When He Loved Me Most, I Broke Up

Today marked the fifth year Ethan Mills and I had been together. I stared at the messages on my phone, one from Ethan just now, another from Evelyn Rose an hour earlier. Honestly, I couldn't tell if I felt more heartbroken or just... done. I tapped on Ethan's voice message. The apartment was dim except for a single floor lamp glowing beside the window. Outside, the city lights blurred together in the traffic below. "Baby, I got your gift ready. Lucas is bringing it over for me. I'm sorry, babe, work's a mess tonight and I can't get away. I'll make it up to you tomorrow, I promise." If I hadn't already seen the picture Evelyn sent me, the one where she stood beside a three-tier birthday cake with Ethan right next to her, smiling like the perfect boyfriend, maybe I would've replied with something sweet. Something like, "It's okay, focus on work." I wasn't in the mood to lie to myself anymore. The truth was, Ethan never had to lie to me. If he'd just told me he wanted to spend Evelyn's birthday with her, I probably would've let him go. Actually, I always would've. He was the one refusing to let me leave. Yet somehow, in Evelyn's eyes, I was the pathetic girl who couldn't move on. A knock sounded at the door. Probably Lucas Ford. I turned to answer it, but my leg gave out halfway there and I nearly hit the floor. I caught myself against the couch armrest, breathing hard before slowly limping toward the door. Evelyn was right about one thing. I was damaged goods. A cripple who couldn't even stand too long without pain. Lucas only knocked once. He never rushed me. He knew about my leg, and unlike most people, he had enough manners not to make me feel worse about it. When I opened the door, Lucas stood there in a dark brown trench coat, holding a cake box and an expensive-looking shopping bag. I stepped aside to let him in. After setting everything on the coffee table, he glanced around at the dim lighting and frowned slightly. "You probably shouldn't keep the apartment this dark when you're home alone," he said softly. "Makes things harder for you." He didn't say it outright, but I understood. A stubborn disabled woman too proud to use a cane probably should be more careful. Besides Ethan, Lucas was the only person who truly knew how hard I'd fought during rehab just to stand again. How many painful months it took before I could walk slowly enough that people barely noticed the limp. "Ethan had some company stuff tonight..." I cut him off immediately. "You don't have to cover for him. I already know." Lucas visibly relaxed. Honestly, lying was never his thing. Ethan was the one who dragged him into this mess. He awkwardly started untying the ribbon around the cake box. "So... you found out?" I nodded and sat down on the couch. "Ms. Rose was thoughtful enough to send me an entire photo set. Kinda hard to miss." Lucas went quiet. He lowered the cake box onto the floor, silent for a long moment before finally speaking again. "You know Ethan doesn't really have a choice."