Chapter 1

It was 2:17 a.m. on the night before Match Day.

I stared at the screenshot on my phone, unable to calm down.

Ethan Black wrote: [Wanna bet? If Leah doesn't match with Krynden State Hospital tomorrow, we're officially over. There are two thousand dollars on the line. Who's in?]

More than a dozen people replied with emojis and said that they wanted to join in on the bet.

My nails pressed so hard into my palms that I could almost feel them cutting into my skin.

He said we would be officially over.

We were together for four years together. Ethan even promised to marry me. I couldn't believe that it was so easy for him to end this relationship.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. There were other interns in the on-call room. I couldn't afford to break down here.

I knew Ethan was waiting for me to do what I always did, which was blowing up his phone, begging him to delete the message, and humbly apologizing.

But this time, I was really tired.

I quietly saved the screenshot and turned off my phone.

From that moment, I stopped paying attention to Ethan. All that mattered was tomorrow at noon, when every med student across the country would be logging into the NRMP system.

Three days later, I got a text from Ellery Snider, Ethan's colleague and a resident at Krynden State Hospital.

Ellery: [Leah, Ethan's been waiting for you to reach out. The party for his promotion to a surgeon is the day after tomorrow. Just show up, and you two will patch things up.]

I stared at the message, my lips curling into a sarcastic smile.

I found it ridiculous that I always had to be the one to give in and patch things up.

I just replied: [Sorry, I can't make it.]

Honestly, I really didn't have time. My flight to Sterlkand would leave the day after tomorrow. Sterlkand University's residency program was waiting for me.

Just like Ethan wanted, we would never see each other again.

Seven days ago, Ethan turned a blind eye while his old flame, Cecilia Williamson, the daughter of the hospital board chair, trashed my most important research project.

When I discovered Cecilia had secretly wiped out months of my lab data and leaked my research plans to her bestie, who was also gunning for the same fellowship, I was devastated.

My voice shook. "Do you even realize what she did? She deleted my research data. I spent eight months on this project. My paper and my fellowship application are gone!"

Ethan barely looked bothered. He set his coffee cup down with an impatient sigh.

He said, "Seriously, Leah. It's just some data. Cecilia was having a rough day. Her dad keeps nagging her about getting married. She's under a lot of pressure, you know.

"You have backups, right? Just redo it. It's not a big deal."

He made it sound so trivial, like my entire future was just a plaything he could mess with whenever he wanted.

My voice trembled with incredulous anger.

I asked, "Just because she's having a bad day, she gets to destroy my research? Ethan, this is academic misconduct. I could report her to the school!"

"I told you, it was a misunderstanding!" Ethan snapped.

He stood up abruptly, looming over me, impatience written all over his face.

He said, "It's not a big deal. You caught it, so just fix it. Why do you always make such a big deal out of everything?"

He paused, his voice turning even colder.

Then, he added, "Leah, if you keep being so confrontational, I'm going to have to reconsider our relationship."

This threat sounded so familiar.

Ethan knew I depended on him, so every time we argued, he'd dangle the threat of breaking up over my head.

Every time, I'd end up caving.

Every time, I'd hate myself for never standing up for myself.

Honestly, things between Ethan and me were pretty smooth before Cecilia showed up. I was on a full ride at Cammordor University Medical School, and he was my attending during my third-year rotations.

My mom was a single parent. I lost her to cancer while I was still in college. The mountain of medical debt nearly made me give up on my dream of becoming a doctor.

Ethan stepped in when I was at my lowest. He helped me apply for a hospital scholarship so I could stay afloat and keep chasing my goals.

From there, we went from mentor and mentee to a couple.

Ever since Cecilia came into the picture, Ethan and I had been fighting nonstop because of her.

This was the ninth time we'd clashed because of her.

In the past, Ethan would threaten to dump me every time we fought.

I would always cave and let it slide.

This time was just like all the others. Ethan was convinced I'd back down for him, just because I loved him.

After he tossed out his threat, he just waited for me to hand him an excuse, to be the one to say sorry and patch things up.

But this time, things were different.

Just now, I watched as Ethan went off on me, impatience all over his face, while grinning at his phone and replying to Cecilia's text.

In that moment, all of it just seemed meaningless.

I didn't feel the slightest urge to apologize. I just sat there, stone-faced and silent.

Ethan waited, but when he saw I wasn't about to back down or apologize, he became more annoyed.

He snatched up his phone and walked out of the hospital cafeteria, not bothering to say anything else.

I sat there by myself, just zoning out at my computer screen.

I didn't even know how long I was just sitting there before my phone lit up with a voice message.

After a moment's hesitation, I hit play.

It was Cecilia's sugary, delicate voice on the other end.

She said, "Ethan, is Leah upset with me because I messed up? Maybe you could call her and have her come over. I can apologize to her face-to-face."

Ethan's voice came through, sounding irritated.

He said, "No. If she wants to sulk, let her. I'm not her babysitter. I don't have to keep babying her!"

"Ethan, don't talk like that. Girls like to be spoiled, you know. If you keep acting this way, you'll just push Leah even further away," Cecilia said.

Her voice was gentle, like she was always the understanding, thoughtful type.

Ethan let out a cold laugh.

He said, "I don't have time to baby her. She can do whatever she wants. If she hadn't helped me with that tricky case analysis back then, I never would've dated her. She was just a broke student then.

"She's so sensitive and always crying. I've honestly had enough of it all these years!"

In that moment, it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest.

The pain was real.

It was gut-wrenching, drilling right into my soul.

"Honestly, Leah's got such a fragile heart. I've never seen a girl so dramatic," Ellery chimed in.

Ethan snapped, "Seriously. Every time I mention breaking up, she goes straight to tears and begging, acting like it's all her fault.

"After all these years, I'm just over it. If she'd just stop talking to me, I could finally be done with her."

Ellery chuckled. "Get rid of Leah? No way. She's way too clingy. I bet if you don't go home tonight, she'll show up tomorrow, crying and begging you to take her back."

Ethan said, "Come on, let's bet on it. Loser buys dinner!"

That was the end of the recording.

I sat alone in the corner of the hospital cafeteria, gripping my phone so hard my nails pressed into my palm, but I barely felt a thing.

I realzied what Ethan actually thought of me.

All this time, he thought of me as a burden.

All the good things he ever did for me were because I helped him with the analysis.

Tears finally spilled over, pouring down my cheeks.

I clamped a hand over my mouth so I wouldn't let the sobs escape.

I felt so pathetic.