Chapter 2

Ethan kissed my lips. “I can. It’s what I owe

vou.”

<

That day, he flew to be with Lily.

And I, a few days later, met Kai.

In the best hospital in the country, the best

experts were treating him.

Soon, his memory returned, and he

remembered me.

Kai was injured and lost his memory while

saving a child in a bombing zone.

When he woke up, he hugged me

immediately. A gentle voice echoed in my ear,

“I was gone for ten years, and I made you

suffer.”

My tears immediately flowed.

My empty heart was quietly filled.

Kai and I missed ten years, we didn’t want to

miss another ten.

We got engaged soon.

Kai also asked me if I had fallen in love with

someone else in those ten years, not to make

an impulsive decision that I would regret.

Ethan’s face vaguely flashed in my mind.

But it quickly disappeared.

I shook my head and smiled, saying no.

I stroked the scars Kai got saving a child in

the war zone, and repeated, “No.”

Before Kai asked me, I had a few dreams,

and Ethan was in them.

In my dreams, Ethan sneered at me, telling

me not to get any ideas.

My heart still ached.

But as time went on, I no longer dreamed of

Ethan.

Those six years seemed to have vanished

with the wind.

Zoe, my best friend, would sometimes ask me

if I still thought of Ethan.

I was silent for a few seconds, shaking my

head.

“I hope he and Lily can be together,” I said,

“It’s best for both of them to forget each

Г

other.”

At least I had honestly and completely

forgotten him.

But a few days later, when Kai and I were

having dinner, we ran into Ethan’s classmate.

He greeted us from afar. “Hey man, you’re

back in the country, why didn’t you call-”

He stopped a few steps away, looking

shocked.

Kai was very similar to Ethan, but he had a

scar on his brow from the war zone.

Their temperament was completely different;

he didn’t have Ethan’s frivolous and spoiled

air.

He was more hardened and composed.

The classmate looked at Kai, then looked at

me with suspicion. “Lauren, this-”

He thought for a moment. “Did you put Ethan

in the friend zone?”

I shook my head. “We broke up.”

く

The classmate was even more surprised.

“Didn’t Ethan say you were still waiting for

him…?”

I interrupted him. “This is my fiancé, we’re

getting married soon.”

He was stunned.

Looking at Kai and me holding hands tightly,

he turned and hurried away, making a phone

call as he walked.

I looked up to explain to Kai, but before I

could speak, Kai smiled. “It’s all in the past,

why mention it?”

He helped me arrange my hair. “I can’t expect

you to wait for ten years just because I

disappeared for ten years.”

My eyes welled up, suddenly feeling

overwhelmed with grievances.

The three years when I couldn’t find Kai, I

waited by the phone every day.

My phone was on 24/7; I would jump at every

unknown call.

In the first year, I hoped to receive a call

telling me that Kai was only injured and would

be back soon.

In the second year, I hoped someone would

tell me Kai was still alive.

In the third year, I started to fear the phone,

yet I had to answer it.

When Ethan appeared, I was officially

diagnosed with severe anxiety and panic

disorder.

His face was the last straw keeping me alive.

Being a backup for Ethan wasn’t easy, but I

couldn’t leave that face.

Only by looking at him could I have the

strength to live.

So whether I loved Ethan, I didn’t know.

But I was grateful to him, so grateful that

even though everyone laughed at me for

being a backup, I still accepted it.

For me, those six years, Ethan was a good

man, a good man who saved me from a

desperate situation.

I thought my impression on him would be

good, at least I’d be considered sensible.

But I didn’t expect him to grit his teeth and

call me a liar.

The copyright of this content belongs to

“realnovel“.

Chapter 2

Ethan’s call came late at night.

I got up quietly, not wanting to wake Kai.

I thought he was coming to get his things, but

as soon as I answered, he snarled, his voice

like he wanted to bite me to pieces, spitting

out two words through gritted teeth: “Liar.”

His voice was hoarse and low. “Lauren, you’re

a liar.

You said he was your aunt’s son, you lied to

me!”

<

1

He wasn’t his usual flippant, spoiled self.

He was barely containing his rage, a hint of

hurt in his voice.

Childlike hurt.

I lowered my head and sighed. “I’m sorry.”

I apologized effortlessly.

That’s how I apologized to him for six years.

For many reasons.

Like, not staring at him in front of Lily, it

made Lily unhappy.

Like, not trying to hold his hand in front of

Lily’s friends.

Like, not calling him when he was having

dinner with Lily.

Every time, I apologized, staring at his face,

meekly saying I was sorry.

At first, Ethan would hesitantly pat my head,

like a child. “Just try to be better next time.”

Later, he’d hold his chin, smiling at me.

“You’re so cute when you apologize.”

Then, he stopped making so many rules for

1. me.

But my habit of apologizing hadn’t changed,

it came out immediately: “I’m sorry.”

Ethan paused, then gritted his teeth. “This

apology doesn’t work. Lauren, I’m really

angry.

I should’ve let your boyfriend stay in the

warzone his whole life, why did I come all the

way back here to wear a green hat myself!”

My face turned cold.

He seemed oblivious, continuing to question

1. me. “Did he touch you?

Lauren, answer me, did he touch you!”

I interrupted his agitated voice. “Ethan, stop

talking about him like that. He’s important to

me.”

There was silence on the other end.

After a while, I heard something break.

Ethan gritted his teeth, smiling word by word.

<

“Lauren, you’ve never said I’m important to

you.”

He said, “Remember, I didn’t tell you to leave,

you’re still mine.”

“I’m not yours,” I frowned, correcting him.

“From the moment you went to America to

find Lily, we were over.”

Ethan was silent for a moment, then softly

asked, “So you’re getting back at me, right?”

He seemed more certain. “You’re with him

because you’re angry at me, right? If I gave

you a chance to regret-”

I frowned even more. “Ethan, stop it. You and

Lily are finally together, just be happy.”

Ethan didn’t speak.

His breathing was low and rapid.

After a while, he said nothing and hung up.

I listened to the busy tone and sighed.

Ethan hadn’t changed.

Whenever Lily was mentioned, his rationality

returned.

Before, when he was drunk, he would call me

in the middle of the night to pick him up.

I ran out in my pajamas and a coat, picking

him up at the bar, drunk.

In the cold weather, my hands were stiff with

cold, but he didn’t want to go home.

His friend couldn’t do anything, apologizing to

me, then video calling Lily. “Let Lily see what

a mess you are.”

Ethan suddenly straightened up, sober as if

he hadn’t drunk anything, opening the car

door and getting in.

His friend and I stood outside the car, staring

at each other. His friend’s face was a mixture

of embarrassment and sympathy. “Sorry, I

really couldn’t do anything, only Lily can make

him listen.”

I shook my head. “It’s okay, I don’t mind.”

That day, I made Ethan hangover soup, taking

く

care of him all night without sleep.