Chapter 2

Both of them froze.

Chloe was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, her face flushed crimson. She reached out to grab my wrist, but I jerked away.

Her skin paled even further, heavy tears spilling over. "Alyssa, it was all me. Don't blame Austin. I'll leave right now. I'll pack my bags and disappear. I swear you'll never have to see my face again."

She spun around toward the door.

Austin lunged forward, grabbing her arm. "Where the hell are you going? Back to that toxic ex who abused you?"

He gripped her wrist tightly, pulling her behind him to shield her. "Alyssa, don't blame Chloe. If anyone is at fault, it's me."

Look at them, defending each other so gallantly. You would think I was the villain trying to tear true lovers apart.

Tears stinging my burning eyes, I raised my hand and slapped Austin across the face with everything I had.

"I asked you: when did it start?!"

The impact snapped his head to the side.

A tear betrayed me, sliding down my cheek, but I furiously scrubbed it away with the back of my hand.

Chloe rushed forward instantly, cradling his face to inspect the red mark. "Austin! Are you okay?"

Austin gently brushed her hands away and pulled out a cigarette, flicking open his lighter.

The flame cast harsh, flickering shadows across half his face.

As smoke drifted from between his lips, he delivered the cruelest blow. "Three months ago. On your birthday."

"The night I proposed to you."

A high-pitched ringing exploded in my ears, as if someone had struck me with a lead pipe.

I stumbled back two steps and collapsed hard into the dining chair.

Instinctively, Austin reached out to catch me, but his hand hovered halfway before he pulled it back.

I looked back and forth between them.

Chloe turned her head, unable to meet my eyes.

Austin kept his gaze lowered, watching the glowing cherry of his cigarette burn down.

The guilt on their faces was identical.

Up until this very moment, I had truly believed that night was the happiest day of my life.

To celebrate my birthday, the two of them had set aside their mutual coldness. They had spent an entire week planning the surprise together.

Chloe had decorated the private dining room by hand—balloons, fresh flowers, every tiny detail tailored to what I loved.

After I blew out the candles, Austin dropped to one knee with a ring box.

A man who was always composed had been trembling so hard his voice shook. Looking up at me with raw sincerity, he had said:

"Alyssa, I'm not good with fancy speeches. But I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I'll treat you right. I'll never lie to you. Will you marry me?"

I had been so overwhelmed with emotion that words failed me; I could only nod frantically.

Even Chloe had burst into happy tears for me.

Grabbing my hands, laughing and crying, she had said:

"Alyssa, you're finally going to have a real family! When the wedding comes, you're walking out from my place. I'm your sister!"

I had lost both my parents years ago.

No mom, no dad, no siblings.

Yet in that singular moment, I felt like the richest person in the world.

That night, for the very first time, I got blissfully drunk.

Sometime in the dead of night, I woke up parched.

The bed beside me was empty. I tried to call Austin's name, but my throat was too dry to make a sound.

Through the haze of sleep, I heard a faint, stifled whimper from outside the room.

Assuming nothing of it, I rolled over and drifted back to sleep.

When morning came, Austin was lying right next to me.

In the kitchen, Chloe was making breakfast smoothies. "Alyssa, get up and drink this, or your head is going to kill you all day."

I had rubbed my eyes and smiled, feeling so deeply cherished by everyone in my life.

To think that during the pinnacle of my happiness...

The man I loved most and my dearest friend were doing the foulest, most repulsive things behind a thin sheet of drywall.

I bit down on my lower lip until I tasted iron. My face drained of blood, I spoke.

"Austin. We're done."