The Woman I Didn't Marry

spiring, and, most importantly, far from Ohio. I buried myself in my studies, pouring all the pain and betrayal of m

mmediately recruited by a prestigious

ly as Ethan Lester, the promising young architect, not the boy-next-door with the broken

had an excuse not to visit-a tight deadline, a major project, a business trip.

om Carol Anderson that Nicole finished her residency," sh

tal "Oh, that's nice," and change the subject. The thought of her, of them, barely registered. The pain

rseeing multi-million dollar constructions. My life was ordered, pr

d betrayal, made me cautious, distant. I hadn' t yet met any

land project la

design a new, state-of-the-art medical wing. It was a massiv

Lester?" he'd boomed. "You

spital, the main point of contact, was a rising star in su

cole A

ht back into my

est a reassignment," I

an, this is the biggest project we've lande

ect, the federal courthouse proposal. It's high-security, r

project, but it was a fo

seeing the resolve in my eyes. "If

ure,"

y. The long hours, the complex security protocols, the immense pres

up in a cold sweat, the hospice room ceiling vivid in my mind, Nicole's name a bitter taste

and I knew it. But stopping fel