Chapter 3

3.

Since Silas had poured all his focus into Camille, I didn’t see him for two weeks.

He was doing exactly what he said he’d do―making up for all the time they had missed.

Camille made it clear she wanted to rub it in. She posted a photo on her social media.

A large, calloused hand was wrapped around a woman’s slender waist, and the silver rings on their ring fingers were a clear match.

The caption read: “Back where I belong.”

The comments were a flood of well-wishes.

I recognized that hand immediately. It was Silas’s. There was a scar on his thumb from the day we first met.

I had been down on my luck. My family’s business had collapsed, my parents were gone, and my grandmother was gravely ill. The weight of the world had fallen on my shoulders.

I had searched for months before landing a job as a waitress at a bar.

But it was a seedy place. On my first day, I was cornered by two drunk men.

They were dragging me toward a room, shouting, “If you don’t come with us, we’ll tell the manager and get you fired!”

Silas was the one who pulled me out of that hell. I was so grateful.

The moment he saw me, he studied my face with a look I couldn’t quite interpret.

“Be my girlfriend. I’ll take care of everything for you.”

He kept his word. He paid off my family’s debts and covered the expensive hospital bills for my grandmother.

Before Camille appeared, I had treated him like my own personal light.

I never imagined his heart had always belonged to his first love.

…

My best friend, Chloe, knew I was struggling, so she came over to keep me company.

She told me I needed to plan ahead, to transfer any assets I could in case of a breakup.

It made sense.

Now that the true love was back, the substitute was becoming less and less useful.

Even if I didn’t have his heart, I wasn’t about to let Camille inherit what was rightfully mine.

Chloe and I spent the afternoon sorting through the gifts Silas had given me over the years, making fun of him as we worked.

Chloe did a hilarious impression of Silas playing the arrogant CEO.

We were rolling on the floor, laughing until we cried.

Maybe she realized I was starting to look stressed, because her eyes darted to a wooden carving that seemed out of place among the luxury gifts.

“What is this?”

When I saw the wooden doll she was holding, I froze.

Grandmother had gone to a temple to get a charm of destiny for Silas and me before she passed.

I still remembered her patting my hand, saying, “Carve this wood into his likeness. It’s a good omen that you’ll be together forever.”

“Take it, and have a good life with that boy.”

I had spent three days and nights meticulously carving the doll, even etching our names on the back.

I had truly imagined a life with him. It was a shame that wouldn’t be happening.

I missed my grandmother so much. I missed the days when I was happy and carefree.