Chapter 3

From that day on, Kieran became remarkably attentive.

Back in high school, I never realized he could talk this much.

Every day, he asked what I was doing and what I was eating, frequently sending whining puppy memes saying how much he missed me.

With his presence filling my days, the suffocating loneliness in my chest began to fade.

Three days later, Harrison sent me a photo.

It looked like he was having dinner at his parents' estate.

"Babe, it's been two days. Why haven't you called me?"

"How's the new place? Is it hard to fall asleep without my arms around you?"

If I wasn't mistaken, the pale, slender wrist visible at the edge of the dining table in the photo belonged to Tinsley.

I replied bluntly.

"Looks like you and Tinsley are having a great time."

"She insisted on coming along. I couldn't say no."

"My parents actually really like her, though. She knows how to butter up the elderly. I'll have her give you some pointers sometime."

He knew better than anyone that I grew up in an orphanage and had no one to teach me how to navigate family dynamics.

He used to tell me.

"You're marrying me, not my parents. You don't need to bend over backward to please them."

The suppressed bitterness surged back into my throat.

I ignored the message.

That evening, Harrison called me.

"The cleaning service I hired said you never checked in. Where the hell are you?"

I let out a soft sigh.

"I didn't want to go."

Hearing the cold detachment in my voice, Harrison chuckled lightly.

"What's with the attitude? Since when did you start throwing tantrums like Tinsley?"

"I told you, it was all an act. Once I'm tired of playing around with her, I'm coming back to live with you for good."

"Now tell me, where are you right now? I'm coming over."

After everything we had been through, I wanted to end things cleanly and permanently.

I spoke in a calm voice.

"I'm at my old apartment from before we got married. You know the address."

Harrison was the type to act on impulse, so fearing he might show up right away, I dragged my weak body out of bed and sat in the living room to wait.

Yet, all I got was the sound of cold rain tapping against the windowpane, the chilly draft stirring my hair.

The night air was freezing. As I reached to close the window, I dialed his number.

The call was disconnected almost instantly.

A second later, a voice memo arrived.

"God, she's so damn dramatic. I bought her a luxury condo, and she insists on running back to that ghetto shack."

"Who the hell actually loves her? At first, I just thought she was cute and naive, like a stray dog. I never imagined that a few bags of cheap roasted chestnuts every winter would make her fall head over heels for me! She acts like she's never had anything nice in her life, haha!"

"I only married her because I couldn't bag the girl I actually wanted and didn't want to mess around with gold diggers. She was clean and obedient. Too bad she's completely vanilla in bed―so boring."

"Tinsley is way better. Wild, energetic, and knows how to have fun. Come here, baby, give me a kiss."

The voice recording cut off abruptly.

My heart felt as if it had been ripped in half.

There was no way Harrison and I could ever have an amicable goodbye.

I sat in the dark living room until dawn, when the rusty iron door rattled softly, followed by a familiar deep voice.

"Rowan, it's me."

I walked over in a trance and opened the door.

I hadn't seen Kieran in years. He looked far more mature and commanding than he used to, showing none of the playful silliness he displayed over text.

In his hands, he held a brown paper bag of warm roasted chestnuts.

His figure instantly overlapped with Harrison's in my mind, and the cruel words from the voice note echoed violently in my ears.

I lashed out, swatting the bag out of his hands, my vision blurring with rage.

"Get away from me!"

"I don't want to see you!"

Meanwhile, Harrison's company was between projects, so he took Tinsley and his crew out to a luxury mountain resort for a weekend getaway.

While soaking in the outdoor hot springs that afternoon, the drowsy group was suddenly startled by an exclamation.

"Holy shit, the sole heir to the Drake Group just landed back in the States!"

"Dude, didn't you have a tech pitch you wanted to present to the Drakes? Now that the heir is back in town, shouldn't you try to get on his good side?"

Harrison pulled the towel off his forehead and swam over to take a look.

However, his friend's expression suddenly twisted into something awkward, and he tightly gripped his phone to his chest.

"Wait, never mind. My bad, I misread it."

Not catching the hint, the others crowded around him.

"What's the big deal? Let us see."

"Yeah, I've seen pictures of the Drake heir before. I can tell you if it's really him."

The friend couldn't shield the screen in time, and someone snatched the phone away.

A guy gasped immediately.

"Damn, he just got back and he's already hooking up? He's carrying a girl in his arms!"

"Wait... why does this woman look so familiar?"

Suddenly, everyone realized why their friend had tried to hide the screen.

Their buddy was getting cuckolded in broad daylight.

No one dared to breathe a word.

Sensing something was wrong, Harrison lunged forward and grabbed the phone.

Through the misty rain on the screen, Kieran Drake was carrying a woman bridal-style, shielding her from the drizzle as he placed her into a luxury Maybach.

Though the woman's face was hidden against his chest, Harrison instantly recognized the designer sneakers on her feet.

He had bought those exact shoes for Rowan.

The moment the realization hit, he scrambled out of the pool and threw on his clothes.

Someone called out in confusion.

"Bro, where are you going? Tinsley is on her way up!"

Harrison cursed under his breath, his face dark as thunder.

"Rowan ran off with another man!"

The entire room fell dead silent, exchanging stunned glances.

Harrison felt the blood rushing to his head, his ears ringing with fury.

An overwhelming instinct warned him that if he didn't go right now, he would lose Rowan forever.

He sped toward the old apartment complex, dialing her number furiously.

He was so consumed by panic that he didn't even notice a sleek black Maybach driving in the exact opposite direction.