One month before we were supposed to move back to California, my husband Adrian suddenly changed our job applications.
His best friend Marcus tried to talk him out of it over the phone.
“Just because Clara Thorne is in Geneva, you secretly accepted the position at CERN? Adrian, have you lost your mind? Your wife Evelyn already got the Chief Technology Officer offer from Nexagen, that quantum tech company in Silicon Valley. Didn’t you two agree to go back to the West Coast and build something together?”
“Back when you were both doing your PhDs at MIT, wasn’t the whole point to revolutionize the aerospace industry someday?”
Adrian shook his head slightly.
“Evelyn loves me. Once she knows I’ve made my decision, she’ll naturally come with me to Switzerland.”
“Clara is all alone over there. She’s too lonely. She needs me. Opportunities at Nexagen will come around again, but I’m all Clara has.”
I stood outside the door of our Cambridge apartment. A cold emptiness spread through my chest. I turned around silently and walked away.
Since he chose to chase his so-called love, I would choose to continue on my own path.
A month later, as my plane touched down at Los Angeles International Airport, his frantic call came through.
“Eve, have you arrived in Geneva?”
I looked out at the tall palm trees lining the road under the California sun. A storm of emotions surged inside me.
“I got here a while ago.”
West Coast East Heart Chapter 18 I hung up the phone. I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Nexagen campus. I didn’t move for a long, long time. It was true. I didn’t love him anymore. But his fate still made me sigh. There are so many choices along the road of […]
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West Coast East Heart Chapter 17 I don’t know when, but he hung up on his own. The next time I heard about him was a year later. Adrian was dead. Marcus’s voice was shaking when he called. “Clara was never an ordinary person. She was a spy working for a foreign intelligence agency. Her
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West Coast East Heart Chapter 16 Two months later, Adrian and Clara got married. He didn’t make a big announcement on social media. They just had a low-key wedding. Later, under Clara’s referral, he joined a private research institution with a mysterious background. It exclusively served defense projects for a certain European country. I knew
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West Coast East Heart Chapter 15 One time, he called. His voice was exhausted. “Eve, Clara’s in the hospital again. The doctor says it’s psychological. She has severe anxiety.” “Oh.” “She’s alone in Switzerland. No friends. No family. She’s very lonely.” “Mm.” “So… I can’t leave her right now.” “I understand.” “Eve, you’re not angry?”
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West Coast East Heart Chapter 14 I looked at his troubled expression and let out a hollow laugh. “See? She won’t sacrifice for you. You won’t sacrifice for me. Yet you used the name of love to make me sacrifice. Where did you find the nerve?” Adrian lowered his head, his face full of shame.
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West Coast East Heart Chapter 13 Why was I the only one being so stubborn? He stared at me, as if trying to judge whether I meant what I said. When he saw I wasn’t moved at all, he started to panic. “Eve, do you… do you really not love me anymore?” I nodded. “Yes.
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West Coast East Heart Chapter 12 “But I don’t want it anymore.” “I don’t want a husband who has someone else in his heart. I don’t want a marriage where I’m the backup option.” “I don’t want to waste my energy on meaningless feelings. I want to focus without distraction on what I want to
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West Coast East Heart Chapter 11 “Eve, please don’t be like this.” He stepped forward, trying to take my hand. But I moved away from him. He faltered slightly. He didn’t seem used to my rejection. “Eve, you’ve changed.” I laughed. “This is the real me.” I looked him straight in the eye. “Adrian, I’ve
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West Coast East Heart Chapter 10 Wasn’t she supposed to revolve around him? Going back to California, joining that startup company—was it really that important? More important than him? He couldn’t understand. I strode toward the exit. At the door, the Nexagen chauffeur held up a sign with my name on it. “Dr. Reed, welcome
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West Coast East Heart Chapter 09 He was speechless. He spoke awkwardly. “Let me explain…” “No need.” I cut him off. “Adrian, five years ago, I gave up a chance at SpaceX for you.” “But you—have you ever given up anything for me?” “You haven’t. And you still wanted me to give up my career.
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