Three days later? Ethan returned to New York alone.
When he got home he noticed lights on in the house next door.
The housekeeper told him the Collins family had sold all their properties. New neighbors had moved in two days ago.
Hearing this, Ethan finally felt the heavy truth that things could never go back to the way they were.
He stayed up the whole night in his room.
A
Early the next morning he watched through his window as the new neighbors dismantled the
garden swing set. They replaced the pink and white curtains with dark green ones and threw away
the shell wind chimes that had hung by the door.
Everything connected to the Collins family–to Avery–was vanishing from his world.
Powerless to stop it Ethan started drinking heavily to drown his feelings
His battered heart grew hollow losing the ability to feel emotions.
Love and hate pain and regret joy and hope…
All slipped away from him.
His room filled up with random objects he’d salvaged from next door.
Only when searching for these items did he find moments of clarity.
The neighbors‘ five–year–old followed Ethan around helping him “treasure hunt.”
The big tree in the yard was chopped down, the rose garden dug up, and the cartoon–painted rocks smashed.”
Each item brought back memories for Ethan.
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After Sleeping with My Childhood Prince, I Kicked Him Out from My World
21.19
Chapter 24
The kid kept asking questions about everything they found.
Ethan would stare blankly words forming but dying on his lips.
Then from some hidden corner they dug up a large wish jar.
Opening it he found a hundred love letters inside with familiar handwriting on the covers.
Ethan’s eyes filled with tears.
The curious child innocently grabbed the top letter and read it aloud.
A
“Dear Ethan, hi. If you’re reading these letters we must be together by now. Otherwise you’d never know these existed. We’ve known each other for nineteen years and all this time you had no idea
I’ve liked you for so long have you? You might wonder why I never told you. The truth is I knew I
wasn’t the one you wanted. I saw how your eyes lit up when you looked at her. So I kept my feelings
buried.”
“But now she’s gone and I’m the one by your side. You never mention her name anymore so I think
you must have moved on. That’s why we’re together right? Even though you’re not ready to make
our relationship public I can wait. Whether it takes three years five years or ten years as long as I’m in your heart I’ll keep waiting.”
“Do you think I’m stupid? We’ve been by each other’s side since our earliest memories. Since you
were there at the beginning of my life I hope you’ll be there at the end too. I don’t know what the
future holds but I’m certain of one thing: as long as I’m in your heart as long as you care about me
even a little I’ll wait for you to come back. Forever and ever.”
By the end, Ethan was crying uncontrollably.
With shaking hands he clutched the box of letters to his chest and stumbled toward the airport.
Desperate, like a man clinging to his last hope, he rushed to catch a flight to win back the person he might have lost forever.
During the long flight Ethan read letter after letter without stopping.
The love hidden between each line was like honey and poison all at once.
It made him cry then laugh then fall into despair then feel joy again.
cry
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After Sleeping with My Childhood Prince, I Kicked Him Out from My World
21.49
Chapter 24
These extreme emotions kept cycling through him bringing his numb heart back to life.
Was this the final flicker before eternal darkness or the painful rebirth before a new dawn?
Ethan had no idea what ending awaited him. ‘
He could only pray.
Pray that these teenage confessions written in Avery’s nineteen–year–old hand might save him from drowning.
Give him one more chance.
Just one. That’s all he needed.
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