He Promised Me Every Flight, Gave Her Every One Chapter 02

He Promised Me Every Flight, Gave Her Every One Chapter 02

The key to the old house was tucked inside the meter box by the door.

I pushed the door open and dust billowed into my face.

My mother’s piano sat in the center of the living room under a white sheet. Grant first came here wearing a crisp white shirt. He stood by the piano and listened to me finish a song.

Afterward, he leaned down and brushed a stray hair from my shoulder. “Ellie, you’re so wonderful. I’d be blind if I didn’t marry you.”

Everyone used those words to convince me to endure his behavior later on.

They said Grant loved me.

They claimed he was just busy or stubborn.

They insisted he only felt that he owed Lydia.

But no one explained why the woman he supposedly owed could walk out of his apartment wearing his shirt.

I pulled back the curtains and let sunlight hit the old furniture. A Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release sat on the coffee table.

I’d printed it last month after Grant came home from Lydia’s.

His jacket had smelled like her signature lily-of-the-valley perfume that night.

He said, “Ellie, stop joking about our marriage.”

I asked, “Are you in love with her. ”

He ripped off his tie with an irritated huff.

“We’ve known each other for over a decade,” he snapped. “Her father saved my father’s life. It’s my duty to look after her.”

“Then what about me?”

He looked at me like I was a child throwing a tantrum. “You’re already my fiancée. What more do you want to fight over?”

I said, “If you won’t take me on one of your flights, we’re done.”

He stayed silent for a long time before finally agreeing.

It wasn’t a compromise. It was just a new way to humiliate me.

My phone kept buzzing. My best friend, Sophie Brooks, was calling.

“Ellie, did that jerk leave you at the airport again?” she screamed. “I just saw Lydia’s post!”

She sent me a screenshot. It showed a cockpit door against a clear blue sky.

Lydia wore a light sweater and smiled while holding a coffee cup.

Her caption read: [Someone promised to show me seven sunrises over this seven-day trip.[

Grant’s hand was visible in the corner of the photo. He was wearing the engagement ring I’d picked out for him.

Sophie’s voice shook with rage. “Is he insane? He hid his fiancée’s documents just to spend seven days flying with the childhood sweetheart he never got over?”

I didn’t cry while staring at the photo. I slid the ring Grant had given me off my finger.

The initials E and G were engraved inside the band.

I’d thought it was corny, but Grant had said, “Corny is good. That way, everyone will know you’re mine.”

Now, it just felt pathetic.

The doorbell rang suddenly.

When I opened the door, the Sterling family’s driver stood outside holding a garment bag from the bridal boutique.

“Mrs. Sterling asked me to deliver this,” the driver said. “She said your fitting is in seven days and asked you not to go anywhere. Captain Sterling doesn’t like having to track people down when he gets back.”

The zipper wasn’t closed all the way. I saw a faint red lipstick stain on the white lace of the wedding dress.

I recognized the shade immediately. It was the exact color Lydia wore last night.

The driver looked uncomfortable when I didn’t reach for the bag. “Mrs. Sterling said Ms. Vance has a similar build, so she tried it on for you. She hopes you don’t mind.”

A car honked outside and swirled the dust in the air.

I finally took the bag from him.

As he turned to leave, I said calmly, “Tell Mrs. Sterling I won’t be trying on the gown.”

I tucked my engagement ring into the dress bag and zipped it up.

“Give this back to her son.”

I shut the door before he could say another word.

I was the only one left in the room.

The wind lifted a corner of the white cloth covering the piano, revealing its yellowed keys.

My phone screen lit up with a notification from Lydia’s latest Instagram post.

[Day One. Took off safely.]

I opened the post and tapped to save the photo.