Chapter 3

I've loved Jonathan for ten years now.

I used to dream about seeing the world with him, about still standing by his side when our hair turned gray, about holding him as my own, not just in this fleeting moment.

But every time I tried to break through that invisible wall, I knew the truth. The plot had me trapped, and it wouldn't let go.

It warned me that if I stepped out of line, I'd lose everything.

Today marked four thousand three hundred and eighty days since I met Jonathan.

After the accident, things changed.

We weren't the same anymore.

He threw himself into expanding overseas markets, and I dealt with cleaning up the mess inside the company.

Conflicts like this happened all the time, and I knew one day I'd use up whatever patience he had left for me.

I'd learned to go along with everything, but I couldn't let go of that stupid hope.

I knew it was poison, but I still wanted him to actually see me.

I understood how pathetic it was, but I kept destroying myself over and over anyway.

*****

When Jonathan finally replied to my email, I knocked on his office door.

I thought he'd hit me with more sarcasm, but he opened the door himself.

I always handled problems efficiently, but he never seemed to appreciate that.

"Emily, will you ever learn to depend on me? Do you always have to prove you're stronger than I am?" Jonathan's voice sounded exhausted, and it pierced straight through me.

I wanted to tell him that I just wanted to be worthy of him, but the words wouldn't come out.

Every step closer made the pain worse.

He was Sterling Group's future, and he had to carry the entire company on his shoulders.

And I was just a ticking time bomb, a lunatic waiting to lose it. I couldn't become his weakness.

He said, "If there's nothing else, I have a meeting."

"Wait," I pushed past the tightness in my throat and softened my voice. "Let me take you to dinner as an apology."

The office went dead silent, and I could hear his breathing get heavier.

He said, "Then promise me you won't think about leaving again, and I'll forgive you."

My heart clenched, but I couldn't think straight. The pain would kill me either way—whether I felt it or tried to numb it out.

I didn't want to let him down.

"I'll try to stay where you can see me, Jonathan." It took everything I had to force out those words that went against every instinct I had.

"Good. Don't let it happen again."

His deep voice carried a hint of satisfaction that was unmistakable. Apparently, he was easier to please than I thought.

*****

That night, Jonathan got wasted entirely. "Emily, Sterling Group can't function without you."

At the dinner table, he slurred his words and pushed a stock transfer agreement toward me. "You deserve this."

Around me, Jonathan was always that insecure man who needed reassurance, not the ruthless Sterling Group CEO everyone else knew.

I didn't say anything.

My chest felt like someone had shoved a thousand needles into it.

Love was a luxury I couldn't afford, and it was poison too.

It was like a mirage—beautiful, but it shattered the moment you touched it.

I couldn't control where this story was going, not since the moment I understood who I really was.

I used to be naive enough to think I could change things.

But the plot taught me the hardest lesson.

It told me I'd been abandoned because of my family's history of hereditary intermittent mental illness.

That was written into my story from the very beginning.

I was fortunate enough to meet Jonathan, and he took pity on me, supporting me all these years.

But stories always end the way they're supposed to.

My ending was leaving. Dying.

Sophia was his female lead, the one who'd stay by his side forever.