Chapter 1

The phone felt heavy in my hand, a cold, dead weight. It had been a year since I last heard her voice, a year of silence that felt like a lifetime. I dialed the number I still knew by heart, my thumb hovering over the call button.

My doctor' s words echoed in my head, a flat, clinical sentence that had ended my world. "Glioblastoma, stage four. I'm sorry, Ethan. We're talking months, maybe less."

I pressed the button. It rang once, then twice. I almost hung up, my courage failing me. Then she answered.

"Hello?"

Her voice was just as I remembered, a low, smooth sound that used to calm me down. Now, it just twisted something inside my chest.

"Olivia," I said, my own voice rough.

There was a long pause on the other end. "Ethan? Why are you calling me?" Her tone was cold, distant. Not surprised, just annoyed.

"I just wanted to say two things," I said, pushing the words out. "First, happy wedding day."

Silence again. I could picture her perfectly, her brow furrowed, her beautiful face hardening.

"How did you know?" she finally asked, her voice sharp.

"It doesn't matter," I said. "And the second thing… you once promised that you'd carry my coffin after I die."

The line went dead. She had hung up.

I stared at the black screen of my phone. That promise felt like a joke now, a bitter memory from another life. It was a year ago, before the diagnosis, before she shattered my heart into a million pieces. We were lying in bed, talking about the future, about forever. I' d made some stupid joke about dying first because I couldn' t live without her.

She had laughed, then turned serious, her eyes locking with mine. "If you die, Ethan, I promise I'll be there. I'll carry your coffin myself."

A week later, she left me. No explanation, just a cold, "It's over." I found out later she was with Liam Stone, a man I vaguely knew, a man who had everything I didn't. I begged, I pleaded, I tried to understand what I did wrong.

"I never loved you, Ethan," she had said, her face a mask of indifference. "It was a mistake. Liam is the one I want. Please, just leave me alone."

Her words broke me more than the illness ever could. The diagnosis just felt like an appropriate end to a life that had already lost its meaning.

That was why I was here, in this sterile, quiet room in Zurich, Switzerland. The window looked out over the calm lake, a peaceful view for a man about to end his life. The clinic had been very professional, very compassionate. They confirmed my diagnosis, reviewed my case, and scheduled my final appointment. It was tomorrow.

I had come here to die with some small piece of dignity, far from the wreckage of my life back home. I never expected to see her here.

But earlier today, walking by the lake for the last time, I saw her. Olivia. She was standing by the water, skipping stones across the surface, just like we used to. For a second, my heart leaped. I thought maybe she had found out, maybe she had come for me.

I took a step towards her, my mouth opening to say her name.

She turned then, but her eyes slid right past me, cold and empty. She didn't recognize me. Or maybe she just didn't want to. I was thinner now, the illness having stripped away the muscle and life from my body, but I was still me.

She looked at me for a moment longer, a flicker of something, maybe irritation, crossing her face. "Can I help you?" she asked, her voice sharp. "Are you following me?"

The accusation hit me like a physical blow. I felt the air leave my lungs. "Olivia, it's me. Ethan."

Her eyes widened slightly, then narrowed. "Ethan. What are you doing here?"

Before I could answer, a man came up behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist. Liam Stone. He looked perfect, healthy, and happy. He smiled down at Olivia, then looked at me, his smile faltering slightly.

"Liv, who's this?" he asked.

"No one," she said quickly, turning away from me. "Just an old acquaintance."

"Well, it's good to meet you," Liam said, extending a hand. He was polite, but his eyes were cold. "I'm Liam Stone. Olivia's fiancé. We're actually getting married tomorrow."

The words hung in the air, thick and suffocating. Tomorrow. My appointment was for tomorrow. The universe had a sick sense of humor. The day she started her new life would be the day I ended mine. The irony was so thick I could almost taste it.

I saw a flash of panic in Olivia's eyes before she smoothed it over, her expression becoming unreadable.

"What a coincidence," I said, my voice barely a whisper. I looked at Olivia, searching for any sign of the woman I once loved, any hint of remorse or sadness. There was nothing. Just a polished, cold surface.

"I... I wish you all the best," I managed to say. The words felt like ash in my mouth. I forced a smile, a pathetic, broken thing. "Congratulations."

I turned and walked away, not looking back. I didn't want them to see the single tear that escaped and traced a cold path down my cheek.