I’m Emily. I’m 24, and right now, I feel like life’s taken a baseball bat to my ribs and just keeps swinging.

It’s not like things were always perfect. I was never one of those girls with a fairytale life, but I got by. I was working part-time at a local bookstore, trying to finish my college degree, and living in a modest little apartment with Ethan.

He wasn’t just my boyfriend; he was also my best friend — the kind of guy who held my hand when I was scared and laughed like sunshine on rainy days. He worked as a mechanic, with oil-stained fingers and the softest heart. Then one night, he simply didn’t come home.

The knock at the door changed everything.
The officer didn’t have to say much, just the words “car crash” and “instant,” and my world broke into pieces.