I Hate My Life

Amber

I find myself staring into familiar eyes. It’s Liam—my high school sweetheart whom I thought I was never going to see again. Am I hallucinating?

For a second, I wonder if I’m dreaming, but he seems just as real. The same look of surprise mirrors on his face, and then he says my name, his voice warm and steady. Just as I remembered it to be.

“Amber?” His voice is filled with shock.

“Liam?”

“Are you alright?" he asks, his voice laced with concern.

I nod, still shaken, suddenly aware of where we are. People are starting to look, glancing curiously at us. I step away from his hold, my heart fluttering. The last thing I want is for Dan to see us like this.

“Liam… is it really you?” I ask, breathless.

He chuckles, that same charming smile spreading across his face. "In the flesh and blood," he replies.

“You’re the last person I expected to see here,” I can’t help but smile, seeing him after such a long time is a pleasant surprise.

He nods. “Me too. I just moved back to the city. Just bought over some fleet of hotels here, so I'll be around for a while to put things in order.”

It takes me a moment to absorb his words. He’s back in the city. Liam is no longer the lanky teenager I remember. He's grown, matured, his face defined by a chiseled jaw that looks like it could cut through ice. His broad shoulders fill out his perfectly tailored suit, and there’s a quiet power in his stance, an ease in the way he looks at me that makes me feel seen.

His eyes, still warm and inviting, and his smile—that same effortless charm—unlock memories I thought I’d long forgotten.

“I take it that you’re now in charge of Gray Enterprise?”

“Now the CEO,” he says with a smile. “It’s so good to see you, Amber, How have you been?”

I’m about to say something, but a hand on my shoulder pulls me back to reality. I turn to see Dan, his expression taut. He glances at Liam, who  with his broad frame and easy confidence, makes Dan seem almost diminutive in comparison.Dan’s eyes narrows slightly, as he plants a firm, possessive kiss on my cheek.

“Amber, darling,” he murmurs with a forced smile, “who’s your friend?”

My voice is barely a whisper as I introduce them. "Dan, this is Liam... we went to high school together. Liam, my husband, Dan."

Liam extends a hand, but Dan only acknowledges it with a cursory nod, his grip tightening on my arm. "Nice to meet you, Liam," he says coolly before pulling me away.

He lowers his voice just enough for only me to hear, his words like ice against my skin. “Do I need to remind you of your place, Amber? You should be chatting with the women, not the men.”

“Dan, I was just—”

He silences me with a hard stare. “Don’t you dare embarrass me.”

I press my lips together, swallowing down any response as he steers me away from Liam. My heart sinks as I glance back, catching one last glimpse of Liam before the crowd swallows him up.

The rest of the evening, Dan keeps me firmly by his side, like an accessory to be displayed, not a person. I nod, I smile, and I laugh in all the right places, but my thoughts keep drifting back to Liam. I never saw Liam again for the rest of the night; it was like he was never there.

As we head home, my mind drifts back to that moment I looked into Liam’s eyes and felt the ghost of the girl I used to be—the girl who believed in love, in happiness, in a future free of regrets. That girl feels like a distant memory now.

I wonder what life would have been like if Liam and I had made it. We were so deeply in love once, even crowned prom king and queen during our senior year. But everything changed when Liam’s father sent him abroad to study, and I went off to college.

Liam was the sole heir to Gray Empire, and whenever he wasn’t studying, he was busy learning to run the family business. The time difference and constant demands on him began to strain our relationship. We barely visited each other because our schedules were different. Our conversations turned to arguments, and eventually, we both agreed it was best to let go and move on.

At the time, it seemed like the right decision. Not long after, I met Dan, and life took a different path. But looking back now, I wish we had found a way to solve the issues we were having and not broken up.

As soon as we step inside the house, Dan’s hand clamps around my arm, yanking me so hard that pain shoots through my shoulder. His face twists in a cold, calculated anger.

“I remember that name now,” he sneers, his voice low and dangerous. “Liam. Wasn’t he your high school sweetheart?”

I swallow, trying to steady my voice, but I can only manage a shaky, “Y-yes.”

His grip tightens painfully, his fingers digging into my skin. “So what, Amber? Are you cheating on me now?” he spits, his gaze sharp and accusing.

“No,” I reply quickly, my head shaking in desperation. “No, I would never—”

But he doesn’t let me finish. His grip moves from my arm to my chin, pressing hard enough that I feel his nails bite into my skin. “You invited him there to make a fool out of me, didn’t you?”

“No,” I gasp, my voice barely above a whisper. “I swear, I didn’t. I didn’t even know he was back in the city. We just happened to run into each other. Dan, please, you have to believe me.”

He leans closer, his breath hot against my cheek. “If I ever even think you’re cheating on me,” he hisses, his voice a menacing whisper, “I’ll kill you, Amber. Do you understand?”

Numb with fear, I manage a small nod, feeling the pressure of his fingers release only as he finally lets go, leaving me standing there, trembling.

I hate my life.