Chapter 5

Ethan shot a cold glance at the shattered pieces on the floor and looked at Zoe, rubbing his temples in frustration, disappointment clear in his eyes.

"It's just a thing. Are you going to make a scene over something like this? No gift is worth more than a person," he scolded. "Besides, your room is packed with jewelry. What's one more or one less to you anyway?"

So that was all these things were to them, just a thing.

Staring at Ethan, the man who had once cared for her so deeply but now felt like a stranger, Zoe felt a bitter ache well up inside her, sharp as a long-buried blade cutting through her soul.

She remembered when Ethan and Julian gave her that necklace and promised, "Zoe, trust us. We'll never let anything hurt you."

Those old promises from Ethan and Julian stung like a slap. Every time she recalled their words, it was like getting smacked all over again.

Zoe's heart froze over.

She took a deep breath, bottled up all her emotions, and without saying a word, pushed Ethan and Julian out of the room, slamming the door in their faces.

Ethan's expression soured more.

"Zoe, your princess tantrum is getting ridiculous," Ethan snapped.

Zoe desperately tried to calm her breathing, but her whole body was shaking.

Back when they cared, they'd say her outbursts were adorable. Now, every bit of defiance was unreasonable to them.

All her strength seemed to vanish, and she slumped down against the door, sinking to the floor.

"Ethan, do you think Zoe doesn't like me? Did I mess something up?" Emily asked.

"Nah, she's used to us spoiling her. Don't let it bother you," Ethan said, waving it off.

*****

As their voices faded away, Zoe let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh, her whole body stiff and cold.

She knew she couldn't stay trapped in this mess any longer.

The way Ethan and Julian made her feel cut off was too much. If things kept going like this, it would be hard not to fall into depression.

As she was trying to figure out how to escape this messy love quadrangle, her phone rang. It was her mother, Lily Nelson.

When she picked up, Lily's voice came through, "Zoe, how have you been? You haven't called home in ages."

Unlike every other time they spoke, Zoe, always sensitive, immediately caught the sadness and restraint in Lily's voice.

"Mom, is something wrong at home?" Zoe asked, her voice full of concern.

There was a long pause before Lily finally said with a sigh, "It's some trouble with the family business, but don't worry about it. Your father and I will figure it out. Just take care of yourself in Yanam, okay?"

This time, Zoe went quiet.

She realized she'd spent years barely caring about her family, always caught up in her own world. Hearing Lily sound so troubled about business for the first time, Zoe knew it had to be much harder than Lily was letting on.

Her gaze drifted to the broken bits of jewelry scattered on the floor, and for a second, her expression went vacant.

"Zoe? Are you listening?" Lily asked.

Zoe gripped her phone tightly, swallowing hard. "Mom, if I married for business, would that solve our problems?" she asked.

Lily was left speechless on the other end of the line.

"Zoe, what do you mean?" Lily stammered.

Lily had brought up Zoe coming home to get married more times than she could count, but Zoe always shot it down, no matter how much she pushed.

Eventually, Lily gave up on the topic.

Zoe said steadily, "Mom, I want to come home and get married."

Lily sounded far from happy. With worry in her voice, she asked, "Zoe, have you been having problems with Ethan and Julian lately?"

Zoe lowered her head, her throat tightening painfully, making it hard to speak.

She hesitated for a long moment before finally saying, "No, Mom. You're overthinking it. I feel that since I grew up in this family, now that times are tough, I owe it to you to help."

She used to tear herself up over whether to choose Ethan or Julian, but that problem was history now. Now it was Emily's turn to struggle with that choice.

Getting married was the perfect win-win. She could break free from her own mess and bail out her family, all at once.

But on the other end, Lily's quiet sobs could be heard.

"If you don't want to, your father and I won't force you. Marriage should be your own choice. You've always stuck with Ethan and Julian growing up. Can you bear to leave them? I don't want to see you upset because of this," Lily said.

Zoe felt a pang in her chest, but she replied casually, "Why would I not be able to let go? They're going to settle down someday, too. It's not like I can spend my whole life with them, can I?

"Mom, I'm doing this because I want to. Trust me, I won't let myself be wronged."

Lily finally managed to stop crying.

Zoe spoke gently, comforting Lily until she sounded better. Once Lily's mood had lifted, Zoe ended the call.

The room fell silent in an instant.

The smile on her lips slowly faded away.

After a long moment, she set a countdown on her phone—one week until she left.

In a week, she'd be out of this hellhole, free from this suffocating love quadrangle that was slowly crushing her.

Zoe felt a weight lift off her shoulders, and she immediately started packing her things.

She opened the drawer and found two photo albums lying there. Before she knew it, the three of them had somehow ended up with a ton of photos together.

She took them out and started flipping through the pages, one by one.

Julian had this thing for capturing moments. If the three of them were together, he'd snap a pic to mark the occasion.

There were shots of them celebrating birthdays, going on trips, and messing around in the kitchen.

In every single photo, Zoe was smiling like she didn't have a care in the world.

Thinking back, it had been two months since they'd snapped a new photo for the album.

Zoe ran her fingers over the photo of the three of them, and years of memories came rushing back, like scenes from a movie playing in her head.

Honestly, she didn't blame Ethan or Julian.

If it weren't for them, her life wouldn't have been perfect and happy all these years.

But now, it was time for them to step off, and for her to find her own place again.

At the end of this road, they'd go their separate ways.

Zoe tossed the photo albums into a trash bag and started going through all the gifts piled up in her closet.

Jewelry, bags, and watches, most of them barely used or still in their original packaging.

She snapped pictures of everything and listed them online, ready to clear it all out in one go.

The rest were little handmade trinkets.

Julian had made most of them for her, including miniature houses, rose-shaped nightlights, and jars full of origami stars.

After sorting through years of memories, from grade school to college, she ended up with trash bags stuffed to the brim.

Zoe fought back the ache in her chest as she lugged the trash bags downstairs. Standing in front of the garbage bin, she wavered for a moment and dumped all those memories in for good.

It felt like she was tossing Ethan and Julian out of her life along with everything else.