He Thought I’d Always Stay—Then the Countdown Hit Zero Chapter 09

He Thought I’d Always Stay—Then the Countdown Hit Zero Chapter 09

Ethan’s fever developed into acute pneumonia.

He remained unconscious at Riverton General Hospital for an entire day and night.

His best friend, Ryan Carter, called me and immediately began shouting.

“Natalie, do you even have a heart?”

“Ethan nearly killed himself for you, and you won’t even visit him?”

“He kept calling your name while burning with fever! Are you only going to be satisfied when you’ve driven

him to his death?”

I held the phone away from my ear until he finished.

“Ryan.”

I spoke calmly.

“He’s an adult. He chose to stand in the rain.”

“If he dies, it’ll be because of a choice he made. It has nothing to do with me.”

Ryan sucked in a sharp breath.

“You’re heartless, Natalie.”

“That’s right. I am.”

I ended the call.

In the end, I still went to the hospital.

Not because I had softened.

I knew that unless I ended this completely, Ethan would continue these pointless self-destructive stunts.

Inside the hospital room, Ethan lay pale beneath the blankets with an IV in his hand.

Ryan sat beside him.

When he saw me, he gave a cold snort and left the room.

The door closed.

Ethan slowly opened his eyes.

The moment he saw me, wild joy burst into his lifeless gaze.

“Natalie…

He struggled to sit up.

I walked over and pressed a hand against his shoulder.

“Don’t move.”

His hospital gown felt cold beneath my palm.

Ethan caught my hand and gripped it tightly, as though holding on to the last thing keeping him alive.

“I knew you wouldn’t abandon me.”

A weak smile appeared on his face.

“Natalie, you still care about me, don’t you?”

I looked at his face, made fragile by illness.

Then I looked at the countdown above his head, still fixed at:

[Ten years.]

“Ethan.”

I let him hold my hand.

“I came here to tell you something.”

His smile froze.

He seemed to sense what was coming, and fear entered his eyes.

“Don’t say it… Natalie, please don’t.”

He looked at me pleadingly.

“I came to say goodbye.”

I met his eyes and spoke each word clearly.

“I bought a plane ticket for the day after tomorrow.”

“I’m leaving Riverton.”

Ethan looked as though lightning had struck him.

“Where are you going?”

He jerked upright, pulling on the IV in his hand until blood flowed backward through the tube.

He didn’t seem to feel it.

“You’re leaving? You’re leaving me?”

“Yes.”

I nodded calmly.

“Our divorce becomes final tomorrow.”

“I’ll wait for you outside the Riverton County Family Court Clerk’s Office at nine in the morning.”

“Once the paperwork is finished, we’ll owe each other nothing.”

Tears suddenly rolled down Ethan’s face.

This proud man was crying in front of me.

“I won’t divorce you!”

He roared like a trapped animal.

“I won’t go through with it! You can’t get rid of me!”

I looked at him as he fell apart.

There wasn’t even a trace of satisfaction in my heart.

Only exhaustion.

“Ethan, stop.”

One by one, I peeled his fingers from my wrist.

“Hold on to whatever dignity you have left.”

I turned toward the door.

“If you don’t come tomorrow…”

I stopped but didn’t look back.

“You’ll never see me again.”