He Left Me in the Snow for His First Love. So I Left His Marriage Chapter 12

He Left Me in the Snow for His First Love. So I Left His Marriage Chapter 12

He knelt outside for a very long time.

With only a door between us, the heavy, suffocating feeling hung over both our hearts.

I closed my eyes.

In the middle of the night, someone came.

I heard his assistant’s lowered voice, pleading and persuading, full of obvious panic and urgency.

But Ethan never spoke.

He didn’t move.

After a long time, I heard the dull sound of something heavy hitting the floor.

Then came his assistant’s panicked whispers.

The sounds outside rushed away, leaving empty silence behind.

The next morning, I saw a news post.

Someone had photographed Ethan in the hospital ER.

He lay on a gurney, his face gray-white, his lips colorless, his eyes shut tight.

He looked frighteningly thin, without the slightest life in him.

I stared at that photo for a long time.

Then I crouched down beside my bed and pressed my forehead to my knees.

Five days later, my lawyer informed me that Ethan had relented.

He agreed to sign the divorce agreement, but he required me to be present.

I pushed open the door to his office.

He sat behind the desk. His face still looked terrible, and although he tried to suppress it, he couldn’t stop coughing.

Only the two of us were in the office.

He lifted his head and looked at me.

A long time later, he said hoarsely, “I don’t want a divorce.”

He paused, then added weakly, “But I know that once you’ve decided something, I can’t change it.”

“Back then, when you decided to marry me, you didn’t ask anything or think too much. You just dragged me to get the marriage license.”

The corner of his mouth pulled into a lonely, self-mocking smile.

“You were always so free. You did whatever you wanted. You were happy every day, always smiling.”

He looked at me, his gaze tracing my face inch by inch.

“But this past year, you changed. You smiled less. You were unhappy all the time. It was like you became someone else.”

“I think I was the reason.”

“I wronged you. Since you’ve decided to let go, I shouldn’t keep clinging to you. I should give you freedom and give us a decent ending.”

He opened the document and signed the last page.

I said nothing.

I took the pen and signed my name cleanly on the other side.

We agreed on a time to submit the papers to family court.

He stood to walk me out.

At the door, he suddenly stopped.

“Claire.”

I turned around.

One hand rested on the doorframe. The light in his eyes was dim and unclear.

“In the future… if we meet again, will we still have a chance?”

I looked at him and shook my head.

“Ethan, you’re always looking back. Whether it’s Olivia or me.”

“But for the rest of my life, I’m going to look forward.”

He froze.

I opened the door and said one last thing.

“Ethan, I hope you stop looking back and stop living with regret.”

I stepped forward.

“And I hope I never stop moving forward.”

The wind passed through the hall.

I didn’t look back.

I left his company.

The light of spring was clear.

The trees lining the street rustled softly, their leaves bright and green.

This spring would be a new beginning.