Chapter 4 I couldn't make sense of what Eric was doing . Logically , he should've been relieved I left on my own . He no longer had to deal with the hassle of figuring out how to get rid of me . But instead , he was furious . Every message he sent made him sound like the victim . My mom said he had already arranged leave and booked tickets to come find me . When some friends confronted him , he simply had the guards escort them out . Then he looked coldly at them and said : " I'm not breaking up with her . I don't need to explain anything . Just make sure she comes back and apologizes . " The whole situation left me completely confused . There were the things I saw with my own eyes ... and then there was Eric , accusing me with such confidence and wounded pride . I lay in bed , trying to piece everything together , but nothing made sense . They say love makes people irrational , especially when the other woman is involved - and in this case , that third party was Jade . If it had been any other woman , I probably wouldn't have lost it like this . But I had seen the photos of them training side by side . I remembered exactly how Eric and I had gotten together through the not - so - subtle nudging of both our families . He had just returned from a mission at the border , still recovering from injuries . Our parents said , " Let Glinda take care of you , it'll ease our minds too . " Looking back , I realized Eric was right about one thing . I hadn't asked him anything . Not a single question . I just left , angry and heartbroken . But even if you die , don't you deserve to know the truth first ? Once I thought it through , I realized something else : even if he stood in front of me and admitted he cared about Jade , admitted he'd messed up , I could finally face it without breaking . But before I could call him , my phone rang - it was Tom , his security aide . The phone buzzed with such force it nearly slipped from my hands , matching the rhythm of my heartbeat . On the other end , Tom sounded panicked : " Glinda , Colonel Eric's been in an accident . Can you come back ? " I had considered the possibility it might be some terrible , manipulative trick . I even told myself that if it was a lie , I'd slap him across the face and walk away for good . But then , on the way to the airport , I got a call from his parents : " Glinda , we're begging you . If Eric really did something wrong , we won't let it slide . But when they wheeled him into the operating room , he kept calling your name ... he lost a lot of blood . We're terrified ... " Even my friends , who never took sides , told me : " It poured last night . The housekeeper said he stormed out around 3 a.m. with the car keys , still in his uniform . He looked furious ... " " Tom said he was driving to the training field outside the city . The rain was heavy , he skidded on the wet road and hit the guardrail . The doctors still can't say for sure if he'll make it ... " Three in the morning that was right after I sent that last message . My legs gave out , and I collapsed into a chair in the waiting lounge , completely drained . On the flight there , time crawled like never before . I wished I could rush to the cockpit and beg the pilot to fly faster . 14 % When we finally landed and I got the message that the surgery had gone well , I dropped to the ground and sobbed uncontrollably .