Chapter 6
Ethan and I were alone in the opulent
conference room.
I waited for him to speak.
He’d gone to a lot of trouble to get me here.
He wasn’t going to do nothing.
Finally, he said, “Sarah, I know you and
Jessica didn’t get along. If you come back to
me, I’ll fire her.”
I chuckled. “Do you think I left because of
Jessica?”
“Why else would you leave? I can’t think of
any other reason
L
While Jessica had played a role, she was just
the catalyst.
The real reason was Ethan’s distrust and his
cold treatment of my mom.
“Mr. Miller, why don’t you look inward? Maybe
I left because I stopped loving you.”
Ethan scoffed. “Impossible! You climbed 999
steps, until you bled, just to get me a
good luck charm. You wouldn’t just stop
loving me.”
He pulled a faded, worn charm from his
wallet. “Sarah Matthews, this is proof of your
love.”
Looking at the charm, memories resurfaced.
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accidents, culminating in a near–fatal car
crash.
I’d heard the charms from the Lingyin Temple
in the Taihang Mountains were powerful, able
to ward off bad luck.
I wanted to go there and get one for Ethan.
But we learned you had to climb 999 steps,
every step, to show your sincerity.
Ethan refused. He didn’t believe in that stuff.
But I wasn’t taking any chances with his
safety.
I told him to wait and climbed the 999 cold,
hard steps, all the way.
By the time I reached the top, my forehead
was bleeding, and my knees were raw.
Ethan held me, saying I was foolish, the most
foolish, loving woman he knew.
Now, I realized how foolish I’d been.
I took the charm and tore it to pieces.
Ethan tried to stop me, but it was too late.
I let the pieces fall to the floor. “Ethan Miller,
that foolish woman who loved you is gone
forever.”
A crack appeared in Ethan’s usually stoic
façade. His eyes reddened.
“Sarah, how could you tear it up?”
“It was mine to tear,” I said calmly.
He roared, “But you gave it to me! It was
mine!”
He knelt and carefully picked up the pieces,
as if they were precious jewels.
I found it ironic.
“Ethan Miller, you never loved me. Why bother
pretending now?”
His eyes blazed. “Sarah Matthews, are you
heartless? If I didn’t love you, would I have
searched for you for five years?”
“If I didn’t love you, would I have treasured
this charm?”
Suddenly, I lost the will to argue. Maybe he
had loved me once. But what did it matter?
He was the one who didn’t trust me, who
looked down on me, who let Jessica walk all
over me.
I repeated, “But I don’t love you anymore.”
I turned and left the conference room.
Jessica blocked my way and slapped me.
“Bitch! I told you to stay away from Ethan!”
I wiped the blood from my lip and slapped her
back, hard.
She stumbled, shocked. “You… you hit me?”
<
Jessica, Im not the same Saran manews
you used to bully.”
I sneered. “Five years, and you still haven’t won Ethan over. You only dare to take your anger out on me. As a woman, I pity you.”
<
