A Second Chance, Not With You

A Second Chance, Not With You

Gavin

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For six years, Ava Miller, a struggling musician in Austin, had shared her life-and her dreams-with Ethan Cole, a charismatic motocross legend. Their home felt comfortable, their routine established; she believed they were on an unspoken path toward forever. But her world crumbled when a drunken confession from Ethan's closest friend revealed a devastating truth: Ava was merely a carefully chosen understudy, a "practice girlfriend," serving as a convenient placeholder for Ethan's long-standing, unrequited obsession with his high school sweetheart, Chloe Vance. The betrayal was gut-wrenching. Ethan's deepening disinterest was palpable, her birthday forgotten while he openly pursued Chloe. The vicious cycle escalated when Chloe's jealous machinations led to Ava being brutally hit by a car. Yet, even from her hospital bed, Ethan, hopelessly blind to Chloe's malice, coldly hung up on the nurses, dismissing Ava's severe injuries as a mere act for "attention." Utterly discarded and bleeding, Ava was left to grapple with the horrifying realization: every tender moment, every song she'd penned for him, felt like a meticulously crafted lie. The man she loved saw her as less than nothing, a disposable echo of another woman. Was her entire existence with him a cruel illusion? With her spirit shattered but an unbreakable resolve forged in despair, Ava made the definitive choice to leave everything behind. She fled Austin for Boston, embracing a new path set by her family: an arranged marriage to a kind, stable doctor. But in a twist of fate, the past refused to stay buried, resurfacing dramatically on the very day Ava sought her new beginning.

Introduction

For six long years, I, singer-songwriter Ava Miller, built a life with motocross rider Ethan Cole in Austin, believing our passionate relationship was real. My brother Liam, back in Boston, always disapproved, hinting at a future for me with someone else, but I was blinded by what I thought was love.

Then, a drunken slip from Ethan's best friend demolished my world: I was a mere stand-in, a convenient echo of his true obsession, his ex, Chloe Vance. My entire six-year relationship was a meticulously constructed lie; I was just a placeholder.

The cruel charade intensified. He forgot my 26th birthday. Chloe's insidious taunts became unbearable. Then, she maliciously orchestrated an assault on me in a park. When a car hit me, leaving me injured, Ethan, contacted by the hospital, callously dismissed my agony as a pathetic cry for attention. He lavished attention on Chloe, in the very same hospital, utterly blind to her malice.

How could I have been so blind, so utterly disposable? The man I loved saw me as a means to an end, a disposable stand-in until his true obsession returned. My heart was not merely broken, but shredded, consumed by a searing rage and bitter despair.

But their cruelty hardened me. With a scarred arm and a shattered illusion, I packed my bags. Every song, every memory of him, obliterated. I bought a one-way ticket to Boston, ready to claim a new life, even if the path was chosen by others.

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