Chapter 2

I took every letter and went to find them at the club.

The moment I walked through the door, I spotted Ethan at the center of it all.

He looked drunk.

He'd climbed up onto a table and was holding court, talking at full volume.

An occupational hazard of being a public speaker, I supposed.

Rena sat below him, gazing up at him like he was the only person in the room.

I had seen that exact expression on her face back in high school, the first time Ethan gave an impromptu speech on stage.

Someone in the crowd decided to egg him on.

"What's your biggest regret?"

Ethan's smile disappeared. He went quiet. His brow furrowed.

He turned and looked at Rena, and his eyes went soft with guilt.

"Years ago, when someone put a gun to our heads and told me to choose, I couldn't choose Rena. That's the one thing I'll regret for the rest of my life."

"She told me to go find help while she stayed behind. I didn't know she was going to call the police. Because of that, she almost got seriously hurt."

"If I could go back, I would choose her. Without hesitation."

Rena burst into tears.

So did I.

Seven years ago, we were kidnapped together.

Ethan hadn't brought enough money for the ransom. The kidnappers said they'd release only one of us.

He gripped my hand so hard I thought his fingers would break the skin.

After a long silence, his voice finally cracked through.

He called my name.

In that moment, I forgave Ethan for everything.

I made a silent promise to love him with everything I had.

So I quietly contacted the police. We worked together from the inside, and the kidnappers were taken down.

When I handed Ethan the recovered money afterward, something flickered behind his eyes.

Anger.

I hadn't understood it then.

Now I did. He blamed me. In the chaos of the police moving in, one of the kidnappers had panicked and hurt Rena.

Standing in that club, I finally felt it — how ridiculous I had been. How ridiculous all of it had been.

The story seemed to sober Ethan up a little.

He looked at Rena with even more tenderness than before.

"Rena, we can't go back. That was my fault. All of it."

"But I want to make it up to you. Starting now."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bank card.

My tears dried up instantly.

That was my bank card.

"Ethan, have you lost your mind?"