Until one night, everything shattered.
It wasn't the kind of grief that screamed — it broke quietly, like glass under pressure. Ethan received the call. Mira was gone. She had taken her own life.
For a long moment, everything around him went still — the ticking of the clock, the light in the room, even the sound of his own breathing. Then the world came crashing in all at once. The phone slipped from his hand, hitting the floor with a hollow echo. His knees gave out, and the sound that tore from his chest didn't even sound human.
"What do you mean she's gone?" he whispered, again and again. "She was fine. She was happy. Just... dealing with normal problems, right? She told me. We met just days ago — she said she was okay. What do you mean she's gone?"
He couldn't stop the words from spilling out. This isn't true. It can't be true. She wouldn't do this. She couldn't.
When he went to the funeral home, the reality hit harder. Her family was there, weeping with a grief so deep it filled the air. Still, Ethan couldn't believe it. He couldn't accept it.
How can she be gone? he thought, staring at the stillness of the room. She was supposed to be happy. She told me she was happy.
He shook his head, tears blurring his vision. "I don't get it," he whispered. "How can my Lara be gone?"
auntie jessa laras moher gived him a letter it was found in laras house they thought he has the right to know and read it. read the letter lara wrote for them for him.
To Mom and Dad,
I am very sorry. I can't handle it anymore. I'm sorry I'm weak. I cannot keep fighting and inflict so much pain on all of you. I know I have been loved all my life.
Mom, I love you so much. I'm sorry you have to witness me go first. You must be crying right now, right? I'm sorry, Mom and Dad. Your baby girl is too weak. I'm sorry for lying and for not telling you.
My husband — he doesn't love me. He cheated, and once I found out, he didn't even try to hide it anymore. I tried to save our marriage by giving him more chances, but everything just got worse. He started bringing women into our house. He started beating me... and more.
I wish I had left when it started. How I wish I hadn't given him any chances. I tried to live through it, I tried to fight for you all, but he constantly harassed me, and I didn't want you to be hurt because of it. So I hid it. I'm sorry.
To Ethan — my Ethan.
I'm sorry. I know you must be feeling sad right now, right? I'm sorry for hiding it all away. Please don't be so sad, don't cry. I know this must be too painful, and I'm sorry.
You were the only one who ever saw me — truly saw me. You made me feel like I wasn't invisible.
I loved you quietly, the way the sky loves the ocean — always close, but never able to touch. He found out, Ethan. He saw it in my eyes — the way I looked at you, the way your name softened my voice. And everything changed after that. The anger, the words, the fear — it never stopped.
I thought I could fix it, that I could earn peace by staying. But the pain became louder than everything else.
Please don't hate yourself for this. You gave me something real — a kind of love that never asked for anything in return. Hold on to that. Hold on for both of us.
Ethan, I loved you too. I'm sorry I was scared, a coward. I didn't try choosing you. I was afraid to ruin our friendship, but now I wish I had. I wish I'd taken the risk, even if it ruined everything — maybe then we could've been something more, maybe I could've made you happier.
If there's another place beyond this, I hope I find the version of me you remember — the one who laughed too loud and never had to hide her heart.
I'll miss you forever.
Lara
Ethan didn't realize he was crying until the ink began to blur beneath his tears. The paper trembled in his hands, every line searing itself into his chest. He wanted to scream her name, to run to wherever she was, to tell her she wasn't alone — not then, not ever. But the room was silent. Too silent. He pressed the letter to his heart, whispering through the sobs that shook him: "I was there, Mira. I was always there." The guilt clawed at him, savage and endless. If only I'd told her. If only I'd gone to her. If only she'd known. And in the quiet that followed, he finally understood the cruelest truth of all — that love, no matter how deep, sometimes arrives too late to save the ones who needed it most.
Days bled into nights. Meals went untouched, words stayed trapped in his throat, and the world around him lost all color, all warmth. Every memory of Mira replayed relentlessly in his mind — the curve of her smile when he told a bad joke, the way she waited for him by the school gate, always patient, always bright. He felt their absence like a weight pressing into his chest, heavy enough to make breathing feel impossible.
One evening, drawn by a force he couldn't name, Ethan found himself wandering the empty halls of their old school. The air smelled faintly of chalk and dust, and the silence pressed close, almost reverent. He closed his eyes and let the memories wash over him — her laughter echoing down the corridors, her hand brushing his by accident, the way the sunlight used to catch her hair.
His chest tightened. Every step echoed like a heartbeat against the floor. He remembered the day after the funeral — the way grief had twisted into something darker. Rage. He'd gone to see him — Lara's husband.
He didn't plan it. The moment he saw the man's face, that cold, empty stare, something inside Ethan snapped. The words didn't matter — the apologies, the excuses. All he could see were the bruises Lara had hidden, the tears she never let fall. His fist met the man's jaw before he even realized he'd moved. Once, twice — a blur of fury and heartbreak.
When it was over, Ethan stood there, shaking, knuckles bleeding, tears blurring his vision. "You don't get to say her name," he whispered, voice raw. Then he turned and walked away.
Now, standing in that quiet hallway, the fight felt like a lifetime ago — just another echo of the pain he couldn't escape. He pressed a hand to the wall, eyes closing once more. In the stillness, he could almost hear her voice — soft, warm, alive.
A single whisper escaped his lips, fragile as a prayer. "If I could go back… I'd choose differently."
And for the first time since she was gone, the weight in his chest felt almost unbearable — a mix of grief, regret, and the impossible longing for what could never be. He stumbled to the nearest bench, fingers shaking as he pulled a half-empty bottle from his bag. The bitter liquid burned his throat as he swallowed, a small attempt to silence the chaos inside. But the alcohol didn't help; it only made the memories sharper, the ache more raw. And then, the world tilted. Darkness swallowed him.
When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the empty, dust-laden hall. He was back in his old classroom. The desks were polished, the sunlight spilled across the floor, and the air smelled faintly of chalk and old books. Laughter filled the room — bright, familiar, impossibly alive.
His uniform fit snugly, his old watch ticking softly on his wrist. Everything was vivid, impossibly perfect. And then he saw her. Lara. Radiant. Laughing. Running toward him with that same familiar grin that had haunted his dreams for so long. Time seemed to slow, and for a heartbeat, the impossible became real. His chest tightened, and tears threatened to spill.
"Lara…" His voice was barely a whisper, caught somewhere between disbelief and longing.
She stopped just a few feet away, eyes sparkling, hair catching the sunlight. And though he knew, deep down, that this was a memory, a dream, a fragment of a life lost, the warmth that spread through him felt real. For the first time in months, the unbearable weight in his chest lifted just enough to let him breathe. "Ethan! Ethan! You're spacing out again.!" she said, her voice bright and teasing, woried
Tears welled in his eyes. She didn't notice; she just smiled the way she always did. This time, he wouldn't stay silent. This time, he wouldn't let fear steal what could have been. Because maybe fate had given him a second chance—to ruin the friendship, to risk it all, and to finally love her the way he always wanted to.