Love Died One Apology at a Time Chapter 09

Love Died One Apology at a Time Chapter 09

“Claire. Let me take you somewhere.”

Ethan drove me to the church.

He said he’d found a pastor to pray over our child.

As we prayed, I saw Ethan’s eyes still well up in an instant.

When the prayer ended, he turned to me and produced the engagement ring I had left behind that night.

“Claire, can we start over?”

“Like we always planned.”

We’d promised to marry before our tenth anniversary.

“I know nothing I say can erase the pain I’ve caused you. But I want you to know this.”

“I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for it.”

He dropped to one knee.

“The day I proposed…”

He paused.

Even though he clearly didn’t want to revisit that night, there was no way around it.

“I never got to finish what I wanted to say.”

“I wanted to tell you I loved you when I was eighteen. And I still love you now.”

“I love you, Claire.”

The diamond caught the light.

Ethan never looked a’l also wanted to tell you that it’s from your favorite jewelry brand. I had our names engraved inside.”

“When you were eighteen, you wrote in your diary about the ring you wanted. The wedding dress you dreamed about. I’ve been preparing all of it.”

“Claire. We’ll have another baby someday.”

“You can hate me. You can resent me. You can punish me however you want. I’ll accept it all.”

“Anything is better than you never looking at me again.”

“Just give me one more chance.”

“We can be happier than we are now.”

I didn’t reach for the ring.

And Ethan didn’t put it away.

“Ethan, if you loved me that much… why did you keep hurting me for her?”

“Can your love be split in half?”

His breath caught.

As though he’d never truly thought about it before.

A long silence followed. Then he finally spoke.

“Claire, I never loved Riley. Not that way.”

“I just felt sorry for her.”

“I thought she became that way because no one cared about her. I thought she was a difficult kid who needed guidance.”

“I kept letting her close because I saw her paying people to be her friends. She told me it was the only way anyone would stay.”

“She told me they were her friends. She said she had to buy friendship.”

Ethan closed his eyes.

“At that moment, I felt sorry for her.”

People who grew up with privilege and loving families often carried a certain compassion for those they viewed as less fortunate.

“So I kept wanting to help her. I wanted to put her on the right path.”

“And when she acted grateful, I thought I was doing the right thing.”

His voice turned bitter.

“I was so focused on what I thought was right that I gave her endless patience. And I never noticed I was hurting the person I loved most. This entire mess happened because I failed to handle it properly.”

“If I’d known it would end like this, I never would’ve taken her case.”

“For months, I haven’t been able to sleep. I close my eyes and see you bleeding. I wish it had been me.”

“I wish I’d taken every bit of pain.”

He looked exhausted.

Like a man being tortured one day at a time.

I didn’t tell him whether I accepted that explanation.

Or whether I didn’t.

At some point, I’d simply become too tired to keep searching for answers.

“Stand up, Ethan.”

I gently pushed the ring back toward him.

Our fingertips brushed briefly before separating.

“I meant what I said. We’re done.”

“And I’m not going to marry you.”