Chapter 5

When I found them, they were still grinning at their phones.

Of course they were.

The whole internet was busy envying this perfect fairy-tale couple.

Each step I took felt heavier than the last.

Ethan spotted me first.

He pressed a quick kiss to Autumn's forehead, then walked over to me fast and grabbed my arm, pulling me outside.

"Let me explain."

His voice was calm.

Like this was a minor inconvenience that could simply be smoothed over.

"Explain? Explain what, exactly?"

"My boyfriend chose the day we were supposed to register to go public with another woman. And I am supposed to celebrate that?"

I told myself I could hold my ground.

But the moment I opened my mouth, the tears came anyway.

Seven years together. How did it end up like this?

Ethan glanced at me.

His brow furrowed immediately.

"Why would you not celebrate? You are her editor. You get a bonus out of this too."

"I am just playing the role of her boyfriend temporarily."

Temporarily. Again with temporarily.

I had heard that word from him so many times. I was done.

"And if the story gets to a wedding and a baby, are you going to help her with that too—"

"That is enough!"

He cut me off before I could finish.

When I looked at him again, he had turned into someone I did not recognize.

His face was full of impatience.

Like I was the one who had done something wrong.

"Ava, when did you get so petty?"

"Autumn's dream since she was a little girl was to be a famous manga artist. I just want to help her make that happen. What is wrong with that?"

He pressed a hand to his forehead and started pacing.

Then he let out a long breath, like he was making a decision.

He turned and looked at me.

"Ava, there is something you should know. When you got into that graduate program years ago, I was the one who turned it down on your behalf. Then I introduced you to this company specifically so you would become Autumn's editor."

"We have come this far. Let us just see it through. Help Autumn reach her dream first."

"After that, we can get back to our own plans. Okay?"

Ethan's voice had gone flat and even.

But to me, it hit like a lightning strike out of a clear sky.

I could not process what he had said. I almost could not understand the words.

Back then, when I thought I had not gotten in, I had cried until I could not breathe. Ethan had held me in his arms and told me gently that there was still so much road ahead.

And now he was telling me it was all his doing.

So what did that make me?

Even my own dream had to give way to Autumn.

The memory of that breakdown came flooding back.

Standing in front of him, I felt my chest fill with something burning.

I raised my hand and slapped him as hard as I could.

He did not move.

He let me take out everything I had.

Until my arm was too heavy to lift and I slid against the wall, crying until I had nothing left.

"Feel better?"

"Good. Now go back to work. The next issue needs to go out early."