Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Watching the streetlights blur past the window, I wondered how a person could change so completely.

In seventh grade, my family moved into the house next door to Zach's.

Our families got along well and had business dealings together.

Zach's father told Zach to look after me.

We walked to school together and came home together every single day.

Over time, we grew inseparable.

One afternoon, our driver got stuck in traffic, so Zach offered to take the city bus with me.

Unfortunately, our bus collided with a heavy truck at an intersection.

In that terrifying split second, Zach threw his entire body over mine to shield me.

I came out of the crash without a single scratch.

Zach, however, suffered severe head trauma and fell into a deep coma.

Thanks to emergency surgery, he survived, but he had to stay hospitalized for months.

Sitting by his bed, staring at his heavily bandaged head, my eyes brimmed with tears.

Seeing me cry, Zach panicked.

"Don't cry, Hadley! It doesn't even hurt!"

He looked into my eyes with fierce determination.

"Zach promised to protect Hadley no matter what. I will never break my word."

It was tragic that I was the only one who remembered that childhood vow.

The moment I stepped through my front door, my mother called.

"Hey, sweetie. Did you have fun at the party?"

Hearing my mother's voice, my tears finally broke free, and my voice cracked.

"Mom, I am miserable."

"I don't want to love Zach anymore."

"I regret staying behind instead of moving to New York with you and Dad."

When my parents expanded our business to New York, they wanted me to transfer schools with them.

I chose to stay behind purely because I couldn't bear the thought of leaving Zach.

Hearing me sob, my mother was heartbroken. After learning everything, she and my father caught the first flight back that very night.

The next morning, my parents marched me over to the Young household to call off the engagement.

Zach's mother desperately tried to salvage the relationship.

My mother coldly threw several photos onto the coffee table, showing Zach and Brianna kissing in the lounge.

"Mrs. Young, we have been friends for years, and you know how well I have treated Zach."

"We are grateful that he saved Hadley years ago, but that gives him no right to humiliate my daughter."

My mother took a deep breath.

"Ending this engagement now is the best choice for both families."

Zach's parents had no choice but to agree.

Before leaving, I begged them to keep the broken engagement a secret from Zach for now.

I didn't want Zach to flatter himself into thinking this was just another game of hard-to-get.

With the engagement officially over, a massive weight was lifted from my chest.

Occasionally, Brianna would send provocative messages to my phone.

Sometimes it was a photo of her and Zach in a messy, passionate embrace.

Other times it was a shot of their fingers intertwined.

"Hadley, I am training Zach's kissing technique for you. You can thank me later when you get him back."

I ignored every single message from her.

I was already done with Zach anyway.

In three days, I would be boarding a flight to New York, leaving this place behind forever.

While I was packing my suitcases, my phone rang. It was Zach.

"Hadley, what have you been up to lately? You haven't reached out to me once."

"Do you even care that I am your boyfriend?"

His tone was full of entitlement and accusations.

I found it laughable.

Wasn't Brianna his girlfriend right now?

I calmly reminded him.

"When you decided to do that dating dare with Brianna, you told me not to bother you. I did exactly what you asked. Why are you demanding my attention now?"

Zach was momentarily choked up.

After a long pause, he snapped back defensively.

"That is no excuse to ignore me completely. You never used to act like this."

"Act like what?" I countered.

Did he mean chasing after him like a desperate fool while his friends laughed behind my back?

Or letting him trample on my dignity just because he knew I loved him?

I took a deep breath.

"Zach, there is nothing left for us to say."