Chapter 2

2

Remembering the cold cruelty in Piper’s eyes as she walked away, a stabbing pain tore through my chest.

My vision blurred, and I passed out.

By the time the floor nurse revived me, Piper hadn’t returned, nor had she sent a single text.

I let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh and opened her social media.

She had just posted an update.

It was a photo of her and Chase locked in an intimate embrace in a luxury hotel room.

They were pressed flush against each other, their necks covered in unmistakable hickeys.

Her caption read: “When you’re with the right person, anywhere feels like paradise.”

I thought my heart was already dead, but seeing that picture made my chest contract violently.

A suffocating sensation clamped around my throat, making my head spin.

It took a long time for the dizzying ache to subside.

Once I pulled myself together, I called the wedding venue and canceled our upcoming reception.

Since they had shed all shame, there was no reason for me to play the fool.

I might as well step aside and let the two lovebirds be together.

Over the next few days, I focused entirely on my recovery.

Piper never reached out once.

Instead, she flew to the Maldives with Chase for an impromptu vacation.

To taunt me, Chase posted multiple updates with suggestive captions.

Watching their feed blow up with romantic vacation pictures, I finally blocked both of them.

In the past, I would have blown up her phone, screaming and demanding to know what she was doing.

Now, I felt completely numb.

I was scheduled for discharge in two days, and I planned to end things with her cleanly then.

Unexpectedly, I ran into Piper and Chase making out passionately right in the lobby of my apartment building.

Seeing me, her eyes went wide. “Silas? What are you doing back?”

“This is my apartment. Why shouldn’t I be here?”

I stared at her blankly, stepping around them to head upstairs.

To my surprise, Piper dumped Chase right there and chased after me, scrambling for excuses.

“That was a misunderstanding just now! Something got into my eye, and Chase was just helping me blow it out...”

“Okay. I’m not mad,” I replied flatly.

Piper didn’t realize that the fresh marks on her neck gave her away entirely.

I didn’t bother calling her out.

We were breaking up anyway, so arguing was pointless.

Guilt gnawed at her, so the moment we stepped inside, she rushed to the kitchen to cook.

“If I knew you were being discharged today, I would’ve picked you up. You should’ve told me...”

I ignored her.

Then, tucked into the crevice of the living room sofa, I spotted a used condom wrapper.

By the time Piper brought out the food with a forced smile, I had already set the wrapper on the glass coffee table.

“Th-this... I used that myself! You weren’t home, so I used my toy and wrapped it up to keep things clean...”

Her face turned pale, her voice trembling, yet she still kept spinning her ridiculous lies.

I almost laughed out loud from sheer disbelief.

When I looked down at the dish she had placed before me, the irony cut even deeper.

We were on the verge of marriage, yet she still didn’t know I was severely allergic to lamb.

“Eat up. I made this to help you recover. Isn’t roasted lamb chops your absolute favorite?”

She eagerly scooped a portion into my plate, but I pushed her hands away with disgust.

“Chase is the one who loves lamb. I’m deathly allergic to it, or did you conveniently forget?”

“I was only gone for a few days, and the entire fridge is packed with lamb. What the hell are you playing at?”