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*Ethan's words hung in the air like a guillotine blade, cold and final. But as he delivered his ultimatum, his own chest felt tight, a raw, aching wound where his heart should be. He saw the devastation on Jane's face—the pale skin, the red-rimmed eyes, the way she seemed to have shrunk into herself. This was the woman he had kissed goodbye a month ago. The woman he had, against all his better judgment, allowed himself to care for. The woman he had envisioned standing beside him at the end, even