After that conversation with his mother, Ethan felt utterly broken. He was shaking with nervous tension, and even developed a fever. He ended up in the infirmary, where doctors were puzzled, but the cause was his emotional turmoil.
A week later, Ethan managed to calm down a bit. He forced himself to bury the pain of betrayal deep inside and decided to let Emily live as she pleased, wanting nothing more to do with her. He served the rest of his term honorably, but right after discharge, he signed a contract to continue his military career.
At first, life seemed calm, but then one conflict followed another, and over four years, Ethan never returned home, though he could have taken leave. He hadn’t stopped missing home and his parents, but the fear of running into Emily was too strong. As a paratrooper, Ethan feared not the enemy but the possibility of meeting the girl who betrayed him.
He was afraid his heart wouldn’t bear it, that anger and resentment would overwhelm him, and he wouldn’t be able to control himself. His parents worried that their son seemed to have forgotten the way home. They constantly asked him to visit, even for a few days, but he always found an excuse, saying his superiors wouldn’t grant leave.
One evening, sitting by a campfire during drills, a fellow soldier named Ryan asked Ethan, “Why don’t you ever talk about your girlfriend? You must’ve had a love story, right?” Ethan smiled, but sadness flickered in his eyes. “There was one, sure, but things didn’t turn out the way I hoped.” Ryan clapped him on the shoulder.
“If you love her, go back and figure it out. Real love doesn’t just vanish.” But one day, Ethan’s unit commander called him in and said the recruitment office from his hometown had contacted them.
His mother had complained that her son was being unfairly denied leave for years. The commander, surprised, asked, “You’ve been taking leave, haven’t you?” Ethan nodded. “Sure, I take it, but I haven’t gone home once.”
“Why not?” the commander pressed, puzzled. “I just don’t want to,” Ethan replied curtly, knowing a trip home meant facing not just his parents but the past he was trying to forget. “Trouble with your parents? Or did your girl not wait for you?” the commander guessed.
He sensed the real reason lay in the second option. He advised Ethan to let go of the fickle girl who betrayed him but insisted he must visit his parents. “It’s not right to treat family like that,” he added regretfully.
So Ethan had to go home to ease his mother’s worries. He was on a train that had been heading to his hometown for three days.
During a stop at a junction station, where the train stood for about 30 minutes, Ethan decided to stretch his legs on the platform, hoping to buy some snacks at the station square. Reaching the first food stall, he joined the line among the bustling passengers.
He glanced at his watch and the train, careful not to miss his departure. Suddenly, from a distance, he noticed a young woman with a child, standing out among the crowd. She wore old but clean clothes, and her shoes were heavily worn.
The boy, about three years old, also looked neat, though his clothes were simple. The woman held his hand tightly, occasionally speaking to passersby. Though Ethan couldn’t hear her words, he quickly realized she was begging for money.
The sight stirred a visceral disgust in him. He felt slightly nauseated at the thought of these ubiquitous beggars. Ethan stood, bewildered, watching the woman approach him.
There was something familiar in her walk and gaze. At first, he couldn’t place it, but then he recognized her. It was Emily.
Her eyes widened in shock when their gazes met. In the next moment, she quickly turned, scooped up the boy, and hurried in the opposite direction. Ethan instinctively chased after her, unsure why he was doing it.
He needed to talk to her, though he couldn’t explain why. His heart churned with emotions, the resentment he’d harbored mixing with a strange sense of pity and a need to understand. He caught up to her by his train car and grabbed her shoulders.
“Emily, stop!” he shouted, his voice insistent and almost aggressive. She froze and turned to him. Her face was contorted with pain and despair.
The boy, whom she held tightly, began to cry, sensing his mother’s distress. Tears streamed down Emily’s face, and the sight deeply moved Ethan. In the next moment, he felt his own heart clench with pain.
“Shh, shh, sweetheart! Please, calm down!” he repeated, his voice full of confusion and helplessness. He didn’t know where to begin, how to handle the situation, but he kept hold of her hand to prevent her from running again. Suddenly, he heard her voice, laced with fear.
“You’re hurting me!” she said, snapping Ethan back to reality. He realized he was causing her pain and quickly let go. His heart pounded wildly, but he could no longer hold back.
Ethan cried out in desperation, “Don’t run! We need to talk! I have a right to know, and I want the truth!” Emily turned to leave again but stopped, hearing his sincere words. “Emily, I know you didn’t wait for me.
I was furious and didn’t want to see you. But since we’ve met, let’s finally talk. What happened to you? Why do you look like this? And what are you doing here?” Ethan blurted out.
But Emily only shook her head in silence. At that moment, a young conductor shouted, “Soldier! The train’s leaving! Get on board!” Ethan looked at Emily and her child and felt he couldn’t leave them.
Despite the betrayal, he felt obligated to help her. “I’m not going!” he yelled to the conductor. “Can you grab my stuff from the car?” The conductor’s eyes widened in surprise, and she opened her mouth to protest but then waved her hand and went to fulfill the strange passenger’s request.
Soon, standing on the platform, Ethan caught his suitcases and bag. He looked around anxiously, relieved to see Emily still there, not having fled. The tears on her face had dried, and the boy, pressed close to her chest, was peacefully dozing.
They sat on a bench in the station square, both struggling to find words, and for a while, they just sat in silence. Finally, Ethan broke the quiet. “My mom told me about your pregnancy.
“She saw you by chance, with a big belly,” he began. “But it’s obvious the child isn’t mine. We never did anything.
Why didn’t you explain what happened? You could’ve at least written or called. I was going crazy with worry.” Emily gave a bitter smile.
“Your mom told you a lot, and you believed her? How could I not believe?” Ethan replied. “You just vanished, cut off all contact. And now I see you with a kid,” he gestured toward the sleeping boy resting in Emily’s arms.
“Yes, there’s a child,” Emily whispered. “But you don’t know the whole truth. I’ll tell you everything.
And you can decide whether to believe me or not.” And she began her story. Four years ago, after Ethan left, Emily went to a community college to submit her application.
Her documents were accepted, and she had a good chance of being admitted. Leaving the college, she ran into Tyler, a former classmate and Ethan’s friend. He offered to give her a ride in his car.
Emily agreed, and on the way, he offered her coffee, saying he’d “just bought it from a machine.” She drank it, unsuspecting. Within minutes, she lost consciousness, and when she woke up, she was in bed with Tyler, with no memory of what happened.
Tyler, with a vile grin, shamelessly said he enjoyed it and had an “interesting video” he planned to show Ethan. Emily was devastated, sobbing with shame and pain. Tyler, showing her the recording, cruelly mocked her suffering.
When she tried to go to the police, Tyler reminded her that his uncle was a cop, and her efforts would be futile. “No one will even take your statement. Keep your mouth shut, or you’ll regret it,” he warned sternly.
Tyler had always craved attention. His parents worked long hours, often leaving him alone with the streets and TV. He learned early that love and recognition could be won through cunning, and he quietly envied Ethan’s family, success, and friends.
When Ethan won Emily’s heart, Tyler felt he had to take that from him, to feel truly significant for once. Emily was horrified that her beloved’s friend could be so despicable. In tears, she returned home, unsure of what to do next.
She spent the night crying, her only comfort being her mother, who urged her to go to the police. But Emily, fearing publicity, chose to try to forget it. She waited for Ethan, intending to tell him everything, but dreaded his reaction.
At seven months pregnant, a fire broke out in their home due to faulty wiring. Emily and her mother barely escaped, left homeless. Learning of this, Linda seized the opportunity and quickly offered “help.”
Emily and her mother moved to an elderly aunt in a neighboring county. Soon, Emily gave birth to a son, whom she named Ethan, in memory of her first and only love. Her aunt, Margaret, was a strict but kind-hearted woman.
She always said, “Don’t pity yourself, dear. Hardships are just steps upward.” Margaret took in her niece and her mother in her modest home until another tragedy struck.