Love Like Falling Embers

Summary

Twenty-two years. That’s how long we’d been inseparable, my childhood sweetheart and I. And finally, I was getting what I’d always dreamed of: a proposal from Ethan.

Our friends, ecstatic, threw us a party, goading us to interlock arms for a celebratory toast. I shyly raised my glass, moving closer to Ethan. But the man who had only ever been gentle with me suddenly shoved me away. Hard.

I crashed to the floor, the shards of my champagne flute slicing into my palm. Ethan just stared down at me, his eyes cold as he spat, "Have you no shame?"