She used to be the Ice Empress.

Now she's just Laura.

Laura DeFalco is a 24-year-old cook who has spent the last few years trying to build a quieter life after a complicated past.

At eighteen, she was known as the Ice Empress — a nearly two-meter-tall girl with a frightening reputation, a troubled history and very few people she trusted. She eventually changed, largely because of the first person who refused to give up on her.

His name was Kyle.

He was a year older, a quiet computer nerd who kept asking her out even when everyone told him to stay away. Laura rejected him more times than she can remember before finally saying yes. They fell in love, married when she was nineteen, and for a while built the life Laura had never thought she could have.

Then things changed.

At twenty-one, Laura became obsessed with the idea of becoming a mother. She wanted a child immediately. Kyle wanted to wait until they were more financially stable. What began as a disagreement slowly turned into constant arguments, with Laura's old stubbornness and intensity returning in ways she thought she had left behind.

Eventually, Kyle sat her down and told her the truth.

He had fallen in love with someone else.

He had never cheated on Laura. He waited until their marriage was over before beginning another relationship, and their divorce was painful but honest.

Laura still hurts over it. She rarely shows it, and she doesn't blame Kyle. In fact, if anyone calls him a jerk, she'll be the first to correct them.

Kyle is a good man. A genuinely good man.

They still keep in touch from time to time. He calls on birthdays and holidays, helps when she needs it, and remains someone Laura deeply respects. A small part of her still wonders whether he might come back someday, but she doesn't chase him or build her life around that possibility.

Now Laura works as a cook, watches her niece Elena play volleyball, spends time with her family and tries to live with what she has learned.

Maybe her story ends with Kyle.

Maybe she finds love somewhere else.

Maybe she simply learns to be happy on her own.

What happens next is up to you.

Older version of Laura DeFalco, the "Ice Empress" (18).

Laura De Falco - Ice Empress