Chapter 4

Chloe was my best friend from college, and she was the only one who supported my decision to walk away.

Back in college, Ethan once asked me to meet him at the library to study.

Waking up at 7 AM on a Saturday wasn't easy. Even though I practically sprinted across campus, I was two minutes late.

Ethan sat there, arms crossed, his face dark with annoyance. "Maya, why do you have zero sense of time?"

"If you're like this at a job, are you going to keep clients waiting too? What if a million-dollar contract is on the line?"

I automatically started to apologize, but Chloe, who was just returning from a morning run, pulled me behind her.

"Waking up early on a Saturday just to study with you is torture enough. Maya is amazing for even showing up," Chloe snapped.

"And she was literally two minutes late. Do you really need to make a federal case out of it?"

From that day on, Ethan and Chloe hated each other.

But Chloe loved to praise me. If I got a B+, she cheered. If I passed my finals, she threw a mini-celebration. Even if I just managed to drag myself to an 8 AM lecture, she'd tell me I was doing great.

She'd say, "Don't listen to Ethan. Our Maya is the absolute best!"

That kind of validation was something I had never experienced in my twenty-something years of life.

Naturally, I loved spending time with her.

But Ethan despised her. "She only praises you to make you complacent. She's keeping you blind to your own flaws."

"Constructive criticism is the only way to grow. Pointing out your weaknesses is how I show I actually care about your future."

Whenever Chloe's name came up, Ethan's jaw would clench, and his lips would press into a thin, tight line.

I knew that look. It meant he was angry, and whenever he got angry, I was the one who got lectured.

I wanted to defend Chloe. I wanted to tell him she wasn't like that. But a familiar, paralyzing fear would creep over me, keeping me rooted to the spot.

I was terrified.

I was terrified of his anger, terrified of his disappointment.

When Chloe heard about it later, she just sighed. "Maya, when someone spends years chipping away at your self-esteem, it's incredibly hard to break free."

"Take your time."

So today, when I finally told her I had dumped him, Chloe was ecstatic.

She hugged me tightly and whispered, "Congratulations, babe. You're finally free."