My Cop Boyfriend Killed My Father

Chapter 4

Ethan's words struck me like a bolt of lightning.

I stared at him blankly, my voice trembling. "You want me to... apologize to her?"

"Yes," Ethan said.

Despite the blazing sun overhead, I felt a chilling cold seep into my bones.

The man standing before me looked no different from the young man I had first fallen for, yet he felt like a total stranger.

I wanted to speak, but my throat felt as if an invisible hand were squeezing it shut, choking back every sound.

Grace stepped in. "It's fine, Captain. You and Clara just broke up, so it's natural for her to be upset. Let's go."

Ethan nodded, brushing past me to get into the car.

As he walked by, I reached out to grab his arm, but he nimbly dodged my touch.

Slam!

The sound of the car door slamming shut sent a tremor through my chest, shattering the last of my courage to move forward.

I could only stand there, watching the white BMW speed away.

The gust of wind kicked up by the car washed over me, heavy and suffocating.

I stood barefoot on the gravel road. The sharp stones dug into my soles, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the agony tearing through my heart.

Under the scorching sun, I kept staring in that direction until the red taillights completely vanished from sight. Only then did I drag my stiff limbs back inside.

In the bathroom.

On the counter where our matching toothbrushes and cups used to sit side by side, only one set remained.

The towels, the bathrobes—everything was down to one.

My phone suddenly rang. It was my grandfather.

I picked it up, and my grandfather's hearty voice filled the line. "Clara, why don't you and Ethan come over for dinner after he gets off work? I caught a huge fish today, and I'm going to braise it for you guys!"

I didn't want to ruin his mood, but looking up, I saw my reflection in the mirror—eyes bloodshot, face deathly pale.

If he saw me like this, he would worry himself sick.

Clutching the phone a little tighter, I declined. "Ethan is out on a mission right now. We'll come over another day."

He sounded disappointed, but he didn't push and hung up.

I stood alone in the empty bathroom, my hands hanging limp at my sides. The silence was deafening, pooling around me like stagnant water, ready to drown me.

Desperate to escape, I turned and rushed out the door.

Club Four.

Out on the dance floor, I swayed to the pounding, chaotic beat.

My friend's voice shouted over the music in my ear. "Finally, you're out having fun! Honestly, dating Ethan was like joining a convent!"

I didn't reply, my mind drifting back over the three years I had spent with him.

Because of his job, he had no vices—he didn't smoke, drink, or even wear cologne. Every time I hugged him, all I could smell was the clean scent of soap on his skin.

It was nothing like this place, packed with people desperately trying to lose themselves. The air was a suffocating mix of cheap perfume, stale alcohol, and cigarette smoke.

The flashing, multicolored lights were dizzying, yet my mind remained painfully sharp.

"Ethan is practically a saint. I'm not like him. I'm just an ordinary, flawed human being."

Perhaps the self-loathing in my voice was too obvious, because my friend frowned. "Did something happen? Clara, your depression just started getting better. Don't go doing something stupid!"

When I was six, my mother died in an accident. When I was twelve, my father abandoned me with my grandfather and vanished without a trace.

I had struggled with depression ever since. It flared up severely during college, and I had nearly died in my dorm room.

That was when my friend first found out about my condition.

I gave her a reassuring smile, ultimately deciding not to mention the breakup.

She wasn't convinced and opened her mouth to press further, but the music abruptly cut out, and the bright house lights slammed on.

In an instant, every face in the room was exposed in the harsh light.

"Police raid! Nobody move!"

That familiar, crisp male voice rang out. I instinctively looked up at the DJ booth and saw Ethan standing there in full uniform.

The silver epaulets on his shoulders gleamed.