The Ghost of the Hotel and the Girl from Myanmar

The day Sarah said "yes" to my proposal, her childhood friend, Jake, killed himself.

She tore up our engagement, screaming that I should just die.

And soon enough, she got her wish.

I was kidnapped and taken to Myanmar; every day felt like it could be my last.

Two years later, I was rescued by the police, and Sarah, with red-rimmed eyes, mumbled an apology.

I turned away. "I've got someone now, don't bother."

1.

It was no secret how crazy I was about Sarah.

She loved good food, but was obsessed with additives, so I took cooking classes.

Whatever she craved, I made it for her.

After five years of bending over backward, she finally agreed to marry me.

I was so on cloud nine, that when Jake asked to meet, I didn’t refuse.

Jake was Sarah's first love. He’d gone overseas to chase his career, and came back a year ago to win her back. But I was in the way.

That night at the hotel, Jake slid a diagnosis across the table.

"Ethan, I have stage four stomach cancer. The doctor says I've got maybe three months. Can you give Sarah back to me? I'm not going to last long anyway; after I’m gone you can have her back."

I loved Sarah too much to let her go.

"No way," I said, shaking my head. "Not for three months, not for one second."

His look went from desperate to full of hate.

"Ethan, you think Sarah won't resent you for the rest of your life?"

I lit a cigarette. "She said she'd love me forever… Oh, we got engaged today, by the way."

I stubbed out my cigarette and walked out.

That night, Jake slit his wrists in the hotel bathroom.

The suicide note said just one thing:

Ethan, I wished you and Sarah happiness, why can’t you let me go?

Next to it, was a cigarette butt. It was the only brand I ever smoked.

The stomach cancer diagnosis? Gone.

I told Sarah it was all a set up.

"I didn't do anything to him! He had cancer, he didn't have much time left, he said all that because he was trying to get back at me for stealing you!"

The cops verified Jake's condition.

I waited for Sarah to say she was wrong.

But she just screamed and slapped me across the face, twice.

"You knew he was dying! Why did you have to kill him! You're a monster, why don't you go die!"

She said it was my fault, and blocked all my contacts.

I stewed in my apartment for two days, trying to figure out how to win her back.

Then, I got a text from an unknown number, from Sarah.

She said she’d forgive me, if I went to the hotel, and bowed three times to the bathtub Jake killed himself in.

Without a second thought, I went.

The second I walked in, someone slammed a rag over my nose.

When I finally came to, I was in Myanmar.

…

The plane's announcement snapped me back to the present.

The cop next to me squeezed my hand. "Welcome home, Ethan."

The plane touched down, and my feet were back on American soil.

My brother, Liam, was at the gate. He hugged me tight, laughing and crying.

My eyes stung, but no tears came.

"Ethan…"

Someone said my name softly.

I looked up....