Against all odds (anchored by you)

chapter 2 : the breakdown

(Amelia’s POV)

“I don’t get it.” Ethan’s voice cracked, thick with disbelief, confusion splintering through every word.

His knuckles whitened as his chained hands clenched into fists.

“Break up? What’s that supposed to mean?”

The cold, sterile air of the prison’s visiting room pressed in around us, heavy and suffocating. I clenched my own hands into tight fists beneath the cold, metal table, trying to stop them from shaking. Every word I was about to say tasted like acid on my tongue, bitter and corrosive, but I had to say them. I had to. There was no turning back now.

“Ethan…” His name caught in my throat.

I swallowed hard, forcing the lump down, but it still ached, lodged deep in my chest. “Let’s not lie to ourselves anymore. This… this isn’t going to work. Five years, Ethan. Five years of my life.., I can’t waste them waiting for you.”

His eyes widened, pure disbelief flashing across his face. The chains on his wrists rattled as he jerked forward, desperation pouring out of him. “Amelia, you’re not serious right now. You can’t be—”

“I am serious!” I snapped, though my heart twisted painfully inside my chest. The words cut through the air like blades, sharper than I intended, but I needed him to believe it. To believe I was done.

“I’m still young, Ethan! I’m out here, trying to survive, and you…” I gestured helplessly at the jumpsuit he wore, the prison walls around us. “You’re stuck here. Do you really think anyone’s going to hire an ex-convict when you get out? Do you even know when you’ll get your life together? How long am I supposed to wait?”

I could see it, the slow, crushing weight of my words sinking into him. His face paled, his jaw tensed, but he kept his gaze locked on me, pleading, hoping.

“I can’t do this,” I whispered, my voice trembling now, the cracks showing despite my best efforts.

“I can’t sit around waiting for something that may never happen. I need more than this… more than empty promises.”

His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, fighting back tears. “But I love you, Amelia. Isn’t that enough? Haven’t I shown you how much you mean to me?”

I closed my eyes, trying to block out the way his voice trembled, the pain laced in every word. It would’ve been so easy to give in, to let the love I still felt overpower my fear. But I couldn’t. I had to protect myself.

“I need more than love,” I said, forcing my voice to harden. “I need stability. A future. Someone who can actually give me the life I want.”

And then I dropped the final blow.

“Rex.”

His face twisted, as if I’d physically slapped him. “What?”

I forced myself to look him in the eye, even though my vision blurred with tears. “Rex, someone I met, has been asking me out for months. He’s offering me everything I ever dreamed of, a stable life, a future, something real. I can’t say no to that anymore.”

I saw the exact moment my words broke him. His shoulders sagged, his hands trembled, and his face crumpled under the weight of it all. But it was his eyes, the sheer agony in them, that nearly shattered me.

“Amelia…” His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. “This isn’t you. You’ve never cared about money or status. That’s not who you are. None of that ever mattered to you. Please…” His eyes glistened with tears, raw and pleading.

“Please just tell me what’s really going on.”

I bit my bottom lip so hard I tasted blood, my heart tearing apart inside my chest.

But I said nothing.

Because if I told him the truth, if I let him see the real reason behind this, it would only hurt more. And I couldn’t bear that.

I stood up, my legs trembling so violently I wasn’t sure they would hold me. The cold, hard chair screeched against the tiled floor as I pushed it back. My hands, clammy and shaking, fisted at my sides, but I forced myself to look at him one last time.

Ethan.

His face was etched with heartbreak, eyes wide, shimmering with tears he hadn’t let fall yet, lips slightly parted as if still trying to form the words that would stop me. His shoulders slumped forward, defeated, the chains on his wrists pulling taut as he leaned closer, like even the distance between us was too much to bear.

I tried to memorize him at that moment, the mess of emotions in his eyes, the raw pain on his face. I wanted to hold onto it. To never forget how much this hurt.

“Goodbye, Ethan.”

My voice broke on the last word, splintering under the weight of it.

“No!” His shout echoed through the cold, sterile room, bouncing off the walls with brutal force. “Amelia, no! Please! Don’t do this!”

The guards moved in, grabbing him as he lunged forward, panic and desperation pouring out of him. The chains on his wrists rattled violently as he struggled, trying to reach for me, but the police officer shoved him back, locking him in place.

“Amelia! Amelia, please!”

His voice was raw, hoarse, filled with the kind of pain that dug deep and stayed there. It pierced right through me, like shards of glass slicing into my chest.

But I didn’t turn back.

I couldn’t.

If I did, I knew I’d break.

My vision blurred with tears. I refused to let fall as I walked away, each step heavier than the last. His voice still echoed behind me, growing fainter with every passing second, but the ache in my chest only grew.

I stepped into the hallway, the air colder here, sharper somehow, as if it knew the weight of what I’d just done. My breath came in shallow gasps, my chest tight, my hands still trembling.

And that’s when I saw him.

Charles Montgomery.

Ethan’s father.

He stood tall, perfectly composed, dressed in an immaculate tailored suit that probably cost more than my rent for a year. Not a hair out of place, his silver tie pin gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lights. His face, however, was as cold and unreadable as ever, stone-like, emotionless.

He moved toward me, each step deliberate, the polished soles of his shoes making soft but distinct taps against the tiled floor. The sound echoed, matching the rhythm of my racing heart.

I wanted to run. To scream. To undo all of this.

But I didn’t.

I stood my ground, even as my legs wobbled beneath me.

“Is it done?” His voice was flat, stripped of any emotion, like this was just another business transaction to him.

I hesitated, my throat tightening. The words lodged there, refusing to come out. But then I nodded, swallowing down the bile that rose.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

He didn’t even flinch. Didn’t ask how Ethan had taken it. Didn’t care that I felt like my heart had just been torn apart.

Charles reached into his coat pocket, pulling out his phone with a smooth, calculated movement. He tapped the screen, his expression never wavering.

“The money’s been wired to your account.” He slipped the phone back into his pocket, his cold eyes meeting mine. “You can leave now.”

I stared at him, my stomach twisting in knots.

I had known this would be his reaction. I knew he wouldn’t care. But still…

“I didn’t ask for your money,” I whispered, my voice trembling with rage and regret.

His face didn’t change. He was as detached as ever.

“I want what you promised,” I snapped. “You said you’d clear Ethan’s name. You said you’d get him released. That was the deal.”

His cold gaze settled on me for a moment, before he gave me a curt nod. “It’ll be done.”

I clenched my jaw, tears stinging my eyes. “He didn’t deserve this. You didn’t have to—”

“I did what was necessary,” Charles cut in sharply, his voice low but firm. “You agreed to this. You made your choice.”

I bit down hard on my bottom lip, my nails digging into my palms to keep from breaking down in front of him.

“I did it to protect him,” I spat, my voice cracking.

Charles raised an eyebrow, the faintest trace of something, contempt, maybe, crossing his face. “If that helps you sleep at night.”

And with that, he turned away, walking down the hall as if none of this had happened.

I stood there, alone, my chest hollow and aching, Ethan’s screams still echoing in my mind.

I had made my choice.

But I had lost everything in the process.

(Ethan’s POV)

The metal door slammed behind me as they dragged me back into the cell. The coldness of the place had never felt more suffocating.

I sank onto the hard bench, my hands still cuffed, but that wasn’t what made me feel trapped. No, it was the words she left me with.

“Goodbye, Ethan.”

I replayed it over and over again, each time stabbing deeper into my chest.

She left me.

She left me.

The girl I loved more than anything, the one I threw away my freedom for… she just walked away.

I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, my head in my hands as everything inside me caved in.

Why?

I saved her. I risked everything for her. I would have done it again, ten times over.

But now I was here, caged in the four cold walls of this cell, because of her.

Tears welled up before I could stop them, burning hot as they slid down my cheeks. I gritted my teeth, trying to hold it together, but the pain was too much.

“This… this isn’t real,” I whispered to no one.

But it was.

I slammed my fist against the wall, feeling the sting in my knuckles but needing the pain. I wanted it. It was better than the emptiness in my chest.

I sobbed, deep, raw, uncontrollable.

She was gone.

And I had nothing left.