Spring Without Return

After the Ferguson family went bankrupt, I gave up everything I had and followed Ethan Ferguson to Stormbay.

Five years later, he had fought his way back into the top three on the Forbes rich list. He rebuilt the empire everyone believed he had lost for good. He never mentioned marriage, no matter how much we had been through together.

I did not understand the reason until the night before Memorial Day.

I woke after midnight and saw Ethan standing alone on the terrace of our beachfront house. The cold ocean wind swept through the darkness while he lit three white candles one by one. Their flames flickered softly against the night.

He faced the distant horizon across the sea and lowered his voice.

“Mom, Dad… I’m sorry I couldn’t come see you again this year.”

He paused, and his expression softened.

“However, please keep watching over Vivi. Keep her healthy… and bless the two of us with a long, happy life together.”

Warmth spread through my chest as I listened.

My health had never been good, and every year near Memorial Day, Ethan refused to let me exhaust myself with the long trip home. He always went alone to visit his parents’ graves while I stayed behind in Stormbay.

This year, when I saw the homesickness in his eyes, I decided to surprise him. I wanted to make the trip in his place.

I never expected my entire world to collapse the moment I arrived at the cemetery.

Ethan’s name was carved into the headstone.

Beside it was the name of another woman.

Olivia Ferguson.

My gaze drifted lower.

A framed family photograph sat at the foot of the headstone. Its edges had curled from the ocean wind.

In the picture, Ethan held a little blond-haired boy in his arms. The child looked no older than three.

Olivia stood beside him, smiling softly at the camera.

A sharp pain cut through my chest.

Only then did I understand the truth.

The “Vivi” Ethan prayed for was never Vivian.

It had been Olivia all along.

I stood there, staring blankly at the gravestone, when the old cemetery caretaker walked over and spoke to me.

“Miss, what relation are you to the elderly couple from the Ferguson family? I do not think I have seen you here before.”

His simple question struck me like a knife to the chest.

Yeah. What was I?

The place beside Ethan Ferguson, the place that should have belonged to his wife, already had Olivia’s name carved into it. The letters were neat and permanent.

I stood under the sunlight, yet I felt like a rat that belonged in the shadows. I felt small and ashamed, like a person with no identity I could admit out loud.

I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat and answered quietly, “Just a distant relative.”

The old man nodded.

“That makes sense. If you were close family, there is no way you would have missed the memorial ceremony Mr. Ferguson held three years ago.”

“You should have seen it. The whole thing was grand. Mr. Ferguson organized a private memorial for his parents and invited relatives, friends, and many important business people.”

“His wife was there too. She held their little son in her arms while the three of them placed white roses in front of the grave.”

“After that, they hosted several nights of dinners at the manor. It was the first time Mr. Ferguson introduced his wife and son to everyone. Almost all the Ferguson relatives and business partners were there.”

“Mrs. Ferguson was gorgeous. Young too. Looked like a movie star. I even saved a photo.” He pulled out his phone and showed me the picture.

On the screen, Olivia Lynch wore a white dress and held a swaddled baby in her arms. Her smile looked gentle and peaceful.

Ethan stood beside her with one arm around her waist. He looked down at her with a soft smile in his eyes.

It was only a photograph, yet the love in his gaze was clear and strong. It pierced straight through me.

I had never seen him look at anyone that way.

My eyes drifted to the date in the corner of the photo, and my breath caught.

November 6. Three years ago.

The day before that was the day I found out I was pregnant.

I had been so happy then. I believed that once Ethan heard the news, he would cry happy tears like I did. I thought he would rush to marry me and give our child a complete family.

However, the moment I told him, the smile vanished from his face.

“Vivian, I have told you many times. Marriage and children are not part of my plans for the next few years.

“This baby came at the wrong time. Let us not keep it for now. When the timing is better in the future, we can talk about it again, okay?”

As I listened to those cold words, I felt, for the first time, that the man in front of me was a stranger.

In the past, no matter how unreasonable his demands were, the second I saw him angry, I always gave in without hesitation.