Chapter 29

The days after the breakup felt like being slowly carved by a dull knife. Every moment was excruciating.

I kept thinking Ryan would come back. A decade of love couldn’t just vanish overnight, could it?

Whenever Ethan Winslow urged me to end things, I’d brush him off. "Just wait a little longer." I knew he would. And I was certain Ryan still cared.

Then came the day Ryan threw his resignation letter in my face. The sting of the paper against my cheek was nothing compared to the ice in his eyes.

That was when panic set in.

I sent him my pregnancy test report, flaunted my new relationship in front of him. But his gaze only grew more distant—until he finally fled the country.

The night I got drunk was a blur. Just fragments of sobbing, screaming, and Ethan dragging me away.

By the time I discovered I was pregnant, my company was already crumbling. The investigation results chilled me to the bone—Ethan had been the one stabbing me in the back.

He begged on his knees for forgiveness. I relented. Ryan had already made his fortune—what did a little delay matter? Ethan was still young. He deserved another chance.

Until that evening.

Ryan came to fix the plumbing. Before leaving, he crouched by the sidewalk to feed a stray cat. Moonlight softened his profile, making my heart ache.

Then Ethan appeared. He stared at the cat for two seconds—before suddenly kicking it with brutal force.

The animal’s shriek sent tremors through me.

In that moment, I finally saw clearly.

Just how blind I had been.

[The End]