Chapter 4

The day Ethan came to pick up his things, it was drizzling.

He stood at the door, his hair damp, looking a bit disheveled.

I let him in.

He stared at the boxes in the corner of the living room for a moment. "They're all here?"

"Yeah. Check if anything's missing."

He didn't check. He just looked at me.

"Skylar, I've been thinking all week. I know I messed up."

I said nothing.

"After that day, I fired Ashley."

Still, I said nothing.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me right now. But Skylar, can you give me another chance? Let me prove with my actions that I really want to be with you."

I looked at him. His eyes held sincerity, regret, and something else too. But I couldn't see it clearly anymore.

"Ethan, I have a question for you."

"Ask away."

"If I hadn't gone to your company that day, would you have told me about this on your own?"

He froze.

"If she hadn't asked you to buy the pills, but just flirted with you every day, relied on you, would you have continued to enjoy that feeling?"

His face changed.

"Do you think that as long as nothing 'physical' happened, it's not cheating?"

"Skylar, don't you trust me?"

"Ethan, you bought emergency contraception for a young, pretty secretary. Do you know what that means?"

He didn't speak.

"It means in her eyes, you're someone she can ask for help. It means in your eyes, she's someone worth helping. Your relationship already went beyond ordinary boss-employee bounds. You just wouldn't admit it."

His lips moved.

I turned, walked to the door, and opened it. "Take your things. Don't come back."

He stood there, looking at me, and something in his eyes shattered.

Finally, he picked up the boxes, carrying them out one by one.

When he got to the last one, he stopped.

He suddenly said to me, "Skylar, I'm sorry."

The door slowly closed.

I leaned against the door, listening to the elevator door open and close.

Then I crouched down and buried my head in my knees.

I didn't cry.

I just felt it wasn't worth it for those three years.