Climbing the Mountain for His Love

At Ethan Cole’s birthday party, I proposed to him.

Amid the cheers, his close “sister-brother” suddenly objected!

The room went silent.

Rachel Carter crossed her arms, smiling with open provocation.

“Sure, you can marry him—if your woman hikes the Mount Rainier Circuit with you first!”

The crowd erupted into even louder jeers and applause.

My face turned pale as I looked at my boyfriend.

Ethan spat at Rachel, half-laughing.

“Damn it, you stole my line!”

Rachel shrugged carelessly. “Please. Which one of us brothers hasn’t been through life-and-death with you? Your future wife can’t rank below us, right?”

The heckling grew louder.

Ethan turned back to me, his eyes shining.

“Zoe, let’s finish Rainier and then get married!”

I gritted my teeth and nodded.

But the night before departure, Rachel hid my satellite phone—claiming it was just to scare me.

She didn’t realize that stunt nearly cost the whole trip.

In six years together, Ethan had never truly intended to marry me.

I thought bringing it up at his birthday party might finally force the issue.

I hadn’t expected Rachel to tie my proposal to an extreme trek.

“Ethan, haven’t you always wanted to do Rainier?”

“But your girlfriend doesn’t look like she can handle hardship.”

“Not like me. I can trek the EBC circuit with you.”

Rachel gave me a mocking once-over.

Before I could react, Ethan slung his arm around her neck, laughing.

“Yeah right! Who was it in Nepal that froze at night and crawled into my sleeping bag? You’re no tougher than Zoe!”

They laughed together, an invisible barrier shutting me out.

The whole crowd was swept up by Rachel’s words, buzzing with excitement about the Rainier adventure—routes, gear, past stories.

Ethan let go of Rachel, still smiling, then looked at me—completely off-topic.

“Don’t worry, Zoe. I know the routes and gear. You’ll have fun, it’ll be smoother than Everest!”

Rachel butted in again. “Oh please. Without me, you’d get lost. I’m coming too, otherwise your petite girlfriend…”

“Shut up!” Ethan laughed, pushing her aside.

The two of them fell into another round of playful bickering, leaving no room for me.

No one looked at me.

No one remembered—it was me who had just proposed.

My happiness, my future, became nothing more than a pretext to spark their brotherly nostalgia.

I was an outsider, watching my boyfriend and his “bros” plan a pre-marriage trial without my say.

They set the schedule, discussed time off, even planned shopping trips for gear.

My wishes? My feelings? Didn’t matter.

It was as if all I needed to do was tag along and survive the challenge, and I’d earn a ticket to marriage.

Six years.

I had waited six years.

Not to be put through a damn qualification test!

My heart chilled as I watched the laughing crowd, the man I’d loved for so long.

They kept laughing.

Ethan even raised his glass, toasting the sudden mountaineering trip.

And at that moment, I grabbed the cake that read “Happy Birthday! Marry Me”.

“Everybody shut the fuck up!”