One Last Time

By Chelle

CHAPTER 1
My Dearest Ethan,
This will be my last letter to you before I leave your life. I have come to realize that no matter what I do, you will never truly love me again. I have hurt you too many times and abused your trust far too often to deserve your love anymore.
I have learned that you will not leave Gwen, you obviously seem to love her more than me and I was wrong in ever thinking it could be different. I never had any right of forcing you to love me. Please know that I did truly love you, the year that I spent with you was the most amazing year of my life. I discovered what true love was from just being in your presence and if I have to live the rest of my life without it, the time I did have your love has a permanent place in my heart and soul. But all good things come to an end, and so ours has too.
I have decided to leave Harmony. I can not stay in a town where every second thing reminds me of you and what I can't have. I will not stay in a loveless marriage just so I can have financial support for my son, because that was my only motive for the legal battle. I wanted Julian to pay. But why should he continue to pay when the mistake wasn't his to begin with. The only mistake made was not trusting you with the truth and now I have to pay for it.
I will be leaving Harmony tonight and I believe the only way to make a fresh start is to leave behind our son. He will remain with my mother, I think that he deserves a mother figure that does not lie all the time and hurt the people she loves. If you want a complete explanation, no more lies, I will be at our spot. I feel it is the only place that I can truly be happy anymore. I hope you will come to say goodbye.
I love you Ethan,
Always and forever
Teresa
Once Teresa finished writing the letter she quietly slid into Ethan's room and placed it on his bedside table. She noticed that Gwen wasn't in the room tonight and though she found it strange, she accepted that it was no longer her concern whom Ethan slept with. She leaned over and kissed his forehead as he slept and walked out of the room for the last time.
Collecting her bags she packed her car and left the Crane mansion for the last time, and drove to her favorite place in the world, The Beach.
Ethan woke up immediately after Teresa kissed him, how could he not? Every touch he received from her sent his body temperature soaring and his heart beat racing. Sitting up he looked around the room wondering where Gwen was, it seemed that these days she never left him alone. He did like her a lot but she wasn't Teresa. He had to end things with her soon or he would hurt many hearts in the process. Leaning over he pulled his clock towards him so he could see the time displayed. But instead of his clock his hand brushed against an envelope. Picking it up, he read the name on the front. ETHAN. It was Teresa's writing he knew that immediately. He opened it up and read it.
Ethan was shocked. Teresa was leaving, and she thought that he was in love with Gwen? That was absurd. But how could she leave him? He needed her in harmony. He loved her; he loved Ethan Martin, he had such a connection with him. How could she leave?
'Duh Ethan you've told her that you don't want to be with her and can't trust her that's why' he screamed at himself. She had said she was going to be at their spot where was that? They had been together in so many different places and shared so many happy memories? He needed to speak to her quickly try and get her to change her mind. But where?
'Think Ethan think' he screamed at himself. Immediately it came to him.
'Of course, The Beach' it was the same place that he often went to think. It was the place where he could recall a time where he too was truly happy, a place that held dear memories before the whole Bermuda tragedy. It was the night before their wedding and he remembered every second of what had happened that night. It was the happiest night of his life Teresa had become part of his soul that night, he had never felt so much passion with a single person in his life. She had completed him, made him whole. But then everything went haywire.
First there was their disaster of a wedding where he discovered that Teresa knew he was not a Crane and tried to expose it, she claimed her innocence and he wanted to believe her too, but there were so many things going wrong in his life. Teresa went to Bermuda ended up marrying his ex-father and then getting pregnant. She had hidden the truth from him so many times it was hard to believe her anymore. He wanted to be with her so much and now she was running away she had said that she would explain everything, that her lies were finished. Well it was time to find out if she had grown up and trusted that he loved her enough with the truth.
Quickly getting dressed he rushed out of the mansion towards the beach.
Teresa pulled up her car to the beach and got out. Grabbing a towel she walked down to the shore and sat down. She stared out at the water noticing how calm it looked on the surface. But underneath was a completely different world full of creature playing out nature's game of survival of the toughest. It reminded her of her life, she had competed against Gwen for Ethan's love and she had initially won. But that was before her world came crumbling down. Gwen had been the victor. She had stayed true to Ethan the entire time in hopes of him one day returning to her. And because of Teresa's mistakes, Gwen now had Ethan back.
Teresa knew in her heart that she still loved Ethan and probably would for the rest of her life, but she would never have that love returned to her.
She checked the time, only 6 hours till her flight, she didn't know where she was going, she made a point of asking the operator to pick a nice place and book the ticket one way, for Teresa Crane. Even though she didn't want the Crane name or money, she needed it to get out on her own. That way once she was set up she could disappear, without any traces.
Thinking back to when she dropped little Ethan off at her mothers she realized that she hadn't really explained the extent of her plans, all she had said was that she was going away for a few days. Well she could get Ethan to explain the situation, if he ever showed up. If she tried to go back now, her mama would tell her what a foolish girl she was and to cut out her childish behavior.
And she would be right too. She had acted like a child, a child stuck in a fairytale waiting for her prince charming. Well reality had hit her straight in the face and now it was time for her to grow up.
Getting up Teresa walked slowly down to water
and began to walk along the shoreline, watching the small waves travel in and crash on the shore only to recede back again. Closing her she listened to the sound that they made.
Memories came floating back, images raced through her mind as she remembered the night where her body had been in rhythm with that sound, it had matched the flow of the tides when she had joined her soul to Ethan's. That one night where the only sound heard for miles around was the waves crashing and two people joined in bliss, reaching ecstasy with each new wave. How she wished she could travel back to that night, to see the desire and love shining in Ethan's eyes. Desire and love for her, Teresa, the housekeepers' daughter who had somehow managed to steal him away from the woman he had been with for his entire adult life, the person who had shown him a different side of life that he knew nothing about. She had shown him that there was more to life than money and that he was more than just a name, he was a beautiful and generous person. One that was capable of so much love. She had experienced that love too, first hand on this beach. But she had ruined it all, with the lies and deceptions, why couldn't she have just trusted his love for her.
She had been so afraid to take away his identity if she had told him what she knew. She could never imagine the hurt and suffering that he had gone through, but then someone else beat her to it and he experienced those exact feelings that she had tried to protect him from.
Walking back to her blanket she laid down and fell asleep hoping that when she woke up everything would be different and that she could go back to how it was before she destroyed her life.