The Ghost of a Love Story Chapter 1

Five years after breaking up with Ethan Reed, the entire internet suddenly became obsessed with our expired romance.

In the viral video, twenty-three-year-old me was wearing a heavy mascot costume, sweating profusely, yet smiling brightly at the camera:

"Hi, thirty-three-year-old Maya Brooks! Are you on your honeymoon in the Maldives with Ethan right now? Working three jobs is exhausting! You better make sure Ethan pays you back for this, okay?"

No.

He never paid me back.

Thirty-three-year-old Maya Brooks was left behind by Ethan Reed a long time ago.

* * *

In late June, a documentary suddenly started trending.

The videos garnered immediate attention upon upload.

The director was a man who had passed away ten years ago. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, he quit his job.

With a large backpack and a camera around his neck, he embarked on the final journey of his life.

He recorded the people and things he encountered along the way, asking a friend to edit and upload the footage ten years later as his final memento to the world.

After the first two episodes were released, netizens mostly expressed regret, praising his courage and open-mindedness in the face of death.

But when the third episode dropped, the documentary suddenly exploded with unimaginable popularity.

At the 13-minute and 22-second mark, an unexpected face appeared.

— The current top A-list actor, Ethan Reed.

Back then, he was still an extra in Hollywood, his face carrying a trace of nervousness and youth that hadn't yet faded.

However, the protagonist of this episode wasn't him, but me, Maya Brooks, his girlfriend at the time.

Twenty-three-year-old Maya, eyes full of unconcealed love, boastfully declared to the camera: "I guarantee Ethan will become a Best Actor one day! If not, I'll walk the entire length of the Great Wall on my hands!"