Chapter 1: Shattered Dreams

Earl sat in his villa, the glass of whiskey in his hand halfway to his lips. His jaw tightened, and for a brief second, he wanted to throw the damn glass against the wall, but instead, he took a sip. The burn of the liquor hit his throat harder than he expected, but it wasn't enough to drown the ache that sat heavy in his chest.

He stared out of the wide windows, the sprawling view of the city below him. It should've felt triumphant—his success, his hard work all leading to this life. But it felt empty. Pointless.

Nathalie was gone.

She wasn't even there to see the villa he bought with her in mind. The one he thought they'd share as a married couple. The one they'd fill with laughter, kids, life. All of it. Now it was just him, alone, the weight of everything pressing on his chest like a dull, relentless hammer.

His phone buzzed on the table, his mother calling again. It had been like this for days. Mom, his friends, all of them trying to reach out, but he couldn't bring himself to answer. What would he even say?

"Yeah, I worked my ass off, became everything I thought she wanted me to be, and now she's gone."

Another sip. His head felt lighter, the edges of his thoughts softer, but it wasn't enough to numb the pain. Not yet. He leaned back into the couch, staring at the amber liquid in his glass. The house was too quiet.

His goal in life had been simple: build a life with Nathalie. Everything—every late night at the office, every deal closed, every strategic decision—had been for her. So they could have the life they dreamed about. A family, a future. He was supposed to be the man who gave her that. He became the CEO for her. Not for the money, not for the recognition. For her.

And now she was gone.

The last conversation played in his mind, a loop that wouldn't stop. Her voice was soft, but it cut deep.

"I wish you all the best, Earl. I really do. But… I don't think I'm the right one for you anymore."

Anymore. That word still stung. Like she had outgrown him, like he was something she needed to move past.

"I loved you, I really did. But my ambitions… they're different now. We want different things."

Earl had tried to argue, tried to tell her they could make it work. He wasn't going to let her just walk away. He'd been desperate. She had looked at him with sad, gentle eyes. And then, she was gone. Fading from his life like vapor, like she was never really there to begin with.

He tried to reach for her, emotionally and physically, but nothing worked. The more he clung, the more she slipped away, until there was nothing left but her scent on his pillow and the echoes of her goodbye in his ears.

Earl swallowed the rest of the whiskey, the warmth in his chest doing little to fight the cold hollowness that seemed to spread through his body.

How did everything go so wrong?

The night stretched on, and at some point, he lost count of how many glasses he had downed. It didn't matter anymore. His vision blurred, and his mind went numb as the alcohol finally started doing its job.

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The next morning, sunlight spilled through the curtains, too bright, too sharp. Earl groaned, his head pounding like it was being split open. His body felt like lead as he struggled to sit up. The empty whiskey bottle lay on its side on the coffee table. The remnants of his night stared back at him, accusing.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the room, and then he heard the door creak open. His eyes barely registered her, but it was his mother—Camilla. She stood there for a moment, frozen, taking in the sight of her son slumped on the couch, surrounded by empty bottles and broken dreams.

"Earl…" Her voice cracked. There was heartbreak in it, the kind only a mother could feel seeing her child like this.

She crossed the room quickly and sat down beside him. She didn't speak right away, just placed her hand gently on his shoulder. It was warm, solid, something real in the haze of his hangover.

"Why didn't you answer my calls?" she asked softly, brushing a strand of his hair back. Earl didn't respond. He couldn't.

The silence was heavy, suffocating, but eventually, it broke. Earl didn't even realize he was crying until he felt the hot tears streaming down his face. He hadn't cried, not once, since Nathalie left. He had bottled it up, pushed it down, tried to pretend he could handle it. But sitting here, in front of his mother, it was like the dam broke.

"I don't know where it all went wrong, Mom," he choked out. His voice was low, thick with emotion. "It hurts so much… I don't… I don't even know why."

Camilla wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close like she used to when he was a kid, when the world seemed too big for him to handle. He sank into her embrace, feeling like he was drowning in grief.

"I know it hurts, baby," she whispered, her voice trembling as she held him. "But you're going to get through this. I promise."

Earl pulled back, wiping his face with the back of his hand. The raw vulnerability he had shown her felt foreign, wrong. He wasn't supposed to break like this. Not in front of anyone, not even his mother. He was the one who was always composed, always in control. But right now, he didn't have any of that left in him.

"Nathalie left," he muttered, his voice barely audible. "She said… she said she loved me but that she wasn't the right one for me. She has different ambitions now. And she let me go. Said it was for my own good, to avoid hurting me later."

Camilla's face softened with sympathy. She squeezed his hand, but Earl just stared at the ground, numb. "I tried to get her to stay. I told her we could make it work. I could change whatever was needed, but she… she didn't want that. She just walked away like it didn't mean anything anymore."

The words tasted bitter in his mouth, the memory of Nathalie's retreating figure replaying in his mind, over and over again.

"She's gone, Mom. She's really gone."

Camilla was quiet for a moment, processing what her son had told her. Then she spoke, her voice steady but filled with the love only a mother could give. "Sometimes people leave, even if they love you, Earl. It doesn't mean you weren't enough or that it was your fault."

She stood up, brushing her hands over her jeans. "You've worked so hard all these years, and I know it feels like everything was for her. But there's so much more to your life than this. You'll see that one day. Don't despair."

Earl didn't respond. His head was still throbbing, and his heart felt shattered. All he wanted was for the pain to stop.

"I'm going to make you something to eat," Camilla said quietly. "You need to get something in your system, or you'll feel worse."

She walked off to the kitchen, and for the first time since he had woken up, Earl let out a long breath. He hadn't realized how heavy everything felt until she was there, taking some of the weight off his shoulders.

A few minutes later, the smell of something familiar filled the room. His mother had always been a fantastic cook, and even now, the simple scent of eggs sizzling in the pan and bread toasting made the villa feel less like a tomb.

She brought him a plate, setting it down on the table in front of him. Eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee—the essentials. It wasn't fancy, but it was comforting, just like his mother's presence.

"Eat," she said softly, sitting back down next to him. "You'll feel better."

Earl took a bite, and though he wasn't hungry, the warmth of the food started to bring him back to life, little by little. The saltiness of the bacon, the richness of the eggs—it grounded him in a way that words couldn't.

Camilla stayed quiet as he ate, her eyes watching him carefully, like she was trying to gauge how bad the damage really was. When he finally finished, she reached over, resting her hand on his knee. "You'll get through this, Earl. You will. But don't push us away, okay? Don't go through this alone."

Before he could respond, her phone rang, shattering the quiet moment. She glanced at the screen, her face going pale.

"It's the hospital," she said, her voice shaking. "It's about Grandma. I need to go."

She stood quickly, her body tense with sudden urgency.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," she promised, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

Earl nodded, the weight of his own grief momentarily overshadowed by worry for his grandmother. Camilla grabbed her purse and rushed out the door, leaving him alone once more, the echoes of his shattered dreams lingering in the empty villa.

And for the first time in days, Earl felt something other than numbness—fear. Fear of losing more than just Nathalie. Fear of losing everything.