It was our seventh anniversary, and my friends were playing the latest viral TikTok game: assigning everyone a "spirit animal" based on their personality. Mia leaned on her hand and playfully asked Ethan, "So, what kind of animal am I?" Ethan didn't even have to think about it. "A cat." "You've got a terrible temper, you scratch people when you're mad, and you are an absolute expert at making people suffer." Mia was just about to glare at him, but he laughed and gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "But purebred cats are naturally high-maintenance. No matter how much money or patience it takes to raise one, it's always worth it." The entire table erupted in teasing "oohs" and "ahhs," saying he wasn't insulting her at all, but rather flexing about keeping a spoiled, precious kitten. Someone suddenly chimed in, "What about Chloe?" Ethan glanced at me. He was silent for a very long time. "Her? A dog, probably." A friend immediately jumped in to smooth things over: "Totally! Chloe is just like a golden retriever—warm, sunny, and she always revolves around the people she loves." Ethan let out a low, cynical laugh, staring down at his glass. "No." "It's because no matter how many times you kick her away, she never leaves." "I've blocked her number twenty-seven times. I've canceled our wedding three times. The longest she's ever cried is one night. The very next morning, she always comes right back to me." The entire table roared with laughter. Right before the party ended, two luxury gift boxes were delivered from a high-end jeweler. Mia's box contained a $65,000 cat-eye diamond bracelet. Mine contained a custom-engraved silver dog tag. On the back, it read: If lost, please return to Ethan Sterling. Mia laughed so hard she practically collapsed onto his shoulder. "Aren't you afraid she might actually run away one day?" Ethan fastened the diamond bracelet around her wrist, replying with absolute, arrogant certainty: "A dog never forgets its master." I smiled too. That night, I took that silver dog tag and used it as a paperweight for the receipt confirming the cancellation of our fourth wedding attempt. This time, I didn't go back to him. ... I stared at the silver dog tag resting in my palm. The name Ethan Sterling was deeply engraved into the metal. The suffocating, absolute humiliation made it physically difficult to breathe. "Here girl! C'mere! Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Someone in the VIP booth suddenly made a loud, kissing noise, the exact sound you make to call a dog. Operating on pure reflex, my head snapped up. The room instantly exploded into deafening laughter. "Holy shit, she actually looked!" "Ethan wasn't lying! She really is a dog. You call her and she responds immediately!" One of Ethan's frat brothers even held out his hand toward me. "Come here, Chloe. Shake." The smile on Ethan's face finally faded. He slammed his whiskey glass down on the table, his eyes turning to ice as he swept his gaze across the room. "Enough." "Just because I make a joke about her doesn't mean you have the right to treat her like a circus animal." The room instantly went dead silent. Ethan reached out, grabbed my hand, and lowered his voice into a gentle, coaxing tone. "They've had too much to drink. Don't let it get to you." But Mia let out a loud, obnoxious snort of laughter. "Everyone's just messing around! Why is Chloe being so overly sensitive?" "Calling someone a dog isn't an insult." "Dogs are incredibly loyal! Even if the owner kicks them across the room, as long as he turns around and whistles, they'll always come running back, wagging their tails." Ethan frowned. "Alright, alright, my lips are sealed." Mia stuck her tongue out playfully, showing absolutely zero remorse. I coldly ripped my hand out of Ethan's grip. My brain only had one singular thought: Get out of here. Someone called my name as I walked toward the door, but I didn't stop. When I met Ethan, I was twenty years old. My mother had just passed away. He was the one who stayed by my side, helping me navigate the endless legal paperwork and funeral arrangements. For three months, when I woke up screaming from night terrors every single night, he never left my side. Mia, on the other hand, was the childhood best friend he grew up with. Her father died saving Ethan's father's life in a car accident. Because of that blood debt, no matter how toxic or manipulative Mia acted, in Ethan's eyes, she would always just be a helpless little sister who needed to be spoiled. Our first three attempts at a wedding? The first time, Mia hid the wedding rings. The second time, she physically stole my custom-made wedding dress and wore it out to a club. The third time, she called him crying hysterically an hour before the ceremony, claiming the date triggered her PTSD about her father's death, and that she couldn't bear to see people celebrating. Every single time, Ethan would put on a stern face, scold her for being childish, and then... I was the one whose wedding was delayed. Every single time. I had barely walked two blocks from the hotel when my phone rang. Mia's voice was frantic, bordering on hysterical. "Chloe, come back right now!" "Ethan is having severe stomach cramps! He just coughed up blood! Where did you put his emergency medication?!" My brain didn't even have a fraction of a second to process if it was real or fake. My body moved entirely on its own, spinning around and sprinting back toward the hotel. After so many years, worrying about him was deeply embedded in my muscle memory. I sprinted all the way back to the VIP room. My fingers were visibly shaking as I violently threw the heavy wooden doors open. "ETHAN!" Every single person in the room was sitting exactly where I had left them, holding their drinks, smiling at me. Ethan was leaning back into the plush leather sofa. He looked at me, and offered a slow, satisfied nod. After a brief, agonizing second of silence, the entire room erupted into roaring laughter. "Mia wins!" "Eleven minutes! She got here faster than a literal ambulance!" "Ethan was completely right. It doesn't matter how far the dog runs, the second you whistle, she comes right back." I stood frozen in the doorway. It wasn't until I saw the massive pile of hundred-dollar bills stacked in the center of the table that the reality finally crushed me. That phone call wasn't an emergency. It was a sadistic bet they set up just to prove Ethan's point. Mia laughed radiantly, grabbing a thick stack of cash from the pile and stuffing it directly into the collar of a passing waiter's shirt. "Keep the change." "Bring out a few more appetizers for the most obedient little puppy in the room, and open two more bottles of her master's favorite liquor." The room howled with laughter again. Seeing my face drain of all color, Ethan's smug expression finally vanished. He stood up, walked over to me, and used his thumb to wipe the cold sweat off my forehead. He gently pulled me toward an empty seat. "Since you're already back, just stay." "Sit with me for a bit. When this is over, we'll go home together." In the past, whenever he used that gentle, coaxing tone on me, my heart would instantly melt, and I would forgive him. But this time... I suddenly realized that it genuinely didn't matter if I stayed or left. When someone has already decided to walk away forever, sitting down for another ten minutes won't change the ending. Chapter 2 I sat quietly in the middle of the deafening, drunken noise, and unlocked my phone. Exactly seven days from today was the date of our fourth attempted wedding. I opened a travel app and booked a one-way flight departing at the exact time the ceremony was supposed to start. By the time the party ended, it was 2:00 AM. Ethan didn't arrange a separate ride for Mia. He drove her straight back to our house. The second Mia walked through the door, she dropped her designer bag in the entryway, kicked her stilettos off in two different directions, and drunkenly collapsed onto our living room sofa. She squinted her eyes, giggling, and waved her hand at me. "Here, girl! Good puppy." "Hurry up and fetch your master's slippers." Ethan let out a quiet "tsk" of annoyance. But the very next second, he turned to me and issued an order: "Chloe, put her shoes away. Grab a pair of guest slippers for her." I stood perfectly still. "Are her arms broken?" Ethan froze. For the past seven years, whenever it came to anything involving Mia, he never had to ask me twice. I always handled it flawlessly. He clearly didn't expect me to refuse. Mia suddenly slapped her own forehead dramatically. "Oh my god! I forgot to feed my kitten!" She fumbled for her phone and opened her apartment's security camera app. "You guys might think I'm a spoiled cat, but compared to him, he's the real tyrant of the house!" "How could I just leave him home all alone?!" Ethan glanced at his watch. "You're completely wasted. You can't go back there by yourself." He turned and looked directly at me. "Chloe, make a quick run to her place." "You know the passcode. Feed the cat, and just bring him back here." I rejected him immediately. "I'm not going. She threw a tantrum demanding to adopt that cat. It's her responsibility." Six months ago, we found a severely injured stray kitten bleeding out in the alley behind our old apartment. I was the one who rushed him to the emergency vet, stayed up all night while he was in surgery, and bought all his food, toys, and beds. When Mia heard about it, she barged in and threw a massive fit, demanding she get to keep him. Ethan pulled me aside and reasoned with me: "Mia didn't have a lot of things growing up. She really loves him. Just let her have it, Chloe." But her "love" lasted exactly two weeks. After the novelty wore off, she couldn't even remember what cabinet she kept his food in. "Fine, whatever. If she doesn't want to go, she doesn't have to." Mia pouted, dramatically withdrawing her hand. On her phone screen, the security camera feed showed the tiny kitten sitting in front of a completely empty food bowl, meowing relentlessly. He was so hungry he was desperately pawing at the kitchen cabinets. His meows were already turning hoarse. My fingers curled into tight fists. My heart ached so badly I couldn't stand it. I grabbed my coat and walked out the door. When I finally arrived at Mia's apartment, the kitten saw me and instantly stumbled forward, practically throwing himself into my arms. I fed him, gave him fresh water, and sat with him. But he refused to let go, biting onto the sleeve of my coat, purring desperately. I couldn't bring myself to leave him there. I zipped him into my coat and brought him back to the house. The second Mia saw the kitten, she instantly bolted upright from the sofa. "My precious little baby! Mommy missed you so much!" Completely ignoring the fact that the kitten was still shivering from the car ride, she aggressively poked him in the stomach, grabbed him by the front paws, and dangled him in the air. The kitten thrashed in sheer terror. "Stop touching him." I reached out to block her hands. "He's already overstimulated." Mia smirked, hugging the terrified cat and spinning away from me. "He's MY cat. I can play with him however I want." She saw my heavy, three-ring wedding planning binder sitting on the coffee table. She intentionally grabbed a feathered cat toy and started dragging it aggressively across the pages. The panicked kitten lunged at the feathers with its claws fully extended. Its razor-sharp claws shredded the paper. The seating charts, the floral arrangements, the custom invitation proofs—instantly ripped to shreds. Mia covered her mouth, her eyes gleaming with malicious joy. "Oops! I guess cats and dogs really are natural enemies." "He just naturally hates everything that belongs to you." Ethan didn't yell at her. He calmly crouched down and began picking up the shredded pieces of our wedding planner. "I'll have my assistant print and bind a fresh copy tomorrow morning." In the past, if even a single page of that binder got creased, I would be heartbroken for days. But now, staring at the floor covered in shredded paper, my heart didn't feel a single ripple of emotion. "There's no need. We won't be using it anyway." Ethan paused, holding a torn page, clearly caught off guard. He was just about to ask me what I meant, when Mia started stumbling drunkenly toward the master bedroom. She giggled, her words slurring together. "The masters sleep in the master bedroom. The kitty sleeps on the sofa." "And the little doggie goes to sleep in her doghouse." Ethan let out a helpless, indulgent sigh. I stood in the hallway, waiting for Ethan to drag her out of our bed. Instead, he just offered me a tired smile. "She's completely wasted. Let's just let her sleep in there for tonight." I didn't argue. I didn't say a word. I just bent down, scooped up the terrified kitten hiding in the corner, and started walking toward the front door. Ethan took two quick steps after me. "Are you really throwing another tantrum?" From inside the master bedroom, Mia's slurred, whining voice drifted out. "Ethan... I feel sick..." His footsteps halted instantly. Instinctively, he turned around and walked back toward the bedroom. I didn't wait for him. Right before the heavy front door clicked shut, I heard Mia leaning against the headboard, laughing softly through her drunken haze. "Don't worry... the little dog always comes back." I held the trembling kitten tight against my chest and stepped into the elevator. This time, she was dead wrong. I booked a hotel room a few blocks away for six nights. On the seventh day, I will take my luggage and go straight to the airport. The house, the master bedroom, and the man who calls himself my "master"—I don't want a single one of them ever again. Chapter 3 When I woke up the next morning, the kitten was curled up in a tight ball right next to my pillow. I reached out and gently scratched behind his ears. He immediately leaned into my palm, purring loudly. A sudden, sharp knock echoed from the hotel room door. I opened it. Ethan was standing in the hallway. Mia was standing directly behind him, looking incredibly annoyed. Ethan stepped aside slightly, his voice hard and commanding: "Apologize." Mia rolled her eyes, her tone dripping with sarcastic boredom: "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made the dog joke." "I shouldn't have stolen your master bedroom, and I shouldn't have used my cat to shred your wedding planner." "Are we good now?" Ethan didn't respond to her. He just looked at me. I started to push the door shut. Ethan immediately slammed his hand against the wood, blocking the door. The heavy hotel door crushed his fingers against the frame, but he didn't even flinch. "I have serious family business today. Stop throwing a fit and come with me." He raised his other hand. He was holding a bouquet of white chrysanthemums and a small bag of offerings. "Today is my mother's death anniversary." I lowered my eyes. In exactly seven days, I would be gone forever. Before I left, I was planning to go pay my respects to his mother one last time anyway. I eventually changed my clothes and followed him out to the car. By the time Ethan parked at the base of the cemetery hills, Mia had completely reverted to her usual, carefree, oblivious self. She practically skipped up the stone steps, occasionally kicking piles of autumn leaves or trying to chase a stray cat wandering through the headstones. When we reached his mother's grave, Ethan knelt down and personally wiped the dust off the granite headstone. I took the empty plastic vase and walked to a nearby water spigot to fill it. When I returned, Mia was standing directly in front of the headstone. That silver custom dog tag from the party? She had hung it directly next to his mother's memorial portrait. The cold autumn wind blew, and the silver metal repeatedly clinked against the cold granite. Clink. Clink. Clink. The plastic vase slipped from my hands, shattering on the pavement. Water spilled everywhere. "Take it down." Mia turned around, offering me a look of pure, manufactured innocence. "Don't be mad! I'm just sharing the good news with Auntie!" She actually reached out and tapped the glass over his mother's photo. "Auntie, you don't need to worry about Chloe anymore!" "She finally has an owner now!" "She's incredibly obedient in the Sterling house. All Ethan has to do is whistle, and she comes running right back to him." I sprinted forward, ripped the dog tag off the stone, and slapped her across the face with every ounce of strength I had. The sharp, explosive SMACK echoed across the quiet cemetery, startling the other mourning families nearby. Mia clutched her burning cheek, staring at me with wide, horrified disbelief. "You hit me?!" "If you ever disrespect his mother's grave again, I'll hit you harder." A middle-aged man who was visiting his own mother's grave nearby had heard the entire exchange. His face was dark with disgust. He pointed directly at Mia, his voice harsh: "This is a cemetery!" "It's bad enough you're treating a living human being like an animal, but you have the audacity to stand in front of a dead woman and spew that garbage?" "Apologize to this woman and her mother-in-law immediately!" Mia, already humiliated by the slap, completely lost her mind when a total stranger started lecturing her. The next second, she violently lunged behind me, and shoved both her hands brutally into my back. "When danger comes, a good dog always protects its master!" I was completely caught off guard. The violent shove sent me stumbling forward, crashing directly toward the man. He instinctively stepped out of the way to avoid the collision. The cemetery was built into the side of a steep hill. The graves were separated by high, sharp stone retaining walls. I lost my footing. My body went over the edge of the stone platform, plummeting down the steep, jagged embankment. Right before I completely blacked out, I heard Ethan screaming my name in absolute, unadulterated terror. He dropped the flowers, screaming like a madman, sprinting toward the edge. And then... everything went black. Chapter 4 I woke up to the sound of Mia's voice echoing through the room. "Twenty-first attempt. Ethan, it's okay if you don't reply, I'll just wait for you downstairs in the rain." "Twenty-seventh attempt. If you just come back to me, I'll do absolutely anything you want." She was dramatically pitching her voice, putting on a theatrical performance as she read aloud the desperate, pathetic text messages I had sent Ethan years ago, begging him not to break off our engagement. The door to the hospital room was wide open. The nurses, the orderlies, and the patients walking down the hallway could hear every single humiliating detail. They heard how I was blocked, how I stood in the rain waiting for him, and how I pathetically begged him not to cancel our wedding. When Mia saw my eyes flutter open, she let out a delighted gasp and blew a sharp, high-pitched blast on a metal dog whistle. Ethan was sitting on the leather sofa in the corner, rubbing his temples, looking incredibly exhausted. "Why did you give her my phone?" My throat was so dry it felt like I was swallowing razor blades. He stood up and poured me a glass of water, his tone completely clinical and detached. "The doctor said we needed to use familiar sounds and memories to stimulate your brain activity while you were unconscious." "A lost dog is usually woken up by the scent of its owner. I figured the same logic applied to humans." Mia laughed brightly. "Don't be mad, Chloe! At least now everyone in this hospital knows just how insanely obsessed with Ethan you really are." I reached over and aggressively ripped the IV needle out of the back of my hand. "Get the fuck out!" Blood instantly started dripping down my hand, staining the white sheets. Ethan's face darkened with anger. Just as he was about to hit the call button for the nurse, a woman's frantic crying echoed from the hallway outside. The man from the cemetery—the one who had tried to defend me—walked into the room. Behind him was a woman, heavily pregnant, her belly massive. The man's face was bruised and battered. His clothes were dirty and wrinkled. As soon as he walked in, he lowered his head and bowed deeply to Mia. "Ms. Thorne, I am so incredibly sorry." I froze. Ethan spoke, his voice completely flat, offering a casual explanation: "If he hadn't dodged out of the way when Mia pushed you, you wouldn't have fallen." "Mia was severely traumatized by the incident, and the clasp on her cat-eye diamond bracelet broke. It's only right that he pays for the damages." That bracelet cost over sixty-five thousand dollars. The man was a blue-collar delivery driver. His wife was eight months pregnant. His entire family survived paycheck to paycheck. To scrape together the money to pay for the "damages," he had already sold his delivery truck—his only source of income. I stared at Ethan, my blood turning to ice. "He didn't do anything wrong! The person at fault is Mia!" "I want her to go back to your mother's grave and apologize!" Mia's eyes instantly welled with fake tears. Ethan leaned back into the sofa, looking down at us from his pedestal like a king passing judgment. "Fine." "The second you forgive Mia, I'll let him go." "But until you do, he is paying every single cent for that bracelet." The man's pregnant wife burst into tears, desperately grabbing the edge of my hospital blanket. "Ms. Quinn, please. Our baby is due next month. If we lose everything, we won't survive. We literally cannot afford to pay him." My entire body was shaking with fury. "Ethan, if you want to punish someone, punish me! You have the power, use it on me!" "I am using it on you." He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees, staring directly into my eyes. "Chloe. When you refuse to bow your head, someone else is going to have to bleed for your stubbornness." Mia let out a soft, mocking laugh from the corner of the room. "It's a classic training method. You beat another animal to show the dog what happens when it disobeys." Ethan didn't tell her to shut up. He didn't say a word. He just looked at the man, who was practically on his knees, and spoke with absolute, arrogant contempt: "A man with no money and no power, trying to be a hero for someone else." "You two are actually incredibly similar." "You both suffer from the delusion that if you just scream loud enough, the world will give you justice." The man's pregnant wife was sobbing so hard she could barely stand. I closed my eyes. The fight completely drained out of me. I finally spoke. "I forgive Mia." Ethan finally raised his hand, signaling his bodyguards to let the man and his wife leave. He walked over to the bed and gently stroked my hair. The exact same motion you use to reward a dog that finally learned how to sit. "If you had just been obedient from the start, he wouldn't have had to suffer." For the next four days, I took my medication on schedule. I quietly attended my final wedding dress fitting. I even let Mia wander in and out of our house as she pleased, offering no resistance. On the morning of the wedding, Mia threw a tantrum, demanding that Ethan drive her around the city in the lead wedding car before the ceremony started. Ethan adjusted the veil on my head, ensuring it was perfect. "Wait right here. I'll come back to get you." I nodded. The absolute second his car pulled out of the driveway and the iron gates closed... I ripped the wedding dress off my body. I zipped the kitten into a ventilated pet carrier, grabbed the suitcase I had packed days ago, and took an Uber straight to the airport. As the boarding announcement echoed through the terminal, my phone rang. It was Ethan. For the very first time in seven years, his voice was actually trembling. "Chloe. Where the hell are you?" I looked through the massive glass windows at the planes taxiing on the runway, and I let out a soft, genuine laugh. "I got lost." "And this time, I won't be returned to you."
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