Winter Is Coming, Love Has Turned to Frost

On the day before New Year’s Eve, a letter arrived. It was from Noah. From the Noah who was seventeen years old. His words were a torrent of pure, undiluted love. He swore he would find me. He told me, begged me, to never forgive the man he had become, the man who was hurting me now. I believed him. And I terminated the pregnancy. On New Year’s Day, I put on the white dress he—the seventeen-year-old Noah—had always loved. And I waited. When the knock finally came, I threw open the door. And froze. Cassie, Noah’s best friend, was doubled over, clutching her stomach, howling with laughter. “I told you she was an idiot, but you wouldn’t believe me! It was just a stupid prank, and she actually fell for it. She even got rid of your baby!” Cassie draped herself over Noah’s arm. “What are we going to do, honey? Looks like your wife won’t be able to give you an heir. Maybe I should have one for you instead.” My hand trembled with rage. I snatched a glass vase from a nearby table and hurled it at her. Noah, who had been standing silently behind me, moved in a blur. His face hardened as he pulled Cassie into a protective embrace, shielding her completely. The vase shattered against the wall behind them. “Summer, are you insane?!” In his fury, he had me committed to a psychiatric hospital. “Even if the seventeen-year-old me did show up,” he’d sneered, his voice dripping with contempt, “he wouldn’t choose a psycho.” But he didn’t know. I really had seen the seventeen-year-old Noah. He was standing right behind the man who was destroying me. A shimmering, translucent outline of a boy. He reached out as if to hug me, then vanished like smoke. All that was left was the present-day Noah, his face a thundercloud, roaring at me. “Cassie was just joking around! Were you trying to kill her?” “Ask anyone here! Who in their right mind would believe a letter from someone ten years in the past? You were stupid enough to get an abortion, and now you’re trying to blame her for it?” His friends, who had gathered behind him, stared at me, their whispers like a swarm of insects. “Poor Noah, having to deal with a crazy wife every day.” “Summer, you should be more considerate. He works so hard, and then he has to come home to your drama.” I looked at the man before me, the man I had loved, and tears welled in my eyes. It was Cassie’s cruel prank. Yet somehow, I was the one in the wrong. The accusations pressed in on me from all sides, a suffocating tide. My vision blurred as I looked at the only person who mattered. “So—” my voice cracked. “Everything you promised me when you were seventeen… that’s all gone now, isn’t it?” Noah flinched. When he was seventeen, he had sworn to me that no matter what I did, right or wrong, he would always be on my side. His world, he’d said, was small. It only had room for me. That was only seven years ago. Now, his world was vast, filled with so many people. And it felt like I was the only one who no longer had a place in it. Maybe it was guilt, or maybe just impatience, but he turned away, revealing the crowd of their friends behind him. I realized then that Cassie had brought them all here, deliberately, to watch me be humiliated. And Noah had known. He had stood by and watched it all happen, watched them laugh at my pain. Just then, the transport from the hospital arrived. A medic performed a brief evaluation and then looked at Noah, concerned. “Mr. Blackwood, your wife is showing no signs of clinical psychosis. The environment in these facilities can be… difficult. Forcing her to go could cause genuine psychological harm.” Noah hesitated, a flicker of doubt in his eyes. But Cassie slung an arm around his neck, her voice a poisonous whisper in his ear. “Honey, you’re not getting soft on me, are you? It’s my birthday tomorrow. You promised I could have my party here, in your house. What if she has another one of her episodes?” At her words, the last of the light in Noah’s eyes died. His voice was cold and final. “Take her.” “Consider it a lesson for what she did to Cassie today.” Behind him, the ghostly boy screamed, his voice silent, his eyes burning with anguish. “What are you doing? That’s Summer! That’s the girl you love!” I gave a bitter, broken laugh. I hadn’t been the person Noah loved for a very long time. The seventeen-year-old Noah would have walked through fire for me. He once charged into a trafficker’s den, alone, to save me. My father, drowning in gambling debt, had sold me to a local ring for five thousand dollars. I was locked in a dark, filthy room, certain my life was over. Then the door splintered open, and there was Noah, covered in blood. There wasn’t an inch of him that wasn’t bruised or bleeding. But he still managed a weak smile and held his arms out, a gesture of comfort. “Summer, don’t be scared. I’m here to get you out.” He carried me out on his back that day. Men with knives slashed at him, but he never let me go. I sobbed, my tears mixing with the blood on his shoulders as I touched his wounds. He just looked back at me and grinned. “What are you crying for? Noah Blackwood never breaks a promise to Summer Day. I told you I’d always protect you. I’d die before I let anyone hurt you.” I never once doubted his sincerity then. But sincerity is a fragile, fleeting thing. Now, all he felt for me was disgust. A loud clang jolted me back to the present. As my head cleared, I heard two nurses talking outside my room. “Mr. Blackwood said to keep her for a couple of days, just to make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble. It’s so sad.” “I know, right? Locking up your own wife just so his little friend can have her birthday party in peace. What a piece of work.” “That’s not all. I heard he’s even transferring the deed of her mother’s house to the friend.” My world stopped. I shot up in bed, my mind reeling. That house was the only thing my mother had left me. The only thing. How could he? How dare he give it to another woman? “Give me my phone,” I demanded, my voice raw. “I need to call Noah.” The nurses were startled by my sudden outburst. One of them reached for a sedative, but the other stopped her. She looked at me with pity in her eyes and handed me my phone. “Do what you need to do, miss.” I snatched the phone and quickly dialed Noah’s number. But it was Cassie who answered. “Well, hello, wifey. Looking for my man? So sorry, he just wore himself out and fell asleep right next to me. Should I wake him for you?” Her voice was smug, dripping with triumph. “Oh, I know what this is about,” she purred. “The house. The transfer went through this morning. To be honest, I don’t really like it. I think I’ll let my dog live there.” Something inside me snapped. Tears streamed down my face, hot and silent. Before I could say a word, I heard Noah’s sleepy, raspy voice in the background. “Who are you talking to so late?” Cassie put the phone on speaker, making sure I could hear everything. “Just a quick question, honey. If it was seventeen years ago, and both me and Summer were standing in front of you, who would you choose?” Noah answered without a moment’s hesitation, his voice thick with disdain. “Why would you even compare yourself to a psycho? She’s not in your league.” “I must have been blind back then.” His words were like steel needles plunging into my heart. I was shaking so violently I thought I would break apart. The pain in my chest was so intense, I thought it was going to stop beating. Suddenly, I felt a strange pressure around me, like a pair of arms wrapping me in a hug. The ghostly boy from before was there, his hands covering my ears. “Summer. Let him go,” his voice whispered in my mind. “He doesn’t deserve you.” I was in that place for three days. On the morning of the fourth, Noah came to pick me up himself. I got into the car, numb. The dark bruise on my forehead, from where I’d repeatedly hit my head against the wall, was stark against the reflection in the car window. Noah’s expression changed instantly. He spun around and roared at the staff. “What the hell happened? I told you to just keep her here, to take care of her! Where did that bruise come from?!” A young nurse shrank back. “Sir, she… she did it to herself. We couldn’t stop her.” Noah’s face grew even darker. He was about to say more, but I spoke from the car, my voice a weak plea. “Noah. Can we just go to the hospital? My head really hurts.” The headaches had started that night. A deep, relentless throbbing that only seemed to ease when I inflicted another pain on myself. But today, it was worse than ever. He stiffened, and for once, he didn’t lash out at me. “Fine. I’ll take you to the hospital.” The car hadn’t even started moving when his phone rang. It was Cassie, her voice a frantic sob. “Oh my god, honey, it was terrifying! Some creep just catcalled me on the street. Can you please come be with me? I’m so scared.” Noah slammed on the brakes. My head flew forward, cracking against the windshield with a sickening thud. Pain exploded behind my eyes. Blood, warm and sticky, began to trickle down my forehead from the new cut. “Please,” I whispered, “just take me to the hospital. You can drop me off. I can check myself in.” He turned to me, his brow furrowed in irritation. “Summer, are you serious? You’re pulling this kind of crap now? Is this some scheme to make something happen to Cassie?” “You did that to yourself,” he said, his voice cold. “Stop being so dramatic.” My head was spinning. The physical pain was nothing compared to the agony in my heart. I couldn’t even speak. A doctor who had seen the incident rushed over. “Mr. Blackwood, you should really get your wife to the ER. That’s a serious laceration.” Noah just shoved me out of the car. “I can’t leave Cassie alone right now. You can either get yourself to the hospital or wait here until I can come back for you tomorrow.” I stumbled and fell hard onto the pavement. He drove off without a second glance. Half an hour later, I saw Cassie’s new post. It was an ultrasound photo. The caption read: It’s true what they say. The one who really loves you will drop everything to be there, no matter what. So I’m giving my man a little reward. Looks like he’s going to be a daddy. A mutual friend commented: Is it Noah’s? Cassie replied to the comment with a single, blushing emoji. I tasted blood in the back of my throat. Is this what you meant, Noah? When you said your world only had room for me? What am I going to do? I don’t think I want to love you anymore. I don’t know when I passed out, or for how long. When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed. Noah stormed into the room, his face a mask of fury. The veins on his hands stood out, tight with rage. “Summer, who was he? Who was the man that brought you here?” He was practically snarling. “Cassie told me she saw some seventeen-year-old kid carrying you into the hospital, and I didn’t believe her. But I saw the security footage. You’re not even trying to hide your affairs anymore, are you? What am I to you? A walking wallet to fund your cradle-robbing?” “You make me sick.” I didn’t bother to explain. There was no point. I just looked at him, my voice flat. “Even if I told you, would you believe me?” “Noah, let’s get a divorce.”