Chapter 2

2

By the time I finished watching the sunrise and made it back down, a light rain had started to fall.

I couldn't find my car anywhere in the parking lot.

I sent Elena a text asking if she had driven it away.

She had a spare set of keys to my SUV.

She didn't reply.

The area was remote. I had to hike three miles in the rain before I finally reached a bus stop.

As soon as I sat down on the bus, Elena finally messaged me back.

"That's my car now. I'll drive it whenever I want. Don't you have legs? Stop whining about a car."

"I'm taking Silas to pick up his grandmother from the hospital this afternoon. Get home and get ready to drive us."

My face went cold. "I'm not going."

Elena sent a voice note, her voice full of disdain.

"Lucas, you don't have a choice. You're the driver I hired. Your grandmother's health is failing, right? You wouldn't want her worrying about you losing your job."

The last time I talked to my Nana, I noticed she seemed confused, like she was developing dementia.

I had shared that fear with Elena.

At the time, she acted so supportive, saying we should bring Nana to the city and she would pay for the best care.

Now, she was using that vulnerability as a direct threat.

I gripped my phone, taking deep breaths to suppress the rage boiling inside me.

"I'll be there," I finally replied.

Elena was willing to sacrifice everything for Silas's family, even our own future.

But when it came to me, she used my own dying grandmother to blackmail me.

I stared at my phone wallpaper.

It was a photo of me spinning Elena around under a sunset.

I whispered to myself, "I guess there's nothing left worth holding onto."

I changed the wallpaper to a default setting and booked a one-way train ticket back to my hometown for next week.

The year Elena graduated, she wanted to start her own business in the city.

I quit my high-paying corporate job to move here and struggle alongside her.

Later, one of her partners ran off with the company funds, leaving her on the verge of bankruptcy.

I sold my new car and used my parents' life insurance payout to keep her afloat.

The company survived and thrived, but Elena asked me to step back and just be her personal driver.

She suffered from severe motion sickness and didn't trust anyone else behind the wheel. Because I loved her, I agreed.

The original employees who stayed through the crisis got massive raises.

I was the only one who had been stuck with a meager three-thousand-dollar salary for five years.

Elena always said, "My money is your money. Don't be so formal. They're outsiders, I have to pay them well to keep them. You're family."

But she never realized that my heart was draining dry from the neglect.

She even ended our own pregnancy just to help Silas and his family.

Last month, my Nana begged me to start a family while she could still remember me.

Elena happened to get pregnant, and I used the news to propose.

She turned me down flat, telling me not to use the baby to guilt-trip her into marriage.

But yesterday, I found a medical form at the bottom of a drawer.

The date on the termination paperwork was the same day I proposed.

Elena had scheduled the procedure the moment she found out she was pregnant.

I couldn't understand how she could be so heartless. I had gone hiking to clear my head.

Then I caught her with Silas.

Now I understood perfectly. She was clearing the way for Silas's child.

Elena probably forgot that this mountain was where we first fell in love.

Years ago, I had injured my leg during a night hike.

Elena happened to be there and helped me down the mountain despite being terrified of the dark.

I got her number to pay her back for the medical help and to thank her.

I saw on social media that she loved hiking as much as I did, so I started inviting her out.

That was how our relationship began.

Later, I took her to this exact spot.

Under the warm glow of the sunset, I nervously confessed my feelings.

She had looked down shyly and said yes.

I thought we would be together forever, but I never expected that as soon as Silas returned from abroad, I would cease to exist in her eyes.