The Wedding Ring That Never Made It to My Finger Chapter 04

The Wedding Ring That Never Made It to My Finger Chapter 04

The silence that followed was suffocating. Something inside me went quiet, too — permanently.

So that was the truth. The day my father died, Ethan told me he was away on business. Nina said she was sick. They were together the whole time.

My sobbing on the phone that day — the worst day of my life — was just background noise to them in bed. Ethan never even made it to the funeral.

For weeks after, I couldn’t function. The grief ate me alive. And Ethan held me through every night, whispering the same gentle words over and over.

“It’s okay. Your dad’s still watching over you — he always will. And I’ll be right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

The memory of those words twisted like a knife. Ethan saw it happen — saw me unraveling — and reached for me, panicking.

“I’m sorry, Clara. I didn’t mean — I wasn’t thinking. I just—”

I bit down on my lip until I tasted iron. Then I started breaking things — everything I could reach. Vases, frames, our wedding photos still fresh from the lab.

“Get out!”

Glass exploded across the floor between us. Nina stepped forward, and something I threw caught her square in the face.

She doubled over, hands pressed to her face, shaking.

Whatever guilt had been building in Ethan’s eyes disappeared the second Nina cried out. He seized my wrist and tore what I was holding out of my hand.

The album hit the floor and burst open, photos scattering everywhere. Our whole history, spread across the broken glass.

The day Ethan first told me he loved me. The day I introduced him to Nina, and the three of us became inseparable.

My birthday — the two of them grinning while I leaned over the candles.

“Clara, what wish did you make?”

“For the three of us to stay like this forever.”

Ethan’s grip on me loosened. His eyes had gone to the photos. He opened his mouth — but Nina got there first.

“Ethan, my head — I’m bleeding. Oh God, there’s blood!”

His head snapped up. He stepped over the photos — over all of it — and ran to her.

The jewelry box had split her forehead open, blood streaming down her face. Ethan scooped her into his arms and walked out without looking back.

At the door, he stopped. He didn’t turn around.

“She’s still your best friend, Clara. No matter what happened. You don’t get to hurt her like that — she’s been through enough already.”

Then he was gone.

Been through enough? We grew up together.

I knew her family didn’t have much, so I gave her everything. A permanent spot at our table, the new clothes my mom bought — Nina always got first pick.

And now I was supposed to hand over the man I’d loved for eight years, too. I slid down to the floor. There were no tears left. Just nothing.

Nina called that night. She was drunk.

“Clara, I swear I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. Please forgive me. I can’t lose you…”

“We’ve been friends our whole lives. I’m not letting a man destroy that.” She was sobbing so hard on the other end she could barely breathe.

Then someone else came on the line. A bartender.

“Hey, we’re closing up. Someone needs to come get your friend, or I’m leaving her outside.”

I sat there for a long time, saying nothing. Then I grabbed my coat. I’d made a promise to her parents before they died — that I’d always look out for her.

This would be the last time.

When I got there, Ethan had Nina pressed against the wall outside the bar.

He was kissing her — hard, almost punishing, like the kiss was meant to hurt.

“How many times are you going to push me away? You know you’re the one I want. You’ve always known. So why do you keep running?”

Nina shoved him back, tears streaking down her face.

“But she’s my best friend! I can’t do this to her!”

“And what about you?” Ethan gripped her shoulders, refusing to let go. “When do you get to be happy?”

Something between them snapped. Nina collapsed into him, arms locked around his neck, holding on like she’d drown without him.

“I love you too. But Clara…”

Through the tears and the gasping, I heard him choose.

“If she won’t let go, I’ll take you away myself.”

I pressed my back against the pillar and let out a laugh that didn’t sound like mine. Through the blur of tears, the memories came anyway.

Nina saving up for months to take me on vacation. Ethan at the poolside, rubbing sunscreen onto my back.

The two of them tripping over each other to take care of me, bickering like kids about who loved me more. All of it dissolving now, like it had never been real.

That life belonged to someone else now. Someone I used to be.

I pulled out my phone. The job offer was still sitting in my inbox.

Once, I stayed for you, Ethan. Now I’m leaving for me.