Chapter 2
818 Words
Ella believed her life had been given to her by Connor. That was why she had worked so hard to become his most skilled and irreplaceable navigator. They had once shared a bond forged through life‑and‑death moments. She had thought it would be enough to simply stand quietly by his side forever.
Yet because of some absurd old belief that their fates were perfectly matched, he had been pressured into marrying her. From that day onward, he had grown to resent her completely. So she made another vow to herself. She would give him one hundred chances. The moment those chances ran out, she would walk away for good.
Heavy rain poured down deep into the night. When she went to close the windows, she noticed Connor was not home. He had most likely gone to stay with Lily again.
She still remembered clearly just last week. She had suffered a severe allergic reaction and could barely breathe. Yet Connor had left her all alone in the house, just to rush over and comfort Lily, who was terrified of thunderstorms.
Her phone suddenly rang. When she answered, what met her ears were soft, breathless moans, along with the muffled sound of a man’s heavy breathing.
"Ahh… Ella, tomorrow is our one‑month anniversary party. Would you mind if we spent it at your place?" a sweet voice teased through the line.
"You would be better off spending it in hell," Ella whispered. Her fingertips turned pale white from how tightly she gripped the device. She ended the call abruptly, and a sharp, heavy pain spread across her chest.
She did not sleep a wink the entire night.
"Good morning, sister." Lily stood blocking the doorway, her arm linked firmly through Connor’s.
Connor stepped forward and held Ella back gently. "Ella, just behave. Do not make things difficult for me."
Ella met his gaze calmly for a long moment. Then she stepped aside to let them pass. Her voice came out rough and hoarse when she finally spoke, "Does humiliating me like this finally make you happy?"
Connor said nothing in reply.
All the guests that arrived were Connor’s oldest and closest friends. He wrapped an arm protectively around Lily’s waist. "Go ahead and greet everyone. They are my friends."
The group glanced briefly toward Ella, but almost instantly turned their full attention back to Lily and fell into lively conversation with her.
"Wait a minute. I heard you and Ella grew up together," Lily said, pressing herself closer against Connor’s chest and pretending to be upset. "A navigator and a champion race car driver. That sounds like such a romantic story."
Connor took her hand in his own and brushed a light kiss across her fingertips. "Do not talk nonsense. I never imagined I would end up tied to her like this."
"If you could go back to that day all over again," one friend teased, "would you still stop and save her?"
Connor let out a short, helpless laugh. "My dear little darling. If I had known what would happen later, I would have just let her freeze to death on that sidewalk."
Ella had truly believed she had grown immune to such words. Yet hearing them again, she felt as if she had been plunged straight into an icy lake. Her eyes burned and her throat tightened. What she had always cherished as a debt of gratitude and a bond of salvation was nothing more than a burden Connor wished he could have avoided forever.
The mocking remarks did not stop there.
"How dare someone who cannot even walk properly claim to be married to Connor? She has repaid kindness with nothing but trouble," someone sneered.
"I have met women exactly like her many times before," Lily added in a soft, sweet tone laced with contempt. "They do not truly love anyone. They just latch onto any successful man they find and refuse to let go."
Suddenly, Connor spoke up. His voice turned cold and sharp enough to cut, "That is enough, Lily. Know your limits."
"Connor, why are you speaking to me in such a harsh tone?" Lily’s eyes instantly glistened with tears, and she put on a look of deep hurt.
Seeing the tension rise, one friend quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "Hey now, let us not argue. Come on. Let us play truth or dare. Ella, you join us too."
They spun an empty bottle on the table. After slowing to a stop, the neck pointed directly toward Ella.
"What is the deepest secret you keep hidden in your heart?" the person asked loudly.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ella noticed Connor lift his head at once, his gaze fixed intently upon her.
She paused for a moment, then spoke clearly and steadily, "The biggest secret I hold is that I am leaving soon."
- Writer
