Chapter 3

3

My phone chimed with a notification. It was Declan’s reply.

At the exact same moment, Colton’s phone began to ring with an incoming call from Mindy.

He accidentally hit the speaker button, and Mindy’s syrupy voice echoed through the bedroom.

“Colton, the power went out at my place. It’s so dark and I’m terrified... Can you please come stay with me?”

The fear in her voice was laughably staged, yet Colton panicked instantly.

“Hold on, Mindy. I’m coming over right now!”

He hung up and frantically began swapping his clothes and shoes.

Just as he reached the front door, he seemed to remember my presence.

He glanced back at me with a hurried, half-hearted apology.

“Sierra, I have to go take care of this. We’ll talk about our issues when I get back.”

The front door slammed shut behind him with a loud bang.

Moments later, the roar of his engine echoed through the driveway before fading into the night.

I stared at the empty, cavernous villa.

In the past, I would have thrown a jealous fit, blocking the doorway to stop him from going.

We would have gotten into a screaming match.

Now, I felt absolutely nothing.

Since the suitcase was out of reach, I simply abandoned it.

I had plenty of money. Everything could easily be replaced with something brand new.

Replacing personal documents would be slightly tedious, but my resolve to leave was rock-solid.

I didn’t care about the hassle anymore. All I wanted was to escape this suffocating place immediately.

I walked out the front door empty-handed.

Pausing at the iron gate, I couldn’t help looking back at the house I had called home for years.

I had designed so many corners of that house myself, truly believing I would be the mistress of this home forever.

Yet here I was, walking away into the cold night.

The moment I sank into the back of a cab, tears finally streamed down my cheeks.

Memories of my five years with Colton flashed before my eyes.

We met in a college club when he had just been brought back from the countryside by the Reed family.

Back then, he had a timid, innocent gaze that reminded me of a rescue puppy I once loved.

Whenever I spoke to him, he would blush furiously and avert his eyes.

I found his shyness endearing.

From then on, I often teased him just to watch him blush and fumble for words.

Eventually, I fell head over heels into the trap of my own making.

When he wanted a scholarship, I pulled all-nighters with him to polish his project portfolios.

When he wanted to start his own business, I quietly provided the angel investment to fund his dream.

Throughout our five-year relationship, we barely ever fought.

I genuinely believed we would love each other for a lifetime.

We were supposed to get married, build a family, and grow old together.

I never anticipated the sudden return of Mindy Shaw.

She was his childhood playmate who had just returned from studying abroad.

From the moment she stepped back into his life, everything began to rot from the inside out.