Chapter 3

3

I woke up the next morning to bright sunlight.

In my stupor, I reached out for the other side of the bed. It was cold.

Linsey hadn't spent the night at home.

By all rights, I should be heartbroken, devastated.

But to my surprise, I felt nothing.

Maybe it was just that I'd been disappointed too many times.

I was getting used to it.

As I finished washing up and getting ready for work, I bumped into Linsey just as she was coming home.

She looked a bit uneasy when she saw me.

"I got a bit drunk last night… Rowan helped me get a hotel room."

I nodded, saying nothing.

Maybe my cold attitude was just too unusual.

If this were the old me, I would have been frantic, questioning her, terrified that something had happened to her.

Linsey softened her voice, which was rare. "I'll drive you to work."

"Don't bother. You're hungover; you shouldn't be driving."

I rarely refused her. Whenever she softened, I would usually take the chance to let it go.

Linsey panicked. She pouted, looking at me with tears brimming in her eyes.

"Are you still mad about me standing you up?"

I grabbed my keys and turned to leave.

Seeing that playing the victim wasn't working, she immediately flipped her attitude and started scolding me.

"You're a man! Do you have to be so petty?!"

"It's just a stupid trip! If we missed this one, we can go next time!"

I stopped in my tracks and looked at her seriously.

"Do you even know what day that flight was?"

Linsey froze, looking blank.

"It was our ten-year anniversary."

She had a sudden realization, then frowned.

"So what? It's just an anniversary. If we missed it, we missed it! Do you have to be so difficult about it?!"

"Are you saying you don't want to celebrate our next one?!"

Here we go again. Linsey always had a way of turning things around and making it my fault.

I gave a bitter laugh.

Turns out, our promise had been thrown to the back of her mind a long time ago.

"I proposed to you three years ago, and you turned me down. I still remember exactly what you said."

"You said you would only say yes if the proposal happened under the Northern Lights. That's why I planned this whole trip."

Linsey went completely still.

"You and Nolan had a blast, didn't you? You didn't even look at my social media once, did you?"

She looked stunned by my words, her hand trembling as she pulled out her phone.

But maybe because of the wild night before, the battery was completely dead.

She just gripped the phone and stared at me like a fool.

"Silas… I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "No need to apologize. If it's missed, it's missed."

"We just aren't meant to be."

I dropped the words coldly and turned to head to the office.

……

After such a long vacation, the company kept me slammed.

I was working overtime until 11:00 PM every night, crashing the moment I hit my pillow.

Every once in a while, I could hear Linsey whispering my name beside the bed.

But maybe I was just too tired, or maybe I was just trying to escape.

I never answered her.

Until I got the good news from Rowan:

"Silas, you have to come to my wedding!"

"Oh, and could you do me a favor? Can you join my husband's groomsmen team?"

Rowan was a good person. Whenever Linsey ran off during a fight, Rowan was always the one to take her in. I'd owed her many favors in the past.

For the sake of our friendship, I couldn't say no.

I agreed.

No sooner had I said yes than I received a message from Linsey:

【Silas, I heard you're going to be in the groomsmen team?】

【I've already sent your suit size to Rowan for you!】

This was the first time she'd reached out since that day.

Maybe she was trying to use this as a chance to break the ice.