The rescue chief stepped toward Ethan.
—Mr. Lu, answer the question.
Ethan glanced at Chloe.
Then at me.
For the first time that night, he seemed to understand that nobody was interested in whether I had “learned my lesson.”
—It was supposed to be temporary.
The chief’s expression hardened.
—Who authorized you to stop the system?
—I spoke with someone from operations.
—Name.
Ethan hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
The chief looked toward one of his staff.
—Call security.
Chloe immediately stepped forward.
—This is being blown out of proportion.
The paramedic beside me gave her a look so sharp that she stopped.
—I was trapped in there during a storm —I said quietly.
My voice barely worked.
—He did it because he wanted me to apologize to you.
Chloe’s face changed.
—Sophia, I never asked him to—
—You knew.
She froze.
I remembered something.
Before I boarded, Chloe had smiled at me.
Not warmly.
Not nervously.
Like someone waiting for something.
—You knew the cable car would stop.
Ethan interrupted.
—Enough.
I looked at him.
—No.
That one word came easily.
For years, Ethan had been the person who ended arguments.
He decided when I was overreacting.
When I had misunderstood.
When Chloe needed sympathy.
When I needed to be mature.
Not anymore.
A security officer arrived with two members of the resort management team.
The rescue chief spoke first.
—We need the control-room logs.
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
One manager looked confused.
—Why?
—Because Mr. Lu claims he requested a passenger cable car be stopped intentionally.
The manager turned pale.
—That is impossible.
Ethan looked at him.
—I spoke with your supervisor.
The man stared back.
—Our supervisor would never approve that.
Silence.
Then the manager pulled out his radio.
Within minutes, everything changed.
The resort closed the boarding area.
Staff began reviewing access logs.
Fireworks were canceled.
Our friends, who had been waiting near the restaurant, came outside to see what was happening.
Jason approached Ethan.
—What’s going on?
Nobody answered.
Then a technician came running from the control building with a tablet.
He looked terrified.
—We found something.
The manager took the tablet.
—What?
—The stop command was entered manually from the secondary console.
The rescue chief frowned.
—By whom?
The technician swallowed.
—The login belongs to Daniel Liang.
Chloe’s face went white.
I looked at her.
—Liang?
Her surname.
Her older brother worked for the resort.
I remembered hearing about it months ago.
Chloe had once bragged that Daniel could get her access to private training areas.
The manager looked directly at her.
—Is Daniel Liang related to you?
Nobody spoke.
Chloe finally whispered:
—My brother.
Ethan stared at her.
—You told me the supervisor approved it.
She shook her head quickly.
—Daniel is basically a supervisor.
—That’s not what you told me.
Her eyes filled with tears.
—Ethan, you said you wanted Sophia to stay up there long enough to think.
I watched his face change.
—Ten minutes.
—Yes.
—You told your brother ten minutes?
Chloe looked away.
That was the moment Ethan understood she was hiding something.
The rescue chief took the tablet.
—According to the system, the intentional stop lasted twenty-eight minutes before the storm triggered the emergency shutdown.
My heartbeat seemed to stop.
Twenty-eight.
Not ten.
Ethan slowly turned toward Chloe.
—Why?
She said nothing.
—Why twenty-eight minutes?
—Daniel must have—
—Don’t.
His voice was different now.
Cold.
Not protective.
Chloe began crying.
—You were angry with her too!
—That doesn’t answer me.
I watched them from beneath the thermal blanket.
It was almost strange.
For months, Ethan had defended Chloe before she even finished speaking.
Now he was finally questioning her.
Too late.
An ambulance worker approached.
—Sophia, we need to take you to the hospital.
I nodded.
Ethan immediately stepped toward me.
—I’m coming.
I looked at him.
—No.
He stopped.
—Sophia.
—Stay here.
My voice shook from cold, not emotion.
—Answer their questions.
Something in his face broke.
—Please.
Once, that word would have changed everything.
I would have softened.
I would have told myself he had made a mistake.
I would have remembered that we grew up together.
That he had held my hand on my first cable car ride.
That our wedding invitations were already printed.
Instead, I said:
—You knew I was afraid of heights.
His lips parted.
—Sophia—
—You knew.
He closed his eyes.
I continued.
—And you still decided fear would be useful if it made me obedient.
He couldn’t answer.
That was enough.
The ambulance doors closed between us.
At the hospital, I was treated for cold exposure and dehydration.
Nothing life-threatening.
But the doctor insisted I stay overnight.
At two in the morning, my phone was returned to me.
Seventy-three messages.
Ethan.
My mother.
Friends.
And one from an unknown number.
I opened it.
“Before you believe Chloe acted alone, check Ethan’s messages from yesterday afternoon.”
Attached was a screenshot.
My stomach tightened.
It showed a conversation between Ethan and Daniel Liang.
Ethan:
“Stop Cabin 17 after Sophia boards.”
Daniel:
“For how long?”
Ethan:
“Long enough that she understands I’m serious.”
Daniel:
“Ten minutes?”
There was a pause.
Then Ethan replied:
“Make it uncomfortable.”
I stared at the screen.
My hands became cold again.
Maybe Ethan hadn’t ordered twenty-eight minutes.
But ten had never really been the point.
He had wanted me frightened.
A second screenshot arrived.
This one was from Chloe to Daniel.
“Don’t restart it until I tell you.”
Then another.
Daniel:
“The weather is getting worse.”
Chloe:
“Five more minutes.”
And finally:
“She needs to learn Ethan will always choose me.”
I closed my eyes.
There it was.
The truth.
Not misunderstanding.
Not sensitivity.
Not jealousy.
A test.
A punishment.
A competition I had never agreed to enter.
The next morning, Ethan arrived at the hospital carrying my engagement ring.
I had removed it in the ambulance.
Apparently, a rescuer had given it to him after finding it on the cabin floor.
He stood beside my bed.
His eyes were red.
—Sophia.
I looked at the ring.
Then at him.
—Keep it.
His face changed.
—Don’t say that.
—Why?
—Because we’re getting married in three months.
I almost smiled.
—No.
He stepped closer.
—Chloe lied to me.
—And you believed her.
—Daniel extended the stop.
—And you started it.
Silence.
I held out my hand.
Not for the ring.
For my phone.
I showed him the screenshot.
His face drained of color.
—Where did you get this?
—Does it matter?
He stared at his own words.
“Make it uncomfortable.”
For several seconds, he couldn’t speak.
Then:
—I was angry.
—So was I.
I looked at him calmly.
—And somehow I managed not to trap you above a mountain.
He lowered his head.
—I’m sorry.
I believed him.
That was the tragedy.
He really was sorry.
But regret couldn’t turn him back into the person I had loved.
Before he could speak again, someone knocked on the hospital door.
The resort’s legal director entered with a police officer.
Ethan stiffened.
The officer looked at him.
—Mr. Lu, we need you to come with us.
His face changed.
—For what?
The legal director placed a folder on the table.
—Because the cable-car stop wasn’t the first time someone used Daniel Liang’s access credentials.
I frowned.
The officer continued.
—Three months ago, the same login altered maintenance records after another safety incident.
Chloe had been involved in that incident too.
Ethan stared at them.
—What happened?
The officer’s answer made even me sit up.
—Another athlete was injured.
He opened the folder.
—And according to her statement, Chloe Liang was there.
The room went silent.
Then the officer looked directly at me.
—Ms. Sophia, we believe what happened to you may not have been an isolated act.
I looked at Ethan.
For the first time, he looked afraid of Chloe.
And I realized our broken engagement might only be the smallest part of what had just begun.
