Ficorpio
Chapter 1
The first time I saw Ethan Sterling after his five-year disappearance was at my best friend’s wedding.
He was the groom.
I was the maid of honor.
Olivia beamed as she pulled me aside and eagerly shared their love story.
“I was the one who saved him after his car accident. I heard he had a fiancée, but I flew him overseas for treatment that very night.”
She grinned, plainly proud of herself. “Pretty badass move, right?”
Olivia kept talking, but I couldn’t make out another word. A piercing buzz drowned out everything around me.
Five years. Nearly two thousand days and nights.
The man I loved most had been hidden from me by my best friend for five whole years.
I bent over, struggling for breath as violent tremors racked my body.
When Olivia saw my face, she hurriedly supported me and led me into the bridal suite.
“Claire, what’s wrong?” she asked cautiously. “Is your depression acting up again?”
For five years, I had searched for Ethan everywhere. I had traveled to countless places, questioned more people than I could remember, covered the city with missing-person posters, and paid to boost online campaigns about his disappearance.
Even his family had eventually given up.
I was the only one who kept searching.
On more nights than I could count, I had stood beside busy roads, tempted to end the life that despair had swallowed whole.
And now it had all become one cruel joke.
I looked down at the scars crisscrossing my right hand, each one split open and healed again. My eyes burned, and pain tore through my heart as if it were being ripped apart.
Olivia sighed. “You’re thinking about your fiancé again, aren’t you? Claire, stop looking for him. It’s been so long. For all you know, he died years ago.”
She gave my arm a reassuring pat. “I’ll arrange a dinner sometime and have you meet one of Ethan’s close friends.”
The moment she finished speaking, Ethan walked in.
He wore a black suit that emphasized his tall, straight frame. He looked exactly as he had five years ago.
Our eyes met.
His gaze swept over me without the slightest change in expression. Then he stepped past me and began adjusting Olivia’s bridal gown.
The groomsmen followed him inside. They were the same friends from years ago, and I recognized most of them.
When they saw me, hesitation flickered in their eyes. They looked as though they wanted to say something, but none of them did.
Until that moment, I could still have comforted myself with the possibility that Ethan had lost his memory. Maybe that was why he hadn’t come back. Maybe that was why he no longer remembered me.
But the presence of those old friends destroyed that last fragile excuse.
He hadn’t lost his memory.
He remembered everything.
He simply didn’t love me anymore.
Chapter 2
“Honey, make sure your friends don’t leave tonight,” Olivia said quickly. “We should all stay and celebrate.”
Then she shot me a meaningful look.
Ethan nodded carelessly without sparing me another glance.
It was as though we had never known each other.
I slowly closed my eyes. It felt as if someone had seized my heart, torn it from my chest, and thrown it into a raging fire.
I had never felt pain like this.
I desperately needed an outlet before the frenzy inside me tore me apart.
I shot to my feet and rushed into the restroom. Without stopping, I slammed my forehead against the wall.
A dull thud echoed through the room.
Blood instantly poured from the wound.
My body swayed, and my vision blurred. Barely managing to stay upright, I leaned against the wall and slowly slid to the floor, agony drilling through me.
Again and again, I knocked the back of my head against the wall.
It seemed to be the only thing that could bring even a moment of relief.
It hurt too much.
It truly hurt too much.
I curled into myself as countless pinpricks of pain spread across my chest.
Then a soft laugh escaped me.
“Ethan Sterling,” I whispered. “So you really don’t want me anymore…”
When I stepped out of the restroom, the wedding had already begun.
Knowing I was in no state to participate, Olivia had found someone to take my place at the last minute.
I stood at the very back of the venue, watching Olivia smile sweetly as she said, “I do.”
Ethan Sterling dropped solemnly to one knee and took out the wedding ring, sliding it onto her finger.
A sharp stab of jealousy rose inside me.
I wanted to rush forward and stop them. I wanted to demand that Olivia tell me why she had stolen my fiancé.
Why had she hidden him from me? Why had she let me spend five years searching for him?
More than anything, I wanted to ask Ethan why he had pretended not to know me.
Why hadn’t he come looking for me when he returned? Why had everyone kept the truth from me?
I wanted to tear this wedding apart.
But I didn’t.
I simply sat in the corner and, after they exchanged their vows, started applauding.
I clapped so loudly that people around me turned to stare.
I paid them no attention. When Ethan looked in my direction, I met his eyes.
For one suspended moment, we stared at each other.
My nose burned. The tears I had been holding back spilled down my cheeks.
Ethan’s brow shifted almost imperceptibly before he looked away. His dark, unreadable eyes held not the slightest trace of emotion.
I clenched my hands until my nails dug into my palms.
I think I might be losing my mind.
I took out my phone and typed him a message.
【Ethan Sterling, I don’t want to wish you a happy marriage.】
【I curse you. I curse you to spend the rest of your life wanting things you can never have.】
Chapter 3
The next second, I laughed at my own stupidity.
The woman he loved had already married him.
My curse couldn’t possibly affect them.
I went home before the wedding ended. If I stayed any longer, I was afraid I would truly lose control.
Three years earlier, when Ethan’s messages had stopped once again, I had tried to kill myself.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t died. My neighbor had found me and rushed me to the hospital.
When I woke, Margaret Sterling held my hand with tears streaming down her face.
“Please, Claire. You have to keep living. Live for his sake.”
But a world without Ethan was unbearably painful.
We had met when we were six. We fell in love in high school. Right after graduating from college, we chose a date to legally register our marriage.
But he was in a car accident on the way to the Marriage Registrar’s Office, and after that, he vanished without a trace.
I had gone to the police station countless times. I had questioned every stranger who had been at the accident scene.
The answer was always the same.
No one had seen him.
Now he was back.
But he didn’t love me anymore.
I drifted into a restless sleep. When I woke again, I picked up my phone.
There were missed calls from Olivia and messages of comfort from Margaret Sterling.
And one reply that stood out.
It contained only a single, icy word:
Get lost.
A bitter laugh escaped me. So the concern I’d thought was sincere meant nothing to him. In his eyes, it was nothing more than a joke.
I shut myself away completely and began spending entire nights unable to sleep.
My hair fell out in handfuls. I didn’t leave the apartment for ten days, and I lost weight so quickly I could see it happening. I had always been thin, but now I looked as though there was nothing left of me but bones.
Then Olivia came to my door after she couldn’t get through to me. Ethan Sterling was with her.
I hadn’t showered or changed clothes in ten days. There was a faint odor clinging to me.
Olivia didn’t care. She rushed forward, wrapped her arms around me, and tried to drag me to the hospital. I knew what she was afraid of.
I calmly pulled my hand free.
“I’m fine. Thank you.”
My tone was polite, but distant.
I didn’t know how to face Olivia. Was I supposed to hate her or wish her well?
I couldn’t do either. So my first instinct was to stay away from her.
She didn’t take offense at my sudden coldness. She simply assumed I was in a bad mood.
Olivia let out a long, heavy breath. “Can you please answer your phone from now on? Did you buy it just to leave it sitting there? Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”
“Starting today, my husband and I are moving in to keep you company. We’ll take care of you until you’re better.”
“Your refusal is denied. Denied, denied, denied.”
Her expression was serious, her voice firm. She was bright, warm, and endlessly considerate—the kind of person no one could help but love.
So it was no wonder Ethan had fallen for her.
My eyes moved to the figure standing behind her.