Part 3The High School Sweetheart's Betrayal

Just after dinner, there was an urgent knock on the door.

I opened it to find Ethan's parents, looking anxious.

"Maya, do you know where Ethan went? He sent us a message and then stopped answering calls. He has the SATs tomorrow, where could he have gone?"

My mom looked at me too.

"Maya, you're usually with Ethan..."

"Auntie, I don't know."

I interrupted my mom and looked at Ethan's mother.

"Maya, do you know where he usually goes?"

I forced an awkward smile.

"Auntie, I really don't know..."

Ethan's mom, getting no leads, shook her head and left helplessly.

As soon as the door closed, my dad poked his head out.

"Had a fight with Ethan? You really don't know where he is?"

I smiled at my dad and went back to my room.

Of course I wouldn't tell. Let him enjoy his wonderful night with Bella!

My mom was the head of the Parent-Teacher Association, so she dragged me and Dad to volunteer at the exam center early in the morning.

As soon as we arrived, we saw Ethan's anxious parents.

Seeing me, they rushed over.

Mrs. Davis followed closely behind.

"Maya, Ethan didn't come home all night. Weren't you together at school yesterday? Did he tell you where he was going?!"

Mrs. Davis also asked, "Maya, you know how important this exam is to Ethan. It's about to start, and he's nowhere to be found. Think hard, where could he be?"

Looking at Ethan's frantic parents, I felt a pang of sympathy.

But the image of my parents' tragic death in my past life flashed in my mind.

I gritted my teeth and looked up at them.

"I really don't know..."

Mrs. Davis sighed and patted Ethan's mom on the shoulder.

"Maya is a good kid, maybe she really doesn't know. Let's try to find him another way..."

But I knew they wouldn't find him...

Bella didn't want Ethan to take the exam.

Ethan was probably passed out in some hotel room right now...

Sure enough, the exam started, and Ethan didn't show up...

Ethan's parents were ordinary working-class people.

To let Ethan focus on his studies, his mom quit her job to take care of him full-time.

His dad worked three jobs, sleeping only three hours a day.

They worked hard for over a decade to lift Ethan to this point.

But the obedient, sensible Ethan disappeared right before the exam...

The moment the exam center gates closed, Ethan's mom collapsed, wailing in despair...

"Mom..."

Finally, just as the first exam was ending, a pale, staggering Ethan appeared at the gate.

His mom sprang up from the ground and rushed towards him, slapping him across the face.

"You bastard! Where the hell have you been...?!"

I was cooling off with my parents nearby. Just as I was about to stand up, Ethan spoke.

"Mom, it was Maya! Yesterday at school, she confessed her feelings to me. When I rejected her, she held a grudge, drugged me, and took me to a hotel. I just woke up! Maya ruined my life..."