Chapter 2

There were two seconds of silence on the other end of the line. Then a voice spoke, “In seven days, I'll send someone to pick you up.

“I'm so glad you've finally made up your mind. Mom and Dad... and Grandpa, they all really want to see you again.”

“If you hadn't insisted on repaying the Whitmores for raising you when we met a few years ago, we never would have left Boston.”

“Actually, all these years, Mom and Dad have been going to see you in secret...”

I froze. Hearing those words, my eyes stung, and I nearly started crying again.

“Okay.”

“Thank you... Brother.”

I checked myself out of the hospital.

Once I got home, I kept busy packing.

By the time things finally quieted down, I realized three days had passed.

Yet in all that time, no one had asked where I'd gone or whether my allergic reaction had gotten any better.

The only lively thing on my phone was my Instagram feed.

Natalie posted travel photos like clockwork, every single day.

There were photos of her and Ethan drinking coffee by the Seine, the two of them making heart shapes together beneath the Eiffel Tower, Mom and Dad from behind as they swiped their cards at duty-free shops, my brother looking frazzled as he lugged around shopping bags.

And Natalie's captions slowly went from “Thanks to my brother-in-law for taking me on this trip” to “A romantic Paris getaway with Mr. Prescott.”

Plenty of friends from our circle commented underneath, wishing Natalie and Ethan happiness forever.

A few even gushed about how good Ethan was to Natalie as her “boyfriend.”

Ethan could see every single comment.

Yet he didn't correct a single one.

I thought I really couldn't understand Ethan anymore.

He was the one who had said I was the only one for him.

And now he was also the one acting with Natalie as if there were no boundaries at all.

If he liked Natalie, why hadn't he called off the wedding sooner?

The more I saw this side of Ethan, the more disgusted I felt.

The next day, I had a lawyer draw up the divorce agreement.

Ethan and I had only been legally married for a few days, so dividing the assets was fairly simple.

That same afternoon, my lawyer sent me the divorce agreement.

I was carefully reading through the terms when the front door suddenly swung open, followed by Natalie's laughter.

“Hahaha! Lucas, you should've seen Ethan when he rode the Ferris wheel with me. His face went completely pale!”

“I even have a picture of me and Ethan at the very top!”

“It's the first time I've ever seen Ethan so scared! He always acts like such a stuffy old man around me!”

Ethan's helpless laugh followed. “Since when am I a stuffy old man?”

“I'm older than you, so naturally I'm a little more mature. But does being older mean I'm not allowed to be afraid of heights?”

Hearing their conversation, made my mind wandered.

Taking a photo together at the top of a Ferris wheel had always been my dream.

On many of our dates, I had brought up the idea with Ethan.

But every time, he turned me down.

“That's the kind of thing that happens in YA novels. We're grown adults. Don't you think it's childish?”

Later, after spending more time with him, I discovered that Ethan was afraid of heights. He just cared too much about his pride to ever admit it.

After that, I stopped bringing it up.

But now, he had not only ridden the Ferris wheel with Natalie, he had also taken a photo with her at the top. She had even teased him for being a “stuffy old man,” and this man who cared about his pride more than anything hadn't been the least bit angry.

So it turned out he had never cherished the wishes I'd given up all those years to accommodate him.

From now on, I wouldn't let myself be wronged like this anymore.