Chapter 7: Shadows of the Past

“Why? Weren’t you the one who liked him the most?”

Melissa, who sat next to me, couldn’t hide the gloating in her eyes.

She was always a rather inconspicuous classmate.

Her grades were average, just barely making it into college.

In my previous life, five years after I married Ethan, she became his assistant.

Back then, she liked Ethan—honest and straightforward.

I like you, but that has nothing to do with you.

Don’t worry, I won’t get in the way of you and Anna.

“I just want to stay by your side. Looking up at you is enough.”

Once, while I was working from home, Melissa came to report to Ethan. She wore a Target cardigan and scuffed Converse, her hair twisted up in a messy bun—a little nervous, a little determined.

After hearing her confession, Ethan just glanced at her, his cold face unreadable.

Then, in a chilly tone, he continued talking about work.

And I, holding my coffee, stood outside the study, not knowing whether to go in or leave.

All I knew was that Ethan didn’t send her away.

He even gave her opportunities again and again, letting her prove herself.

When I questioned him, he replied impatiently—

“I see my own shadow in her. I want to help her.”

Some people just get handed the keys to the kingdom. I wasn’t one of them.

“Anna, stop being unreasonable.”

By then, the chat had disappeared.

The chat stopped abruptly when we got married. Silence filled the space where their voices used to be, and suddenly every day felt twice as long.

They thought marriage was the happy ending.

But they didn’t know that sometimes, marriage is the beginning of unhappiness.

Funny how the audience always wants a fairytale, but never sticks around for the work that comes after the credits roll. They never saw the cold coffee cups, the unspoken words, the little wounds that festered in the quiet of our home.