The One He Loved Was Never Me Chapter 07
New York.
I never imagined that after five years, I’d find my way back to the place I’d once dreamed of.
Nathan—the senior from law school who’d extended that offer all those years ago—was now a partner at this boutique family law firm.
He was showing me around my new office. Small, but it had a window. Good light. Central Park’s green canopy spread out directly across the street.
“These are my case notes from the past few years.” He handed me a thick stack of binders. “Take your time getting familiar. Have you thought about what area you’d like to focus on?”
I took them and said quietly, “Family law. Marriage and domestic matters.”
He paused, then gently patted my shoulder. “These years… have you been okay?”
I smiled. “It’s all behind me now.”
“I just realized—women in marriages and families so often go unseen. I want to help them.”
Consider it helping the person I used to be.
He nodded warmly, a glint of admiration in his eyes.
“I wasn’t wrong about you. You’re still that same resilient, composed Emily.”
Then he handed me a small gift box.
“I believe your birthday was last week—and it happens to coincide with your first day. A little welcomeslashbirthday gift. See if you like it?”
I froze for a moment, caught off guard.
Someone I hadn’t seen in five years—and he remembered my birthday.
Inside the box was a delicate silver chain with a Möbius strip pendant.
His voice was soft: “Life takes us in circles. But I hope you arrive wherever it is you want to go.”
My lashes trembled. My eyes reddened. I nodded, firm and resolute.
I will.
Over the next few days, I buried myself in study—my head full of the differences between California and New York family law.
So when I stepped out of the firm’s building after work and saw that familiar figure by the curb, I thought I was hallucinating.
Until Ethan grabbed my wrist, his eyes rimmed in red.
The warmth of his grip was real. Undeniable. I snapped back to the present.
“Emily, it’s been seven days. I finally found you…”
His voice shook. He stared at me, unblinking—eye sockets sunken, jaw shadowed with stubble.
“Stop this, okay? Come home with me!”
He pulled at my arm, already trying to walk.
I didn’t move. I withdrew my hand.
“Ethan, did you not see the divorce agreement?”
I asked it quietly.
His gaze hardened. He reached for me again, stubborn. “Emily, that doesn’t count! I don’t agree to it!”
I was about to step back when a hand appeared from behind me—longfingered, steady—and blocked his advance.
Nathan’s voice was light. Unhurried. But every word landed with precision:
“Sir, I’d suggest you step back. She’s clearly not interested.”
Ethan’s face went cold. “Who the hell are you? This is between me and my wife—what gives you the right to interfere?”
I lowered my gaze and laughed, bitter and quiet.
So he did understand that marriage involved two people. Not three.
I raised my head, expression calm. “Ethan, there’s nothing between us left to discuss. The only connection we still share is that divorce agreement.”
His face drained of color, the rims of his eyes burning red. “Emily—over a plate of shrimp, you’d divorce me? You’d be cruel enough to throw away our child?”
“Yes. And no—not entirely.”
I tilted my head to look up at him. “Ethan, do you even remember what day my birthday is? Do you know what I’m allergic to? Do you know which necklace is my favorite?”
With each question, his face lost another shade of color.
I smiled faintly. “Let me rephrase. If I replaced my name with Megan’s—could you answer every one?”
Cold sweat broke out at his temples. His voice was sandpaper. “Emily…”
I didn’t respond. I stepped around him and kept walking.
“Wait!”
He stumbled after me, blocking my path, head bowed, every line of his face carved with regret.
“Emily, I’m sorry. I know you’ve been wronged for years—it’s my fault. I always thought Megan was fragile, so I ended up favoring her more than I should have…”
His throat worked. He choked back whatever was rising. His eyes begged.
“But the only reason I favored her at all was because I love you. If she weren’t your sister, I wouldn’t have given her a second thought. Emily—I swear I’ll put you first from now on. I’ll change. Just trust me one more time. Please?”
I thought of a long time ago. That Ethan—the one who blushed just holding my hand—had made the exact same kind of solemn promise.
“You will always be my first choice.”
Back then, I’d believed him.
But this time, I lowered my head and spoke, word by word:
“Ethan, I don’t believe you.”
“Because you said the same thing last time.”