Ethan had poured his heart into planning this trip. For three long months, he had watched his relationship with Lily grow colder. Texts were shorter, her smiles less frequent. What once had been easy now felt like an uphill climb, and Ethan was desperate to change that. He chose Paris, the city of love, believing its magic could bring them back together. More than that, he had a ring tucked away in his pocket, waiting for the perfect moment to propose, hoping to rekindle the love that seemed to be slipping away.
The first few days in Paris were beautiful—on the surface. They wandered through Le Marais, strolled hand in hand along the Seine, and shared croissants in charming corner cafés. But even as they stood beneath the splendor of Notre-Dame or admired the art in the Louvre, Ethan could sense something missing. Lily was there, physically, but her mind always seemed elsewhere. She was constantly checking her phone, distracted in a way that made Ethan's heart ache.
She would smile softly at messages, the kind of smile he hadn't seen her give him in months. And whenever he tried to engage her in conversation—about the art they were seeing, the beauty of Paris—her replies were polite but brief. It wasn't enough to shatter the illusion of their time together, but it was enough to leave a hollow feeling lingering in his chest.
Still, Ethan held out hope. He told himself that the perfect moment was yet to come. He had planned something truly special—a romantic dinner at Le Jules Verne, the Michelin-starred restaurant on the Eiffel Tower. They'd sit high above the city, surrounded by sparkling lights, and in that moment, he would ask her to marry him. He imagined her surprise, her joy. He convinced himself that this could be the moment that would reignite their love.
They arrived at the restaurant just as the sky began to turn a soft pink from the setting sun. Ethan could hardly contain his nerves as they were led to their table, the view of Paris stretching out beneath them. The velvet box felt heavy in his pocket, and he knew the moment was coming.
But as they sat down, before Ethan could even start speaking, Lily's phone buzzed on the table. She glanced at it, and for the first time during the trip, her face lit up with genuine excitement.
"It's Noah," she said, her eyes gleaming. "You're not going to believe this—he's in Paris too! He just got here this morning."
Ethan froze. Noah. Her "friend" from work. The one she had been texting so much these last few months. The one whose name had begun to wedge itself between them, though Ethan had tried to brush it off, to trust her. But Noah was here? In Paris? A coincidence?
"Oh, that's… unexpected," Ethan replied, trying to keep his voice neutral. But his heart pounded in his chest, the air suddenly feeling too thin. He looked at Lily, watching the way her face had come alive at the mention of Noah's name—an excitement that he hadn't seen in her all week.
Lily didn't notice Ethan's tension. She was too busy typing a quick response, smiling as she did so. "He didn't know we'd be here either. Such a crazy coincidence, right?" she said, her tone too casual, too rehearsed.
Ethan's stomach tightened. It didn't feel like a coincidence. It felt… orchestrated, as though this meeting was something Noah had known about all along. It was too perfect—too convenient that he had just arrived in Paris the same week they were here. And the way Lily was responding, like she had been waiting for this moment all along…
But she didn't see the suspicion rising in Ethan's mind. She was lost in her messages with Noah, her face lit up with excitement he hadn't been able to draw from her during their entire trip.
"He wants to grab coffee later," Lily continued, still typing. "It won't take long, just a quick catch-up."
Ethan sat in stunned silence. A quick catch-up? This was supposed to be their night. He had been about to propose. The ring was still in his pocket, its weight feeling unbearable now. He had envisioned this evening as the turning point for them, the moment when everything would finally fall back into place. And now, Noah was inserting himself into it—this "coincidental" arrival suddenly casting a long shadow over the night.
But there was something in Lily's tone, something in the way she spoke about Noah, that made Ethan realize the truth. She had been talking to Noah for months, confiding in him, sharing parts of herself that she had stopped sharing with Ethan. This trip to Paris wasn't just for them—it had always included Noah, even if she hadn't said it out loud.
Ethan couldn't bring himself to ask the question burning in his mind. Was this really a coincidence? Or had Noah planned it all along?
Instead, he forced a smile, nodding numbly. "Yeah, sure," he said, his voice thin. "Go meet up with him. I'll be here when you get back."
Lily smiled, leaning over to give him a quick, distracted kiss on the cheek. "You're the best," she said, her words light and casual, as if this was the easiest decision in the world.
And just like that, she was gone, hurrying off into the night to meet Noah.
Ethan sat there for a long moment, staring down at the velvet box in his hand. He had been so close to asking her to marry him, so close to giving her the ring. But now, he couldn't even bring himself to open the box. The moment was lost, stolen away by a man who had been quietly standing between them for months.
He realized now that this trip had never been about saving their relationship. It hadn't been about Paris, the city of love, or the grand gestures he had planned. It had been about something much deeper, something he hadn't wanted to admit to himself until now.
It wasn't the place that mattered. It was the heart.
And hers had already found a new place to belong.