Chapter 3

03

Zander sat outside my door all night.

At 5:00 AM, I woke up from the cold. I checked the peephole. He was still there, slumped against the wall with his head in his knees. He looked like a stray dog.

It was pathetic.

When Lyra jumped into the river years ago, he dove in to save her without a second thought. He came back with a high fever but still insisted on making her soup.

Now that I was breaking up with him, he was acting like the victim.

At exactly 7:00 AM, I opened the door with my suitcase. Zander snapped his head up. His eyes were bloodshot, and his stubble was thick. He looked like a wreck.

"Scarlett..."

"Move." I dragged my suitcase past him. He smelled like a mix of antiseptic and old blood.

He reached out to grab me, but I dodged him. "Don't touch me, Zander. You make my skin crawl."

As the elevator doors closed, I saw him collapse onto the floor. His shoulders were shaking.

Good. Let him feel what it's like to be abandoned.

I knew that within three hours, one phone call from Lyra would turn him back into her loyal little pet.

I crashed at my best friend Maddie's place. When she saw the marks on my wrist, she almost smashed her limited-edition makeup palette. "That piece of trash! And that crazy girl Lyra! Why can't they just disappear?"

"They're getting there," I said, icing my wrist while scrolling through the news. The local headline read: "BLOOD AT HIGH-SOCIETY WEDDING: OBSESSED WOMAN HURTS HERSELF FOR LOVE." There was a blurred photo of Lyra being loaded into an ambulance.

Maddie snatched my phone away. "Stop looking! They aren't worth it!"

"You're right." I popped a grape into my mouth. "That's why I'm quitting my job and moving to San Diego."

Maddie froze. "Are you serious? What about that big project you've been working on?"

"I'll leave it to Zander," I said with a shrug. "I want to see if his failing company can survive a single month without me running things."

I had actually already secured a job offer at a tech firm in San Diego. The position and pay were much better.

I had planned to tell Zander after the wedding. Now, I didn't have to.

While updating my resume, a text from an unknown number popped up. "Lyra is awake. She wants to see you."

I replied with "Go to hell" and blocked it.

A few minutes later, Lyra called me. Zander probably gave her my number.

I hesitated, then picked up. I wanted to hear what kind of game she was playing now.

"Scarlett," she whispered, her voice sounding weak and fake. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to... please don't be mad at Zander."

"Oh? So you did it on purpose then?" I asked, bored.

She caught her breath. "I just love him so much... I can't live without him."

"Then just die," I said, looking at a new job listing. "Just pick a place where no one has to watch. Don't ruin the view for the rest of us."

I heard sharp breathing on the other end, followed by Zander's roar. "Scarlett, what is wrong with you! She just woke up and you're attacking her!"

"What's wrong with me?" I laughed. "Zander, you're the one who had the woman who crashed my wedding call me to apologize. You're the sick one. Or maybe you both just enjoy making me miserable."

He went silent for a few seconds. When he spoke again, his voice was soft. "Scarlett, I know you're hurt. Just come back. Let's talk this out, okay?"

"Not okay." I hung up and put my phone on airplane mode.

Some people won't realize they're wrong until you grind their pride into the dirt.