then looked cautiously at Hannah. "Hey, isn't your boyfriend ridiculously strict about your curfew? Doesn't he expect you home by ten sharp? It's almost ten. Shouldn't you be heading back?" Hannah was immediately reminded of the rules Ethan had imposed on her. Ever since they had gotten together, Ethan constantly claimed that he was deeply insecure and lived in fear of her cheating on him, so he had created a whole set of strict rules governing her life. She had to be home before ten every night. She was expected to answer his texts immediately. And when he called, she wasn't allowed to let the phone ring for more than three seconds before picking up. Even if she was in the middle of closing a multimillion-dollar deal with a client, if Ethan tried to FaceTime her and she dared to hang up, he would storm out of the apartment that very night and give her the silent treatment. Knowing what he'd been through as a child, Hannah had quietly endured his controlling behavior. Yet Ethan had always lived by a completely different set of rules. He could disappear for an entire day or stay out all night without explaining where he was. Once, simply because she was worried about his safety, Hannah made a video call to check on him. Ethan exploded. He bombarded her with dozens of angry messages, accusing her of being controlling and invading his privacy, then gave her the silent treatment for an entire month. He naively thought he'd hidden his secrets perfectly. In reality, Hannah had known for a long time, thanks to the intimate photos Sara had sent her, that Ethan's unexplained nights away were nothing more than excuses to spend time with Sara. It was almost laughable how thoroughly she'd allowed herself to be played. She had strictly followed Ethan's curfew and turned down countless dinners and outings with friends. Eventually, her friends had stopped inviting her altogether, and her social circle had slowly disappeared until her entire world revolved around Ethan. Looking back, none of it had been worth it. "Don't worry about it," Hannah said, taking a fierce bite off her skewer. "He doesn't get to control me anymore. We broke up." Megan froze. Then she slapped a hand against Hannah's back, genuinely thrilled for her. "You should have dumped him ages ago. After everything that jerk pulled, he never deserved a single thing you did for him. Anyway, enough about him. Tonight's on me, and we're not leaving until we're stuffed." Hannah grinned and ordered two more large platters of grilled food. The two women ate and drank well past midnight before Hannah finally headed home. The moment she pushed open the front door, a throw pillow came flying and smacked her squarely in the face. Then Ethan's icy voice boomed through the dark apartment. "Do you have any idea what time it is? You actually had the nerve to come home this late?" Chapter 4 Hannah was caught off guard. She hadn't expected Ethan to be home. Usually, whenever he went out with Sara, he used "entertaining clients" as an excuse, staying out all night and not showing his face until sometime the next afternoon. The pillow slammed into the bridge of her glasses, sending a sharp jolt of pain through her nose. Blood immediately began trickling down over her upper lip. Ethan paused, a flicker of guilt crossing his face. He reached for a box of tissues and started to get up, apparently intending to help clean her up. But halfway there, he stopped himself and sank back onto the couch, his expression hardening as he switched to an interrogating tone. "Why are you back so late? You're hours past your curfew. Where have you been?" Hannah ignored him entirely. She opened a drawer, took out a bottle of antiseptic and some cotton swabs, and quietly cleaned the blood from her face. Her complete indifference only made Ethan angrier. "I asked you a question. Are you deaf or something?" he demanded. "Did you do something behind my back that you're afraid to admit?" "What about you?" Hannah gave him a cold, faint smile. "Why are you suddenly home so early? Don't you need to keep Sara company?" Ethan froze, clearly not expecting her to confront him so directly. He quickly recovered, scowling. "What are you talking about? I didn't have any client dinners tonight, so after helping Sara, I came straight home. And all those other times were business trips and client work. Stop reading too much into everything. "I came home early because I knew you were in a bad mood and wanted to be here for you. Standing you up today was my fault, but does that give you the right to ignore my texts and stay out until midnight? I thought something had happened to you. I was seconds away from calling the police. "And what do I get in return? You walk through the door throwing passive-aggressive jabs at me. I even stopped by that place and picked up your favorite seafood soup because I was worried you might be hungry." Hannah glanced at the bowl of soup sitting untouched on the coffee table. A wave of revulsion washed over her. All these years, she hadn't realized that every time Ethan tried to manipulate her into taking some pill for Sara's sake, he brought home this same seafood soup afterward to placate her. Now even the smell was enough to trigger a visceral wave of nausea. "No thanks," she said flatly. "I already ate." Ethan completely missed the icy undertone in her voice. Convinced that he had successfully smoothed things over, he continued casually, "By the way, Sara says her parents aren't easy to fool. "They insist on seeing wedding photos before they'll back off, so I have to take a set of wedding photos with her tomorrow. You've done a ton of research on this stuff, so which photography studio has the fastest turnaround? And who carries the best high-end wedding gowns?" His eyes shone with genuine anticipation, but that only made Hannah feel even more disgusted. He knew perfectly well that every bit of research she'd done had been for their own wedding. And now he had the nerve to ask her to help plan a wedding photo shoot for himself and Sara? Hannah shut him down without hesitation. "Figure it out yourselves. I don't have any recommendations." Chapter 5 Ethan froze when his usual tactic had failed. "Hey, I'm just putting on a show for Sara's family," he said sullenly. "Do you really have to take everything so seriously?" "Whether it's an act or genuine feelings, you know better than anyone," Hannah countered. The moment Ethan started talking about taking wedding photos, his eyes lit up with unmistakable excitement. Only an idiot would have missed what that meant. Cornered by her response, Ethan finally lost his temper. In ten years, this was the first time he'd ever found himself completely unable to win an argument with her. "You're being completely unreasonable!" he snapped. Hannah couldn't be bothered to waste another word on him. She turned toward the bedroom, but Ethan rushed ahead, snatched her pillow off the bed, and threw it into the hallway. "You don't get to sleep in my bed anymore!" he shouted. "Go sleep in the study tonight and think about what you've done!" He slammed the bedroom door shut, pulled out the key, and locked it from the inside as though he were barricading himself against a burglar. Hannah knew exactly what he was trying to do. He was using the silent treatment to force her to come crawling back and apologize. What he didn't realize was that he'd just given her exactly what she wanted. She had no intention of sharing a bed with him anymore. All she wanted was to pack up her things and leave as soon as possible. In fact, aside from a few old dresses she'd worn for three or four years, there was hardly anything of value left for her in that bedroom. Hannah shook her head, retrieved her suitcase from the corner of the living room, and carried it into the study. The moment she stepped inside, her eyes fell on the gift she'd given Ethan for their seventh anniversary. It was a custom-made string-art portrait, painstakingly created from dozens of spools of thread wound hundreds of thousands of times around tiny metal nails according to a precise design. She had spent an entire month working on it through sleepless nights. The finished portrait recreated a photograph from their first date at an amusement park. She still remembered that Ethan hadn't wanted to take the picture at all. Because of his childhood issues, he was fiercely practical and had always viewed amusement parks as overpriced places designed to entertain children. He thought taking pictures together was childish and embarrassing, so he had flatly refused to take even one photo with her. Back then, Hannah had even taken on Sara's entire workload for the following quarter just to persuade him to finally give in and pose for one reluctant picture with her. That was the first time they'd ever gone to an amusement park together. And it had also been the last. Because the memory meant so much to her, Hannah had specially woven that photograph into the string-art portrait, desperate to preserve that moment of sweetness forever. Over the years, she had meticulously checked the tension of the threads and the condition of every nail. She had even ordered a custom glass display case with desiccant packs sealed around the edges, all to make sure the portrait would never deteriorate. She had protected that piece of art with the same painstaking care she had used to protect her fragile relationship with Ethan. Only now did she understand that no matter how carefully she tended a relationship with someone who didn't love her back, all that effort was ultimately futile. Slowly shaking her head, she took the framed portrait down from the wall and picked up a pair of scissors from the desk. The moment the blades barely touched the edge, the tightly stretched threads snapped with a series of sharp pops, unraveling almost instantly. It had looked perfectly intact on the surface, yet fell apart at the slightest touch. Just like her decade-long relationship with Ethan—all appearance and no substance. She gave a bitter, self-mocking laugh and threw the tangled mass of broken thread straight into the trash. She then began gathering the files from the desk, but as she lifted a loose folder, it slipped from her hands. More than 100 handwritten letters spilled across the floor. She looked down and froze. 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. Chapter 7 Inside the safe, tiny objects had been carefully packed into individual vacuum-sealed bags, filling every inch of space. Toys. Bookmarks. Even a lollipop. Confused, Hannah turned the sealed bags over and discovered a sticky note attached to the back of each one, documenting where the item had come from. [May 7, 2016. Sara gave me something for the first time in class today. It was a strawberry-flavored lollipop. I'm so happy. Today's mood is strawberry-flavored, too.] [June 7, 2016. Today is my birthday. Sara braided a ring for me out of grass and told me she'd marry me one day. I swear I'm going to make it big enough to buy her the most expensive ring in the world.] [January 1, 2017. It's the new year. Sara gave me chocolates! I want to eat them so badly, but they're a token of her love, so I have to save them forever.] ... After reading only a handful of them, Hannah lost all desire to keep going. No wonder that whenever Ethan sneaked into the study late at night, she would hear faint sounds of laughter coming from inside. Even after working through an entire night, he would emerge the next morning looking energized, with a bright smile and a sparkle in his eyes. So, these were the memories he had cherished all along. Memories he had shared with Sara. Hannah couldn't help a bitter, sarcastic laugh. She had always assumed Ethan had simply grown tired of their relationship and started seeing his female assistant on a whim. She had never imagined that Sara was the mysterious ex-girlfriend he'd refused to talk about. His feelings for Sara weren't some passing fling. He had been carrying a torch for her all this time. "So, what does my ten years with him mean to him?" The question surfaced in Hannah's mind, but by then, it no longer mattered. Whatever they had once shared was over. She shook her head, grabbed her suitcase, and walked out of the apartment without looking back. She checked into a hotel near the airport and slept peacefully for the first time in ages. When she woke up, she casually submitted her resignation through the company HR portal before heading to brush her teeth. Soon, her phone chimed with a notification: [Resignation Request Approved.] Normally, any message Hannah sent to Ethan took at least three or four hours to receive a response, assuming he responded at all. She had even been prepared to call him personally to make sure her resignation was processed. She hadn't expected him to approve it within seconds. As she wondered why he'd suddenly become so efficient, a photo was sent to her phone. It showed Sara and Ethan at a luxury boutique, trying on wedding gowns, the entire picture dripping with provocation. Sara: [So what if you were with Ethan for ten years? In the end, I'm the one getting the marriage certificate and taking wedding photos with him.] Hannah let out a cold laugh. No wonder Ethan had approved her resignation so quickly. He was busy playing groom and couldn't spare even a second for her. Whenever he was with Sara, everything else seemed to disappear from his world. That was why he had stood Hannah up countless times before. In the past, his neglect would have crushed her. She would even have wondered whether she'd somehow done something wrong. Now, however, she almost felt grateful for it. If Ethan hadn't been so distracted, her resignation would never have gone through so smoothly. After all, as one of Turner Group's key founders, Hannah had played an indispensable role in building the company into what it was. Clients specifically sought out her distinctive design work, and more than 70 percent of the company's major contracts depended directly on her concepts and proposals. Under normal circumstances, Ethan would never have let her leave without squeezing every bit of value out of her. Hannah heaved a sigh of relief and dismissed Sara's pathetic taunts. After completing the exit formalities, she walked out of her office and was immediately greeted by the loud, shameless chatter of her colleagues. Chapter 8 "Hilarious! CEO's girlfriend or not, she still got kicked to the curb." "Someone tried to play hard-to-get, and it blew up in her face, didn't it?" ... One coworker even grabbed a cup of hot water and pretended to stumble, deliberately aiming it at Hannah to make her the laughingstock of the office. But instead of enduring the humiliation as she once would have, Hannah calmly stepped aside, snatched another employee's cup from a nearby desk, and tossed the water straight over the coworker's head. "I'm leaving because another firm poached me with a massive pay raise," Hannah said evenly. "Unlike the rest of you, I actually have the option to walk away." Leaving her coworkers staring after her with pale, furious faces, she turned on her heel and walked out without looking back. The moment she was clear of the building, she texted Ernest and Megan to let them know her resignation was official, then booked an evening flight. A few moments later, Megan replied, insisting on taking her out for a farewell dinner. On the way to the restaurant, they happened to pass a high-end bridal studio. Megan suddenly stopped, pointing through the window with a gasp. "Wait! Isn't that Ethan and Sara?" Hannah glanced up and froze. There was Sara, standing inside in the pristine white wedding gown Hannah had spent years dreaming of wearing herself. Sara seemed to have taken everything that once belonged to Hannah without even trying: her projects, her marriage certificate, and now even her dream of walking down the aisle. Megan was so furious that she rolled up her sleeves, ready to storm inside and give them a piece of her mind. Hannah caught her arm, holding her back. "Forget it. I just want to have a nice meal before my flight. There's no point wasting time on people like them. Besides, Ethan and I are already over. Whatever he does has nothing to do with me anymore." Through the glass window, Ethan caught sight of her. A flash of guilt and panic crossed his face, and he instinctively let go of Sara's hand, immediately putting some distance between them. "Hannah? What are you doing here?" he stammered. Sara cast a sly, provocative glance at Hannah before putting on a half-smile. "She must have asked HR where we were and followed us here." Ethan's expression darkened. "You followed us? Hannah, we've been together for ten years. Do you really have that little trust in me?" Hannah couldn't help but laugh coldly. "What about you? Did you ever trust me? You believed Sara's words without a second thought and immediately assumed I was lying." Sara's eyes instantly welled up with tears. "Hannah, you're completely misunderstanding Ethan and me. We're only taking wedding photos because I need them for my parents. "If it bothers you so much, we won't take them. I'll tear up the marriage certificate right now. At worst, I'll just go back home and let my parents set me up on dates..." As she pretended to rush away, Ethan grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Enough, Hannah!" he yelled, turning to glare at Hannah. "Is now really the time for another jealous tantrum? Do you have to keep backing Sara into a corner? "Didn't I tell you I'd marry you as soon as we dealt with her parents? Why can't you wait a few more days? And these are working hours. "Walking around outside during company time is considered leaving your post, which means a pay deduction under company policy. Go back to the office right now, and I'll pretend none of this happened." "And if I don't?" Hannah asked. "Keep pushing me and see what happens," Ethan sneered, his voice carrying a cold, unmistakable threat. He was convinced Hannah couldn't bear to leave the company she'd poured years of sweat into, much less walk away from the man she'd loved for a decade. Yet the threat didn't faze Hannah at all. Far from it, she burst out laughing. "Don't bother." She took out her phone and held the screen right in front of his face, showing him the resignation approval that he had personally signed only a short while ago. "Because as of ten minutes ago, I quit."