Chapter 3

Austin's head snapped up, a slight tremor in his voice. "Alyssa, stop talking out of anger."

I locked eyes with him. "I'm not angry. I'm telling you we're over."

A heavy silence stretched between us as he stared at the half-burnt cigarette in his hand.

Then, he let out a low sigh, his tone shifting into something patronizing, almost pitying. "Alyssa, you won't leave. You can't bring yourself to."

I stared at him, my heart feeling as if it were being squeezed and shredded in a vice.

A relieved smirk actually played at the corner of his lips. "Remember why you became an orphan? Your mom caught your dad cheating, chased after him in a rage, they got into a fight in the car, and crashed. You don't have parents. You don't have siblings. You don't even have a childhood home to crawl back to."

The blood in my veins turned to liquid ice.

"I'm your only shelter, Alyssa. Chloe is the only friend you have left in this world. You can't survive without us. Don't be foolish like your mother, okay?"

Every syllable was a dagger, aimed precisely at the softest, most vulnerable part of my soul.

My hands and feet went completely numb. "How... how do you know that?"

I whipped my head toward Chloe, absolute betrayal searing through my chest.

Only Chloe knew the truth about how my parents died.

I had never breathed a word of it to Austin.

Back when Austin and I first started dating, Chloe had sat me down with a grim expression.

"Alyssa, remember the broken window theory. A girl can never hand over all her vulnerabilities when she's in love. Just because Austin treats you well doesn't mean you spill your deepest wounds."

I had laughed back then, throwing my arms around her neck playfully. "I know, I know! You're the best, Chloe. Meeting you was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me."

Chloe had smiled warmly, her eyes turning into soft crescents. "We're going to be best friends for life."

For life.

Thinking back on it now, it was nothing but a grotesque joke.

Chloe rushed forward in tears, clutching my arm desperately. "Alyssa, didn't we promise we'd be sisters forever? You can't cast me out! Please don't give up on me!"

Looking at her tear-drenched face, I normally would have caved. I would have wiped her cheeks, pulled her into a hug, and comforted her.

But right now, I couldn't move a single muscle.

I desperately wanted to ask her: Weren't we best friends?

Back in high school, when I couldn't afford my tuition, she emptied out her entire childhood savings jar and shoved it into my hands.

When my distant relatives tossed me around like unwanted baggage, she hugged me tightly and whispered again and again: "Alyssa, you're not a burden. I want you. I'll take care of you when we grow up."

In college, when someone spread nasty, vile rumors about my character and everyone whispered behind my back, she drove hours from another campus, dragged me straight to the campus radio studio, and—despite being the most anxious, timid girl alive—found the courage to demand a public apology on air for me.

The floodgates broke. I violently shoved her off me.

In complete hysteria, I swept my arms across the dining table, shattering everything onto the floor.

"Get out! Both of you, get the hell out!"

"I never want to see your faces again!"

The cake smashed into pieces on the hardwood, frosting splattering everywhere.

Chloe flinched in terror, her tears falling even faster. "Alyssa, please don't be mad... I'll leave right now..."

She turned toward the door.

Suddenly, Austin reached out and caught her wrist.

He raised his eyes toward me, his expression completely hardened into ice.

"Alyssa. This is my apartment. If anyone is leaving tonight, it's you."