Ava Summers didn't sleep the night she saw me with Nora.
She didn't eat.Didn't change clothes.Didn't stop crying.
The image of Nora's gentle smile…my calm voice…the way I looked at Nora the way I used to look at her—
It replayed in her mind on a cruel, endless loop.
She curled up on her couch, clutching her phone, whispering into the empty room:
"Ethan… why didn't I see what I had?"
But the darkness didn't answer.
And neither did I.
A week later, fate punched her again.
She was scrolling through her phone — not looking for trouble, just distracting herself from drowning in regret.
But she saw it.
The news headline.
The photo.
Me.
In a tailored suit, shaking hands with investors.Standing proudly under the banner of my own company.Surrounded by congratulatory messages.Smiling — a real, genuine, unbroken smile.
ETHAN VALE CONSULTING —THE RISING FIRM DISRUPTING THE MARKET
Her hand flew to her mouth.
Her tears fell instantly.
Because the man in the photo…was unrecognisable.
Stronger.Sharper.More confident.
Alive.
Rising without her.Thriving without her.
Becoming the man she always wanted me to be…
But she wasn't by my side to witness it.
She threw her phone onto the couch and sobbed into her hands.
"Why did I let you go? Why did I push you away?"
Her voice broke into pieces.
But the world didn't stop for her.
I kept rising.
And she kept falling.
A few days later, another photo surfaced.
A candid shot.
Me and Nora at an industry event.
She was handing me a drink.I was smiling down at her.Her hand lightly touched my elbow.My posture leaned instinctively toward her.
We weren't even posing.
We just… looked right together.
Someone's comment under the photo struck like a bullet:
"They look perfect together."
Ava's breath left her lungs.
Her heart physically hurt.
She had never been described as "perfect" with me.Never made me look that at peace.Never fit beside me the way Nora did naturally.
Ava wiped her tears with the back of her trembling hand.
"No… no, no, this can't be real. I can't lose him like this—"
But she already had.
Ava forced herself to watch a short interview clip of my company's feature.
Nora was standing beside me.Her posture calm, professional, supportive — but never overshadowing.
During the interview, when I hesitated answering a complex question, Nora gently placed her hand on my back.
Still professional.Still subtle.
But supportive.
Not controlling.Not directing.Not overstepping.
Just quietly grounding me.
The interviewer even remarked:
"You two work very well together."
Nora smiled modestly.
"We trust each other," she said simply.
Ava felt something in her chest rip.
Trust.
A simple word.
A word she threw away.A word she stomped on.A word she only realised the value of when she had none left.
She whispered at the glowing screen:
"It should've been me."
Then her voice crumbled.
"But I ruined it…I ruined everything…"
The Final Blow: A New Photo
The ultimate hit came two days later.
Someone caught a photo of me and Nora leaving a café.
Not holding hands.Not hugging.
But walking close.
Our shoulders brushing.Nora smiling shyly.Me carrying an extra cup of her favorite tea.
My eyes soft.
Relaxed.
Happy.
A happiness Ava hadn't seen on my face in years.
And on the bottom of the article:
"A promising future for the rising CEO and his rumoured partner."
The words punched the air out of her lungs.
She sank to the floor, phone slipping from her fingers.
Her vision blurred with tears.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"You're building a life…"
She covered her mouth, shoulders shaking violently.
"…and I'm not in it."
A full minute passed before she could breathe again.
Then she broke completely.
Screaming into the emptiness of her apartment.
Screaming for a man who would never return.
Screaming for a future she destroyed with her own hands.
"SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME THIS ISN'T TOO LATE—!!"
But no one answered.
Because it was too late.
Way too late.
Accepting Reality
That night, she lay on the cold floor until sunrise.
Staring blankly at the ceiling.
Her lips trembled as she finally whispered the truth aloud:
"He doesn't belong to me anymore."
And the truth hurt more than any punishment karma could ever give her.
It wasn't Clark Group's collapse that destroyed her.
It wasn't Leo's betrayal that broke her.
It wasn't losing her job, her income, or her reputation.
It was losing me.
For good.
Forever.
And knowing—
I found someone who loved me rightafter she spent years loving me wrong.