Chapter 2

Vera was Ethan's very first "one-month girlfriend." Their relationship only lasted 27 days.

She got pulled into our breakup game without knowing the rules. When she finally learned the truth, she was pretty upset.

Ethan brought her into our circle, trying to make it up to her.

After all these years, that once-invisible small-town girl had blossomed into someone truly captivating—elegant, confident, and impossible to ignore.

I raised my glass to her. "I didn't wish for anything."

Andy Zane walked by, belting out "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," waggling his eyebrows.

He teased, "Hazel, I bet you wished Ethan wouldn't get swept away by some flirty girl and would end up back in your arms after a month, right?"

Vera shooed him off, then turned back to me. "If he's out there flirting with someone else, you should be too. Why make yourself miserable? You're the main character here. No way you should be stuck in some sad drama."

I smiled, leaned in, and whispered in her ear, "Put your money on us staying apart. Trust me. It's a guaranteed win."

Vera's eyes popped open in shock.

Before she could ask anything, cheers exploded in the room again. Andy grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the commotion.

"Whoa, check it out!" someone shouted.

The spotlight hit Ethan, who was spinning a girl around the floor, his arm wrapped around her fine waist as they danced a Viennese Waltz.

They moved with elegance and focus, the chemistry between them unmistakably flirtatious.

"Ethan found someone new already? Five minutes in? Hazel, looks like you might lose him for real this time. Should I change my bet to you two staying apart?" someone joked.

"Hey, doesn't she look kind of familiar?" another person asked.

Wait, that was Sabrina Sparks—no wonder she looked so familiar.

Last year, she was the girl with Ethan after we broke up, too.

Sabrina and I couldn't be more different. She was all fire and heat.

For me, a month was just four weeks of the same old routine—Ethan, the cat, the dog, going out, having coffee, rinse and repeat.

But for her, it felt like an eternity.

She dragged Ethan along for every adrenaline-pumping adventure—diving, skydiving, you name it. The last stop was Snowpeak Ridge.

I was so worried I couldn't sleep. I called him over and over. He wouldn't pick up.

So I dropped everything and rushed day and night, finally catching up to them at the ridge.

"You have no experience. You can't climb a mountain like this," I said.

Ethan twirled his trekking pole, totally unfazed. "Sabrina will look out for me."

Sabrina didn't hold back. "Hazel, why are you meddling so much? You're just his ex, not his wife."

The wind and snow froze the words I wanted to say, leaving them stuck and aching in my throat.

As if I'd forgotten how to speak, I just stared at Ethan.

He avoided my gaze.

In silence, I stepped aside to let them pass. Sabrina's triumphant laugh pierced through her mask, hitting me like a slap.

As I headed down the mountain, I thought this was it. We were done for real. I was free.

But just ten minutes later, Ethan came running after me.

"Hazel, I'll listen to you. No more climbing, I promise," he said, giving in.

The two of us—complete newbies—leaned on each other, stumbling and slipping all the way back to base. When we finally made it, the place was a mess. People were running around, yelling, trying to organize a rescue.

"Sabrina was skiing off-piste up there and took a really bad spill," someone shouted.

Ethan's face instantly changed. He gave me a glare that could cut glass, then stormed back up the mountain.

He carried her down on a stretcher.

Her leg was broken, bent at a grotesque angle. She clung to my hand, crying, "Hazel, I'm not blaming you today, but you two are already over. Please, just let him go."

Everyone stared at me, their eyes full of contempt, disgust, and disdain. I was so mortified that I wished the ground would swallow me up.

After nine years together, I was the other woman.

The mountain messed up Ethan's lungs. Now he got this cough that just wouldn't go away.

After we got back down, he didn't care about himself at all. He waited on Sabrina hand and foot, even carried her to the shower himself. He wouldn't let her go through even the tiniest discomfort.

When Vera told him I was in the hospital with a persistent fever for no reason, he'd just finished helping Sabrina shower. Both of them were flushed, but his words were ice-cold. "Since when did she start faking being sick? Besides, she's got all of you. Sabrina's only got me."

For three months, everyone, including me, thought we were finally done.

The never-getting-back-together crowd was already popping champagne, ready to celebrate.

But then, all of a sudden, Ethan and Sabrina broke up for good, and he came right back to me.

Sabrina blocked the doorway, her face ashen. "Ethan, I can't live without you."

He told me to go home first. Said he'd handle it.

That night, he wrapped his arms around me, his breath burning against my ear. "Hazel, they say bones take time to heal. I just didn't want to owe Sabrina anything. This doesn't count as breaking our deal."

"You're the one that matters," he whispered.

I gazed out at the moonlit night, my voice steady. "Then let's get married."

He stayed silent, just rolled over, and went to sleep.