Suddenly, I saw a vision of the future.
Ethan, thinking he’d just made a mistake after
drinking too much, would marry me out of
obligation.
But it wouldn’t be long before he found out
what I’d done, and then he’d hate me, and our
<
life would become a nightmare.
And then, during a fight, he’d push me down
the stairs, and I’d be paralyzed for life.
Sarah would never get married, and then
she’d die in a car accident during a trip.
The day Sarah died, Ethan would go crazy.
And I’d be left alone, sick and helpless, to die
in my bed.
Only *then* would I find out that this world
was a messed up story.
Just because I was jealous, everyone would
lose. No one would get a happy ending.
“What are you thinking about? You gonna
“What are you thinking about? You gonna
zone out at a time like this?”
Ethan’s hoarse voice snapped me back to
reality.
His heavy breath ghosted over my ear.
I touched his cheek and started to cry.
His eyes were so beautiful, but the person he
really saw wasn’t me.
The desire drained out of him.
“Why are you crying? Don’t you… don’t you
like me?”
I loved him.
Г
I loved him to my core.
I might not be a saint, but I didn’t want
everyone to die!
“Ethan, I’m sorry, I changed my mind. I can’t,
let’s not do this…”
Ethan looked lost, but then something inside
him seemed to break.
Sarah came home just as I was struggling.
Not just Sarah, but Ethan’s friend, Mark, too.
They thought Ethan was forcing me, and
Mark yelled, “What the hell!” before pulling
Ethan away.
Sarah even grabbed a broom and started
L
Sarah even grabbed a broom and started
hitting Ethan with it.
It was chaos, and in that moment, I realized
how wrong I’d been.
“It wasn’t Ethan’s fault. It was me.”
I told them everything.
Everyone went silent, staring at me like they
didn’t even know me.
Mark pointed a finger at my face. “You broke
the law! You know that?”
“I know, and I’m ready to face the music.”
Finally, Ethan stepped in front of me. “She’s
just a kid, messing around. Don’t make a big
Г
“How can you still defend her? She’s twenty-
two years old! She’s not a kid anymore!”
I looked at Ethan, tears streaming down my
face.
I wanted to take Ethan to the hospital.
But the second my hand touched his arm, he
pulled away.
Sarah sighed. “I’ll take him. You stay here and
think about what you’ve done.”
Suddenly, I understood what Sarah meant
when she said, “Everyone loves me.”
This was what it felt like when someone didn’t
really care.
L
From that moment on, I was going to pay for
what I’d done.
Everyone knew I had a sick obsession with
Ethan and drugged him.
I sent him tons of apologies and bought him.
gifts, asking Sarah to give them to him.
A few days later, he texted me back.
“I’m not mad. If you like someone, you can
just say it. You don’t have to do something
like that.”
But when I got that message, I was already on
a train to Chicago.
“Thank you, and I’m sorry. But don’t worry, I
<
won’t try to force you to like me anymore.”
After I sent it, I broke my SIM card in half and
switched to a new one.
Before I left, I told Sarah she could text me,
but not to say anything about Ethan.
I didn’t want to be the evil villain anymore.
I needed a fresh start.
I got a full–time job after my internship and
somehow managed to get a foothold in the
big city.
