Part 2Severed Ties: No Looking Back

2

Ethan and I knew each other in college, but we weren't close – more like a nod-in-the-hallway kind of thing.

We actually got familiar after graduation.

I lucked out and found a great mentor who took me under her wing, dragging me to client meetings all over. In just a few years, I became the top salesperson.

Meanwhile, Ethan was just starting his own company. He’d just landed some seed funding and was desperately trying to recruit people.

We bumped into each other randomly. Old classmates catching up, naturally, we talked about what we were doing.

That’s how we started talking more.

He’d tell me about his struggles, how hard starting a business was, how lonely he felt.

I’d listen, offer comfort, try to cheer him up.

Slowly, things got… blurry. Flirty, maybe? But neither of us crossed that line.

Until one night, Ethan called me after having too much to drink at a client dinner.

“Lauren,” he slurred, his words fuzzy, but I got the gist. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Come work with me,” he added. “Let’s build this thing together.”

My heart fluttered. I felt for him, too.

Yeah, he was out there grinding all alone, no one really in his corner.

That night, I held the phone, thinking for a long time. Eventually, I said yes.

Ethan was ecstatic. “Thank you, Lauren. Thank you.”

He was rambling a bit, but I could feel his genuine excitement and warmth.

I smiled, but that good feeling didn’t last long.

The day I submitted my resignation, my mentor – the one who’d basically trained me – called.

She was quiet for a long moment on the other end. “Lauren, are you really throwing away years of hard work for some guy?”

“I’m planning to leave in a few years,” she said. “My position would have been yours. You’d be the youngest executive in the company.”

My response was firm. “Ethan and I are going to build something together. Our own future.”

My mentor didn’t argue further. She just sighed heavily and hung up.

I threw myself headfirst into Ethan’s tiny startup.

It was brand new. No real investment yet, barely any staff, no connections.

For years, Ethan and I worked ourselves ragged. There was one stretch where we didn’t even see each other for three whole months, too busy even to text.

Even when we had downtime, it was just quick, exhausted meetups.

Ethan would hold me, his voice laced with guilt. “Maybe I should be the only one hitting the road for sales. I hate seeing you like this.”

He wasn't wrong. In just a year, I’d lost over fifteen pounds. People used to say I had a nice figure; now I was just skin and bones.

But I didn’t care. Love gave me courage and determination.

“Ethan,” I said, looking him straight in the eye. “I will help you make this work.”

Later on, when Ethan’s health wasn’t great, I took over most of his workload.

Business trips? I went.

Client dinners and negotiations? Me again.

Recruiting talent? My job too.

The company started taking off, gaining momentum. Finally, I could breathe a little and think about myself.

Ethan and I had been together for six years. Maybe… maybe it was time to get married?

Whenever I brought it up, Ethan would get vague, changing the subject.

Love had blinded me. I ignored the weirdness.

The company was just getting stable, he must still be overwhelmed, no time to think about marriage, right?

One day, I came back to the office after a long trip. I was standing outside his office door with some files when I heard him on the phone.

“...I still want to wait a little longer.”

“Maybe! Who knows, maybe she’ll come back someday?”

I couldn’t hear the other person, but Ethan’s face fell.

“If that’s what she wants.” He took a deep breath. “I understand.”

I knocked, put the files on his desk. He hung up quickly. I didn’t think much of it.

The very next day, completely out of the blue, Ethan proposed.

It was exactly what I thought I wanted.

Surrounded by cheering friends, I happily accepted.

Everything after that felt like fast-forward: wedding, pregnancy.

But after I got pregnant, Ethan said to me:

“The company’s stable now. You and the baby are what’s important.” He looked sincere. “You’ve worked so hard for years. It’s time you relaxed and enjoyed things.”

I agreed.

I cherished our first child. I stayed home, took it easy, eagerly waiting for the baby to arrive.

Once I stepped back from the company, Ethan started coming home later and later.

Maybe work picked up without me there, I reasoned.

Soon, I didn't have time to dwell on it.

After the baby was born, all my focus shifted. He was born a bit early, had some health issues, needed constant watching.

I didn't notice Ethan's presence in our home fading more and more.

Until today, watching that interview, it finally clicked.

Maybe he hadn't needed me, or this family, for a long time now.