The Anonymous Notes That Destroyed My Wedding Chapter 07

The Anonymous Notes That Destroyed My Wedding Chapter 07

Ethan searched everywhere he could think of. 

He started with the coffee shop where we’d first 

met. 

It was tucked down a side street near the 

University District. 

The place was almost unchanged, trailing plants hanging from the windowsill and a little bell over 

the door. 

The same cheerful owner was behind the counter. 

She blinked when she saw him. 

“Ethan? Wow. It’s been years.” 

“Have you… seen Sienna lately?” 

The owner thought for a moment, then shook her 

head. 

“No. She hasn’t been in for a long time.” 

Ethan thanked her and walked back outside. 

Next, he went to the theater where we’d seen our 

first movie together. 

The old theater had been demolished years ago, 

and a shopping center stood in its place. 

He stood outside for a while, watching people 

come and go, but not one silhouette looked 

familiar. 

Finally, he drove to the stretch of the Oregon Coast 

where we’d first told each other we were in love. 

The winter wind off the ocean cut straight through 

him. 

The beach was empty except for a few gulls 

perched on the rocks, tilting their heads as they 

watched him. 

He walked the shoreline for hours, turning back 

only after dark. 

Over the next few days, he searched almost every 

place he could imagine I might have gone. 

Every one of them was empty, as if I’d never 

existed at all. 

Dark stubble shadowed his jaw. His eyes had 

gone sunken. 

Every morning, he checked his phone before 

anything else. The screen was always empty. 

Nothing from me. 

On the tenth day, he was scrolling through. 

Instagram when he saw a coworker’s post from a trip to Lake Tahoe. 

He almost swiped past it, but his finger suddenly 

stopped. 

In the corner of the third–to–last photo was a 

woman in a gray coat, her hair tied in a low 

ponytail. 

He’d known that silhouette for eight years. He 

couldn’t mistake it. 

It was me. 

Ethan shot up from the couch. 

That night, he booked the first flight he could find 

to Reno. He didn’t pack. He just grabbed his coat and phone and headed out. 

Chloe called while he was sitting at the airport 

gate, his fingers ice–cold. 

“Ethan, where are you going?” 

“I’m going to find her.” 

“I saw her. She’s in Tahoe.” 

The line went quiet for several seconds. 

“Do you really have to go?” 

Chloe’s voice had gone hoarse. 

“Is she really that important? More important than 

me and the baby?” 

Ethan gripped his phone until his knuckles turned 

white. 

“Chloe, when you got pregnant, I told you to get an 

abortion. You were the one who insisted on 

keeping the baby.” 

“I promised Sienna’s mom I’d take care of her for 

the rest of my life. I promised I wouldn’t let her get 

hurt.” 

“And I kept none of those promises.” 

Chloe gave a broken laugh. 

“Ethan Carter, do you even hear yourself?” 

“You promised to take care of her, but you spent four years sleeping with me behind her back.” 

“You let your mom slap her in front of everyone, and then you let her walk away alone.” 

“How exactly did you take care of her? By saying 

you would?” 

Ethan pressed his lips into a thin line. 

“I was an asshole.” 

He said it quietly. 

“I couldn’t control myself.” 

“But since she left, I’ve finally understood 

something.” 

“I can’t live without her.” 

“Then what about me? What am I supposed to 

do?” 

The baby’s cries cut through the phone, sharp and 

shrill. 

“Ethan.” 

Chloe’s voice trembled. 

“If you get on that plane today, we’re done.” 

Ethan closed his eyes for a moment. 

“I’m sorry.” 

He ended the call. 

When the plane took off, he leaned against the window and watched the city lights shrink 

beneath him. 

He remembered a winter years ago, when we’d 

been curled up in our tiny rental. I was wrapped in a blanket watching a show while he worked beside me. 

I’d turned to him out of nowhere and asked, “Ethan, 

are you ever going to leave me?” 

He’d smiled and said no. 

And in the end, he’d lost me anyway.