Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
It was one thing for Ethan to know of her unfaithfulness. It was another thing entirely if the whole world knew about it as well, and Ethan flew to New York all at once after seeing the photos. He just wanted to be done with her once and for all, but the moment he saw Guilia again, it was like having the heavens playing a fucking joke on him.
"If you're here to break up with me," Guilia said with a catty-looking smile, "then you should've just sent a text."
Bitchy as always, but God...
It was also the first time he had seen Guilia looking at him with love in her eyes.
THE NEXT THREE YEARS for Ethan and Guilia were tumultuous at best and acrimoniously volatile at worst. By now, Guilia knew that Ethan genuinely loved her, but somehow the knowledge only made her want to hurt him more. When all she wanted to do was love him back, Guilia found herself doing everything that would kill his feelings
Stop loving me, damn you!
Stop! Stop! Stop!
But nothing seemed to work. Ethan never left her side. Never tired of asking her what was wrong. Never stopped loving her.
And it terrified her.
To the point that she found herself unable to stop destroying him. She just couldn't seem to help herself. She just kept pushing and pushing and pushing...until finally, Ethan did what she expected him to do.
He left her, loving and hating her, and that was fine with Guilia. All that mattered was that Ethan never knew the truth, and if keeping him in the dark meant being alone for the rest of her life...that was fine, too.
Part Two
Chapter One
OUT-OF-STATE SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS NOW AVAILABLE
All travel expenses covered
Excellent pay and inclusive of board and lodging
Email list of requirements below if interested.
Sixteen-year-old Anah Blakely had been beyond excited when she saw the newly-posted notice on her high school's bulletin board. She had asked for her parents' permission to apply for it as soon as she had gotten home and was able to submit her application the very next day. It had taken a while to hear back, but she eventually received the response she was hoping for.
And so here she was in Hartland, Wyoming three weeks later, and Anah was still pinching herself like mad. Hartland wasn't anything like the small Texan town she grew up in. Since San Antonio was only half an hour away, it sometimes felt that Evergreen was simply an extension of the city, and the locals hadn't felt any need to build a community of their own.
Hartland, however, was wonderfully different. It stole Anah's heart from the very first moment she stepped off the bus, with its cozy but vibrant vibe that somehow felt like this strange, whimsical fusion of the Wild Wild West and the chic side of Paris. Historic buildings, made either of brick or natural stone, lined up the sides of the main streets, and their signages were either hand-painted in charming script or bright and colorful with incandescent lightbulbs outlining their business names.
There were streets permanently closed to vehicular traffic, and then there were also streets where she had seen a couple of horse-driven wagons rattling down and even a cowboy riding up to the local church.
It was a good thing, Anah reflected cheerfully to herself, she had decided to come up early to Hartland. The extra hours she had allotted for herself gave her a chance to explore the town at leisure while still having time to spare upon arriving at the community hall.
All newly-hired interns like Anah had been emailed a detailed printout for their job orientation. This also served as their entrance pass, and Anah duly presented this at the reception desk stationed outside Function Room B.
After having Anah sign her name, the guy behind the desk provided her with an ID. "Just grab a seat inside," the admission officer advised, "and wait for your name to be called."
After thanking him with a polite smile, Anah placed the ID securely inside her shoulder bag while taking her paperback out. She went straight to the first available seat she glimpsed, and since she had started reading as soon as she was seated, she was oblivious to the curious looks she had drawn from the other interns.
With her braids, braces, and make-up-free face, Anah looked far younger than her sixteen years, but in contrast to this was her air of quiet pleasantness, and it had her peers looking at Anah as if they couldn't quite understand how to place her. Wasn't she a little too young to be here?
The same question occurred to Ethan as well when he caught sight of Anah on his way down to Function Room A, a steaming cup of vendo-dispensed coffee in his hand.
With a majority of the fifty-plus interns inside Function Room B busy texting and chatting between their ongoing stream of selfies, the petite redhead seated at the back easily stood out, and the sight was interesting enough to have Ethan's steps come into a temporary halt. He watched her for a few moments, and he couldn't keep his lips from twitching at how oblivious she appeared to the noise around her.