Chapter 11
Four years ago
Elena
Back at Aurelia University, Elena was stupidly happy.
Take their graduation day, for example. There he was, standing on stage in the black robe, winning the top academic medal like it was no big deal. Meanwhile, Elena sat in the burning hot crowd, trying her best to look totally normal about the fact that her boyfriend basically had a fan club.
The second Carter’s name was called, the whole place went crazy. Maya leaned over and whispered, “Is this a graduation or a boyband concert? I’ve never seen girls scream like this for a finance major.”
Well, Elena couldn’t exactly blame them.
There was something dangerously attractive about a man whose natural habitat was a dusty library but somehow had the body of an athlete.
Carter was way too good-looking— with soft puppy-dog eyes that made it impossible to stay annoyed at him for long. The dark hair that kept falling over his forehead no matter how many times he pushed it back, glasses he only wore when he was exhausted enough to stop caring.
What always got her was the contrast. The quiet intelligence behind tired eyes paired with a body that looked capable of breaking things. The softness in his smile despite the sharpness of him everywhere else.
Watching him walk across the stage looking annoyingly calm, Elena hid a smile. She knew how hard he had worked. She’d seen the all-nighters, the stress, the color-coded schedules taped to his apartment wall. He’d worked for every bit of it.
He got off the stage, ignoring three professors who wanted to shake his hand. Carter walked right through the crowd, looking only for her, and pulled her into a huge hug.
“Proud of me, brat?” he whispered into her hair.
Elena rolled her eyes but wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. “A little bit. Don’t let it go to your head, nerd.”
He laughed and kissed her forehead. Holding him like this, all the noise in her head finally stopped.
Ever since her parents died, Elena’s life had felt totally messy.
Aunt Julia’s house never felt like a real home—just a place full of strict rules and expectations where Elena felt like she didn't belong.
But Carter? He was her safe place.
A week before graduation he had introduced her to his younger sister over coffee, and two days later she had dinner with his mother.
Elena remembered driving home that night with her cheeks hurting from smiling too much because for the first time since losing her parents, something in her life finally felt permanent.
He talked about their future so naturally that she never thought to doubt him. They both had job offers. They were going to move to New York together. He spoke like there was no version of his life without her in it.
“Meet me at Castelli’s for dinner tonight. Wear that fancy pink dress you love,” he whispered before giving her one last kiss.
She introduced him to aunt Julia that afternoon. Elena was thrilled when her impossible to please, uptight aunt approved of Carter.
****
That evening, Elena practically floated into the restaurant, embarrassingly excited.
When Carter was late, she didn't worry at first. Carter was never careless. She ordered a glass of wine and waited. Then she checked the time again. An hour passed, and a tiny knot started to form in her stomach. She called once. Twice. No answer.
By the third hour, the romance was officially gone. Elena was sitting on the curb outside in painful heels, listing all the ways she was going to kill him for making her wait.
But Carter never showed up.
When she finally got back to her apartment around midnight, tired and mad, she saw an envelope under her door. Recognizing his neat handwriting, she actually laughed out loud. She thought it was just a dramatic apology letter from her idiot boyfriend.
She opened it. It just said: I can’t do this anymore. Don’t contact me.
That's all.
Just two sentences that did not sound like Carter at all.
Elena called him thirty-seven times that night.
By morning, his number was disconnected. His sister didn't answer. His mother didn't pick up. Their mutual friends knew nothing about it. For days, she told herself it was just a huge mistake. People don't talk about future apartments and then just disappear.
But Carter Evans did.
When Elena drove to his apartment building there was already another family moving into the unit.
She still remembered standing there frozen while strangers carried boxes past her like Carter had never existed there at all.
One of them handed her another envelope.
“He told us to give this to a blonde girl if she showed up.”
Her hands shook as she opened the second note. Stop looking for me, Elena. I’ve moved on. You should too.
It felt like a bad dream. The Carter she knew once spent three hours helping a scared freshman find a lost cat before an exam. The same Carter who sat beside Elena on her bedroom floor all night after the anniversary of her parents’ deaths because he knew she hated sleeping alone those nights.
He wasn’t cruel.
He wasn’t cowardly.
And yet, he left her without a real goodbye.
Eventually, the confusion turned into pure embarrassment. Maybe he just got tired of her. Maybe the college fantasy was over. Maybe he thought she would cry or make a scene if he broke up with her in person.
So, Elena stopped asking questions. She stopped looking for him in crowds.
And eventually, she said yes to a dinner date with Kyle Montgomery.
“A man from your own world might suit you better,” Aunt Julia had told her gently one evening. “Someone who understands your life.”
Maybe her aunt was right. Loving Carter was exciting, but it was like standing too close to lightning. Loving Kyle was safe. And after Carter, safe felt like the smart choice. For a long time, she really believed she was over it. Time had fixed the embarrassment, and the anger was gone.
Except right now, as Elena looked at Carter Evans, she realized time hadn't changed a single thing about the way she looked at him.
And that realization terrified her more than the breakup ever had.