2 . When my hearing finally cleared , I heard Liam's loud declaration : " From today on, feel free to like my and Amber's photos ! If we hit a thousand likes , I'm dumping Chloe Miller and marrying Amber ." With that , he pulled Amber and walked out without looking back . Before they left the room , Amber gave me a smug , defiant look . After they left , people in the room started leaving one by one . Someone gloated , " She doesn't even have the leverage to cause trouble , and now she's gone too far , hasn't she ? Regrets now , doesn't she ? " Others kindly advised me , " Forget your pride ; just swallow it and apologize . Otherwise , Mr. Donovan really will marry Amber . " I knew this was Liam's way of forcing me to apologize.H But this time , I refused to back down . Not if it killed me . The once bustling room quickly emptied until only I remained . I picked up the remaining strong liquor and drained it . The fiery alcohol burned its way down my throat and into my stomach . It made my eyes sting . A connection spanning almost our entire lives , really ending , felt surprisingly hollow . An arranged marriage thousands of miles away in Veridia - he surely wouldn't bother me there , right ? But why were my cheeks wet again ? I couldn't tell . I went home and immediately started packing my things , ready to leave . Liam and I grew up together ; we spent more than half our short lives side by side . The depth of our relationship meant I had too many things to sort through . This gold star sticker was the first reward Liam received in kindergarten . He'd toddled over to me on his short legs and handed it to me . I vaguely remembered him saying then , " I want to give all the best things to my little Chloe . " This photo was one he'd secretly taken of my flushed face the first time I got my period . I'd zoned out during biology class , so I thought I had a terminal illness . I ran to him , telling him to take good care of himself for the rest of his life , and that he could find a girlfriend , but she couldn't be prettier than me . He listened , completely bewildered . After he pressed for details , he realized I'd just started my period . He rushed to the drugstore to buy me some pads and even searched online with me for how to use them . He laughed at me for not paying attention in class , and I flushed crimson , biting his arm hard . Later , he told me that bite hadn't hurt at all . was the first time bød felt something different far pa Later , he told me that bite hadn't hurt at all , but it was the first time he'd felt something different for me . Eventually , we got together , but going to different colleges forced us into a long - distance relationship . Our memories became a stack of train tickets . For four whole years , 193,700 kilometers was the distance we traveled to be with each other . Back then , his eyes were only for me . No matter how long the journey , he never complained . My fingers brushed a small , hard box containing the matching rings we designed together . For him , I moved back to this city after college . The day I returned , he dragged me to get these rings custom - made . I still remember him slipping the ring onto my finger and saying , " Chloe , with this ring , you're stuck with me for life . You'll never be able to leave me ." Neither of us ever imagined that , in the end , it wouldn't be me who let go , but him .