Game Over No Second Chances novel Chapter 19

Chapter 19

ETHAN’S POV

“Talk about a stressful day,” I whispered to myself, still trying to stop thinking about everything that just went down a few minutes ago,

At least this day wasn’t that bad though, especially when I was at the office, as usual, Sofia knew how to always satisfy me even as she’s pregnant.

Itay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, and for the first time in what felt like ages, I let my mind drift backward to where it all really began.

Back at college when I first met Sofia.

She wasn’t the smartest in the lecture hall, nor the kindest soul on campus. But dainn, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. From the very first glance, it felt like the air shifted around her. The way she walked-graceful, deliberate, each step measured like she knew exactly what effect she had on everyone watching. And she did. Sofia absolutely knew.

Back then, I was still riding the wave of my late father’s investments. The money felt endless – enough to live large, to impress, to keep up the image. And enough to catch Sofia’s attention.

I still remember the way her eyes lit up when I first offered to take her out – not with excitement for me, but for what came with me. The fancy dinners, the weekend getaways, the jewelry she’d barely thank me for before asking for the next.

Deep down, even then, part of me knew exactly what she was after.

Sometimes late at night, lying awake with her breathing softly beside me, I’d ask myself: Does she actually care? Or is it only the lifestyle, the status, the

gifts?

And the truth always whispered back to me, clear as day. But it never stopped me. If anything, it made me want to hold on tighter.

Because no matter how cold she could be, no matter how often I caught that flicker of boredom in her eyes when I talked about my plans or my dreams, Sofia made me feel alive. She had this incredible, terrible power over me. When she gave me her attention – truly gave it – it felt like nothing else in the

world mattered. Like I was the only man who existed.

And when she took that attention away, it felt like drowning. My chest would tighten, my thoughts would spin in circles, desperate to win it back. It was a twisted kind of love – selfish, all-consuming, fragile – but it felt real to me. More real than anything else.

Then everything changed. Everything crashed.

The money dried up. A series of bad investments, a few reckless choices, and suddenly the account balances weren’t what they used to be. The cards began declining, the bills started piling up, and for the first time in my life, I truly tasted fear.

I still remember the night I sat her down, my voice shaking as I told her the truth; that I couldn’t afford the fancy dinners anymore, that the weekend trips would have to stop for a while.

I remember so clearly the way she looked at me then – eyes narrowing, lips curling into a sneer. Like I had suddenly become something dirty, something broken, unworthy of her presence,

She didn’t even pretend to be sad. There was no comforting word, no small lie to soothe my pride. Just anger. Cold, sharp anger that i had ruined the life she felt entitled to.

And then, without another word, she stood up, grabbed her purse, and walked out on me. The sound of her heels on the hallway tiles still echoes in my head sometimes. She didn’t look back. Not once.

The next week, I saw her at a party. She was on the arm of another man older, better dressed, the kind of man who had money that wouldn’t run out.

And she was laughing, Realty laughing, in a way I couldn’t remember seeing when she was with me.

Our eyes met across the room for a moment. And there was nothing in hers. No guilt, no regret, no hesitation. Just cold indifference.

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Chapter 19

In that moment, it hit me like a slap that maybe she never cared at all. Maybe it had always been about what I could give, not who I was.

That night, I drank until the room spun, until my thoughts blurred into a haze of shame and anger. I stumbled out into the cold, nearly threw up in the alley beside the venue. I told myself I hated her, that I’d never think of her again.

But the truth? Even then, through all the humiliation and the heartbreak, my love for Sofia didn’t vanish. If anything, it burned hotter – tangled up with bitterness, longing, and a desperate hope that somehow, one day, she’d come back to me.

That was around the time I met Lauren.

She was everything Sofia wasn’t. She didn’t walk into a room expecting everyone to stop and stare. She didn’t demand attention or gifts or expensive nights out.

She looked at me – truly looked – and saw a man who had been broken, humiliated, and left behind by the only woman he thought he’d ever love.

And God, back then, I needed that.

I needed someone to see something worth saving in me, because I didn’t see it myself.

Lauren’s kindness wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t the passionate, fiery love that burned hot and bright like Sofia had made me feel. It was a steady warmth, a comforting hand on my shoulder, a voice telling me I wasn’t worthless – that I could still rebuild.

When my so-called friends distanced themselves, when my family turned away, embarrassed by my failures, Lauren stayed. She worked extra shifts just to help me cover the rent. She believed in Black Corporations before it was anything more than a desperate plan on paper.

In the dark, she listened to my rants, my self-loathing. And when I thought about giving up, it was Lauren who convinced me to keep going. She was the one who held my hand through the worst of it.

But the truth?

The ugly truth that rots in the back of my mind, the one I never dared speak aloud until tonight – even then, even when I thanked God every day for Lauren’s loyalty, my heart still belonged to Sofia.

Every time I closed my eyes, it was Sofia’s face I saw. Every night I made love to Lauren, I wished – for just a moment that it was Sofia beneath me.

Lauren was my savior. My anchor when the storm threatened to drown me. But Sofia… She was the fire that kept burning in my veins. Even when it

scorched me from the inside out.

When Sofia walked out of my life, it nearly killed me. And still, a twisted part of me kept hoping she’d come back. Even after she humiliated me in front of everyone, moved on to someone richer like I meant nothing – I still wanted her.

That love-if that’s even what it was didn’t fade. It festered.

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