01 - WHEN EVERYTHING FALLS APART

POV: LAUREN

It was a cold and rainy night. I had spent the entire day planning something special for Ethan and me. After so many days of him seeming distant and indifferent, I thought maybe a thoughtfully prepared dinner could help us reconnect. I made his favorite dish and set the table perfectly, with candles and flowers. The aroma of the roast still filled the house when I heard the front door open.

“Ethan?” I called out excitedly as I walked out of the kitchen.

He entered without even glancing at me. He took off his wet coat and threw it over the back of the sofa, heading straight for the stairs. Furthermore, he looked exhausted but also detached, as if being home was a burden.

“You’re home earlier today. I made dinner. I thought we could eat together,” I said, my tone hopeful.

Ethan stopped in the middle of the room, finally looking at me with his deep-set eyes and raised chin. His expression was filled with disinterest as he wrinkled his nose.

“I already ate. I had a long meeting, and I’m not in the mood for anything. I’m going upstairs,” he replied coldly.

“Please, Ethan. Just tonight. We hardly spend any time together. I feel like.” I started, trying to take his hand.

“LAUREN, I said no. Why do you always have to push?” he snapped, pulling his hand away as if my touch irritated him.

I shrank at his words, feeling the weight of his indifference. As he climbed the stairs, I decided not to let my hope fade so easily.

I went upstairs to our bedroom to try to talk to him again, but when I walked in, something caught my attention. The door to the wall safe was slightly ajar, and inside, there was a small velvet box. When I opened it, I found a delicate necklace with a diamond pendant. I frowned in confusion.

“Could this be a gift for me?” I thought, a flicker of hope sparking within me.

Our wedding anniversary was approaching, and despite his growing distance, I thought there might still be a trace of the man I once knew and deeply loved.

Without giving it much thought, I picked up the necklace and placed it around my neck. It was beautiful, resting perfectly against my skin. The sound of the bathroom door opening pulled me out of my thoughts. Ethan walked out with a towel draped over his shoulder, drying his hair. He was already dressed, and his eyes slid over me, stopping at my neck. As soon as he saw the necklace, his expression hardened into something I didn’t expect—anger.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he shouted, striding toward me with heavy steps.

“I… I thought it was a gift. It was here, and I just thought, ” I tried to explain, but he didn’t let me finish.

“You have no right to go through my things!” Ethan grabbed the necklace and yanked it off my neck with a sharp tug. The physical pain was minor compared to the humiliation I felt.

“Ethan, I didn’t mean to…” I began, but he was already grabbing his car keys.

“Where are you going?” I asked, my voice rising in desperation.

“You’re incapable of understanding anything, aren’t you? Leave me alone, LAUREN,” he shouted, his voice filled with contempt and fury.

He walked past me as if I didn’t exist. I ran after him, desperate to stop him from leaving like that.

“Ethan, please! I just wanted to.” My words died in my throat, crushed by the disdain in his cold, indifferent eyes.

“You’re unbearable, LAUREN. Always sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong,” he cut me off harshly, exasperated.

In desperation, I grabbed his arm before he could leave.

“Ethan, please! What’s happening to us? Why are you acting this way?” My voice trembled with the pain I felt.

He pulled away from me with disgust, his deep gaze flickering with what felt like pure hatred.

“Because you will never be able to give me what I want the most!” he spat, his words stabbing into my chest like daggers.

“What?” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “What do you mean by that? I love you, Ethan. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

He let out a bitter laugh, turning with clear irritation in his eyes, and shoved me forcefully. I lost my balance and fell onto the porch, landing hard. The impact reverberated through my entire body. Cold rain streamed down my face, the drops blending with the tears I couldn’t hold back. I looked up in disbelief, searching for an explanation—anything to justify his outburst, but all I received was his cold, disdainful stare.

“Love? You don’t get it, LAUREN. That was never enough,” he said cruelly, without a moment’s hesitation. He turned his back to me and added coldly over his shoulder, “You’ll never be enough for any man—with your barren womb. You can’t make anyone happy when you’re so incomplete.”

My whole body shook from the pain of every syllable he spoke. But before he could walk away, I got up and ran toward him. The rain poured heavily, soaking my body as I wrapped my arms around his waist, as if that desperate gesture could somehow stop everything from falling apart. My sobs were uncontrollable, and my words came out between hiccups, a plea as fragile as I felt at that moment.

“Ethan, and everything my family did for you? For your success?” I tightened my grip, as if that could make him remember the past we shared. “We helped you build your company and achieve everything you have. How can you just throw it all away? Ignore everything we were.”

I felt him disentangle my arms with ease, pushing me away. He turned to face me, and the look in his eyes wasn’t one of regret but something cold and distant. Then his hand rose, and before I could react, it came down with force. The sound of the slap echoed through the night, muffled only by the pounding rain.

My head snapped to the side from the impact, and a stinging pain spread across my face. Instinctively, I brought my hand to my cheek, disbelief written across my wide eyes as they met his.

“Ethan…” I whispered, trembling, unable to comprehend the man standing before me.

He stepped forward, and I instinctively took a step back, my body shaking with fear. His voice erupted again, filled with anger.

“Don’t ever say that to me or anyone else again!” he shouted, each word deliberately chosen to hurt me. His nostrils flared, and his face was etched with contempt. “Your family should thank me for taking the burden of someone like you off their shoulders.”

He cast me one final look, full of disdain, before turning his back and disappearing into the darkness. I stood there, frozen, the sound of the rain mixing with my sobs.

I stumbled back into the house, trembling and crying, my soaked clothes clinging to my body. The cold was nothing compared to the emptiness consuming me. I sank onto the couch, struggling to catch my breath as the pain in my chest threatened to suffocate me.

Suddenly, a wave of intense nausea hit me. I ran to the bathroom and vomited, my head spinning. I gripped the sink, panting, trying to steady myself. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I blamed the overwhelming emotions for my sickness. When I returned to the couch, I curled up, hugging myself tightly. Exhaustion overtook me, and I fell asleep there, waiting for him to come back.

I woke up to the morning light streaming through the curtains. The sound of a notification on my phone pulled me from my haze. I grabbed it quickly, hoping it was a message from Ethan—an explanation, maybe even an apology. But it wasn’t.

It was my best friend, Kate, who had sent me a message with photos. Her words appeared before the images, echoing like a warning: “Friend, you need to know the truth. He doesn’t deserve you, LAUREN.”

My heart raced as I opened the messages. There he was—Ethan, with another woman. The photos showed them at a bar—too close, too intimate. The betrayal was undeniable. I couldn’t breathe, and tears streamed down my face before I could stop them.

I gripped the phone tightly, squeezing it until my knuckles turned white, my hands trembling as the truth struck me like a brutal blow.

Ethan wasn’t just distant; he was destroying everything we had built.

Resentment consumed me, and my voice escaped in a choked scream:

“Who is this woman, Ethan? How could you betray me like this?”

But he wasn’t there to hear me. He was with his mistress!