My Fiancé Took Her on Vacation Instead of Marrying Me? I Married WAY Better Chapter 09

My Fiancé Took Her on Vacation Instead of Marrying Me? I Married WAY Better Chapter 09

The window rolled down half an inch.

Through the morning sunlight and the crowded terminal outside, Ethan looked up and saw me.

For a split second, I could clearly see the confusion flash across his face.

Before he could focus, I turned away.

“Ms. Wright, the wind is picking up. Let me close the window,” Mr. Clark said quietly.

I nodded.

The window rose slowly, sealing out the noise of the crowd and the announcements.

It felt like sealing out the past eight years of messy, humiliating love—and the man I’d once bet

everything on.

But on the other side, Ethan flinched like he’d been struck.

His chest tightened. His breath caught. Like something crucial was being torn from his life in a way

he could never undo.

The panic came out of nowhere, sharp and suffocating.

“Who… was that?” he murmured, staring at the departing convoy. He took a step forward on

instinct, but the thick glass wall stopped him cold.

His own reflection stared back-disheveled, lost.

Mira still had her arm hooked through his. She followed his gaze, her eyes full of awe and envy.

“Ethan, that’s the private terminal. They say anyone who can board from the VIP lane is seriously

wealthy.”

She paused, lowering her voice with a hint of calculated curiosity.

“Whoever was in that car… they wouldn’t happen to be someone from The Sterling Circle, would they?”

Ethan didn’t answer.

For some reason, his mind flashed back to the message he’d glimpsed on Serena’s phone last night

[Old Mr. Wright has sent me to bring you back to Wright Manor.]

Wright Manor.

What manor? Whose manor?

And that line she’d said: “Where I belong.”

In that instant, an absurd and deeply unwelcome suspicion surfaced in his mind.

He shoved it down immediately.

Impossible.

If Serena really came from something like that, why would she have suffered for eight years with him? Why would she have squeezed into a basement office, pulled all-nighters, and skipped buying new clothes to save money?

She was just a regular girl who loved him too much to leave.

Yeah. He was overthinking it.

His phone rang.

It was his assistant.

“Ethan, bad news. The client we were supposed to meet today just canceled. They said to wait for

further notice.”

Ethan’s jaw tightened.

“Which client?”

“Mr. Thompson and Mr. Davis’s secretary just messaged-the Coral Bay meeting needs to be

postponed again.”

His face went dark.

He’d told everyone this trip was a vacation with Mira, but the real reason was those key clients.

Their commitment directly affected the final pre-IPO valuation.

He wasn’t even on the ground yet, and they were already pulling back. Something was wrong.

“Keep calling,” he said. “Lock down the times.”

After he hung up, he looked up again, toward the private terminal.

On the runway, a silver private jet was taxiing slowly.

Sunlight glinted off the wings, nearly blinding him.

Ethan stared at the plane, and that strange, nameless dread only grew heavier.

Like the answer was on board that aircraft.

“Ethan?” Mira tugged his sleeve, seeing him zone out. “Boarding’s about to start. Should we head

in?”

Her voice was soft, full of her usual dependence and coaxing.

Normally, he might have indulged her.

But right now, her voice just grated.

“Go ahead,” he said coldly.

Mira blinked, her smile faltering.

“I…”

“I said, go ahead.”

The impatience in his voice was unmistakable. She bit her lip, eyes reddening, and walked forward.

But a few steps later, she turned back. Ethan was still standing there, frozen in place, his gaze locked on that private jet.

Something in his expression looked desperate. Unhinged.

A chill ran down her spine.

Instinct told her whoever was in that car earlier had something to do with Serena Wright.

And it was more than just a coincidence.

On the other side, I stepped out of the car and walked up the boarding stairs.

The wind hit me, cool and fresh after the rain.

1 stopped at the top of the steps.

One last look at the city that had held me prisoner for eight years.

One last look at the man behind the glass wall.

He was too far away to read, but I knew-from this moment on, there was no more us.

Goodbye, Ethan.

I turned and walked into the cabin without looking back.

Behind the glass, Ethan’s face went white. He lunged forward-

But the cabin door closed behind me.

Through the crowd and the glass, he caught only the last glimpse of my back disappearing into the

plane.

His pupils contracted.

A name tore from his throat-raw and involuntary-

“Serena?!”