Missing Love Chapter 1

To be worthy of Ethan Carter, I worked tirelessly to better myself.

But Ethan said I neglected him and grew cold toward him.

He said this version of me wasn't cute or gentle—that I'd become a stranger.

I wanted to say: if I don't do this, no one will respect me.

He said: Does that matter? Just hold onto me, isn't that enough?

Stubborn as I was, I refused to back down.

And so, we drifted further and further apart...

Until he held Vanessa Stone's hand and confronted me face to face.

I knew then that I'd finally lost.

How could ten years of quiet devotion compete with a vibrant soul?

But if I left, would his heart ache at all?

I'd known Ethan Carter for over ten years. We'd been engaged for three.

I thought that even without passionate, soul-stirring love, we should at least have the bond of ten years walking side by side.

But he still ignored my pleas and stubbornly refused to attend the brand gala organized by the company.

I asked him in confusion: Is it the end of the world today? Why are you so determined to go against me?

Hearing my accusation, he looked up at me, his eyes growing dark and unreadable.

"Summer, is work really that important? If this event succeeds, you'll be up for another promotion, won't you?"

"But what does that have to do with me... I need to go see Vanessa now. Please move."

Vanessa. Vanessa Stone. Always that name!

Every time he said that name with such sweet affection, my heart contracted painfully.

I was his fiancée, yet he never showed me an ounce of concern—while showing deep, unwavering devotion to Vanessa Stone.

Seeing my distressed expression, his spoiled rich-boy temper flared. He impatiently tried to leave.

I immediately stepped forward and grabbed his sleeve, pleading: "Ethan, you're not a child anymore. Today's brand gala is crucial for most of our company's revenue for the next year. You—"

But before I could finish, he shook off my hand and said coldly: "Summer, the company has the Carter name. You haven't even married into the Carter family yet..."

Wearing nearly four-inch heels, I twisted my ankle when he shook me off and fell to the ground. A sharp pain shot through my knee, and I couldn't help crying out...

Hearing my cry of pain, Ethan's steps faltered. He instinctively reached out his hand, but ultimately pulled it back.

As if unwilling to spare me even a moment's pity, he got in his car and drove away.

I didn't know what hurt more—my body or my heart. Tears fell inexplicably.

I never imagined he'd grown to loathe me this much.

He used to hold me when I was sad and helpless.

He used to tell me, when I doubted myself, that he would always believe in me.

But in the end, I pushed him too far away.

Back then, I was determined to establish myself at the company and neglected him too much...

When he was sick, I sent my personal assistant to care for him.

When he was drunk, I was even more intoxicated and unconscious...

He said he needed me. What did I say? I said, Ethan, can you stop clinging to me all the time...

Finally, I got the position I wanted, but he'd already seen through my cold, unfeeling heart.

He said: Summer, you really don't understand love. I loved you so much—all you had to do was hold onto me. Why did you have to kill yourself working at the company?

His question left me speechless.

I wanted to tell him I didn't want to be just a parasitic vine clinging to him.

I was different from him. Life's hardships had made me clear-eyed and independent.

...

But Vanessa Stone was different. Vanessa was willing to depend on him, accompany him, go along with him.

He said he'd fallen in love with Vanessa Stone.

Being with her meant no constraints, only freedom. No neglect, only companionship.

Who was Vanessa Stone?

She was the personal assistant I'd hired over everyone's objections.

She was the person I sent to care for Ethan when he needed my company.

I pitied her because she shared my humble origins, yet life's hardships hadn't dimmed her burning vitality.

And how did she repay me?

At the company, right under my nose, she fell in love with my fiancé...

The first time I saw them holding hands, I was shocked beyond words.

I watched them for a long time, waiting for Ethan to explain. But he held Vanessa Stone's hand without letting go for even a moment.

What did I do then?

I walked straight to Vanessa Stone and raised my hand to slap her face.

But Ethan was faster. He grabbed my arm and said in my ear: "Summer, I call you 'sister' out of respect. What right do you have to hit Vanessa? Weren't you the one who sent her to me?"

Hearing this, I looked at him with humiliation. So this was what he'd always thought of me.

Ethan released my arm and directly took Vanessa Stone's hand, leaving the company.

Vanessa Stone—whom I'd once thought warm, caring, and like-minded—now wore the victor's smile.

And I stood there, utterly defeated, in the center of the lobby.

Everything around me was silent. My colleagues didn't make a sound. I suddenly realized they'd all known. I was the only one kept in the dark.

No wonder, no wonder...

Of course. Until I actually married Ethan and entered the Carter family, I was an outsider.

At that moment, I was more humiliated than I'd ever been.

People at the company always followed the prevailing wind, and that wind was entirely controlled by Ethan.

Everyone believed the Carter family's woman wouldn't always be me.

I was just an orphan with a verbal engagement, dependent on the Carter family.

No matter how hard I'd worked all these years.