I drove for nearly an hour before pulling over.
My hands were shaking so badly that I could barely hold my phone.
I replayed every word I’d heard over and over.
“She walked straight into my trap…”
“I’ve been preparing this ever since we were teenagers…”
None of it made sense.
Matthew had always been kind, patient, and loving.
There had to be an explanation…
Didn’t there?
Instead of going back home, I called my childhood friend, Emma.
When I told her what I’d overheard, she went silent.
Then she whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“I never wanted to tell you this… but Matthew asked me years ago to keep a secret from you.”
“What secret?”
“He made me promise never to mention a letter.”
“A letter?”
Emma sighed.
“The summer after high school, you were accepted into that university in California. You remember turning it down because you thought they had rejected you?”
“Of course.”
“You weren’t rejected.”
My heart stopped.
“What are you talking about?”
“I saw the acceptance letter. Matthew had it before you ever did.”
The world seemed to spin.
“No… that’s impossible.”
“He told me he loved you too much to let you move across the country. He said if you stayed here… eventually you’d fall in love with him.”
My knees nearly gave out.
Everything suddenly fit together.
The missing acceptance letter.
My decision to stay.
The life we’d built.
Had my entire future been stolen before it even began?
Just then, my phone buzzed.
Matthew Calling…
I stared at the screen.
It rang again.
Then a text appeared.
“Please come home. You weren’t supposed to hear that conversation like this.”
I felt a chill run down my spine.
How did he know I’d been listening?
Slowly, I looked up from my phone.
Across the parking lot…
Matthew’s car was pulling in.
