Chapter 3

Before I could type anything else, Ethan's name flashed across my screen. He was calling me, fast and urgent.

I pressed answer.

There was no apology, no explanation. Only two cold words.

"Apologize now."

A wave of absurdity washed over me.

"Me? Apologize?"

I almost laughed out loud from sheer anger.

"What am I apologizing for? For you guys talking trash about me behind my back? Or for the fact that you created a separate group chat just to exclude me after adding me to this one?"

The line went silent for a few seconds.

Then, I heard Ethan let out a weary, frustrated sigh.

"Hazel, you're not a hundred-dollar bill. You can't expect everyone to love you."

"The people in that group grew up with Lily and me. You're a new addition, so it's normal if some of them don't accept you right away. Lily was trying to be respectful by adding you to the group in the first place."

I tilted my head back, forcing the tears back.

"So what?"

Ethan paused, his voice dropping a fraction.

"Just apologize in the group. Say you don't mind the jokes."

"Lily is... she's crying really hard right now. She feels incredibly guilty. She thinks this is all her fault for adding you to the chat."

My chest felt like it had been pierced by a gaping hole, letting the cold wind howl through.

So, just because Lily cried, I had to bow my head and apologize to the very people who had just humiliated me.

He kept talking, but I couldn't hear a word after that.

Tears blurred my vision, and I choked out.

"Ethan, we're done."

"The wedding is off. And we are never getting that marriage license."

Ethan didn't answer.

Someone muffled the phone speaker on his end. I could faintly hear the rustle of clothes, tissues, and Lily's soft sobbing.

And then, Ethan's patient, gentle cooing.

"Hey, don't cry. Hazel said she doesn't blame you. She's just being overly sensitive."

"Wipe your tears. You're about to go on stage. Didn't you say you wanted to look perfect for the photos?"

It took a while before the other side quieted down.

Ethan's voice came through clearly again, dripping with annoyance.

"Alright, hurry up and apologize in the group. We're literally getting married today, why are you throwing a tantrum now? I don't have time to baby you on our wedding day."

Remembering what I had just said, he let out a scoff.

"Besides, call off the wedding? Like you'd actually be willing to do that."

Ten years of being together. He was entirely convinced I would never leave him.

I hung up. I slid over to the side of the seat and rolled down the window.

I let the harsh wind ruin my hair and makeup, which had taken three hours to perfect.

The Uber driver, who had heard the entire conversation, looked like he wanted to say something.

Finally, he couldn't help himself.

"What kind of guy is that? How did a jerk like him even get a girl like you?"

"Back when I married my wife, I treated her like a queen. I literally carried her over the threshold."

Carried?

A faint ache spread through my chest.

Ethan used to carry me, too.

During our sophomore year, a massive blizzard hit the campus. The snow was knee-deep, and classes were canceled.

I had a fever of 104 degrees. My roommates were panicking, trying to cool me down with frozen towels, crying because they didn't know what to do.

It was Ethan who broke into the girls' dorm, picked me up, and carried me on his back to the campus hospital three miles away.

Through my hazy consciousness, I remembered how he was shivering, slipping and falling in the snow over and over again.

But I was warm. I didn't feel the wind at all.

Because he had taken off his only heavy winter coat to wrap around me. In the end, he suffered severe exhaustion and frostbite.

Back then, his love was so real that even the freezing blizzard couldn't hide it.

The driver shook his head in disbelief after hearing my story.

"How does a guy go from that to... this?"

I stared out the window in silence.

I didn't know.

Or maybe, I did. He changed the moment Lily came back to the country.

The first time he lost his temper and shattered our matching couple cups was because of Lily.

The first time he left me stranded at my office in the middle of a thunderstorm until midnight was because he went to pick up Lily.

The first time I had to undergo surgery, he was at an amusement park riding roller coasters with Lily.

Ever since Lily announced she was anti-marriage, Ethan seemed to find the perfect excuse to openly show her favoritism.

Countless "first times," countless compromises. They all piled up until, before I knew it, we ended up here.

When I left the Snapchat group, Ethan sent me a single question mark.

And then, nothing.

To him, this was just another one of my silent protests.

He believed that in no time, I would crawl back, apologize, and beg for his forgiveness.

But this time, I was truly exhausted.