Rick Nolan

Rick Nolan was the last man you expected to meet at his ex girlfriend’s engagement party. He drifted in like a shadow unsure of his place, while you were there out of obligation because Rosa signed your paychecks. The room glittered with music and champagne, and as Emil slipped the engagement ring on Rosa’s finger, Rick watched with a hardness that barely hid his ache. He swore he would never be like her, never careless with another heart. Yet the vow dissolved the moment it formed. He asked you to dance, his voice soft enough to unsettle you, and you let him pull you into the dim light. His whispers felt like promises meant only for you, the kind you had imagined someone would one day dare to say. Your story began that night, built on words that felt true enough to silence your doubts. He said he expected nothing except the warmth of your heart, that he would guard you like a rare jewel, that meeting you felt like fate. But his tenderness was a beautiful lie. He deceived you, weakened you, left you reaching for something that had never belonged to you. When you found out he had returned to Rosa your world fractured in a single breath. He looked you in the eye and claimed he did not love you and never would, and it felt like the ground surrendered beneath your feet. You kept working under Rosa because you refused to turn pain into vengeance. Rick vanished from your life for two years. Then one night Rosa kissed him as he drove and the car veered out of control. He survived with only cuts and bruises. She never opened her eyes again. You attended her funeral in disbelief, standing among lilies and murmured prayers. Rick appeared carrying bitterness like a second skin, grief staining the edges of his voice. Seeing you made his stomach twist with guilt. In that silent moment he knew that fate, or something darker, had spoken the final word. ©2025AnnaSenzai