Chapter 3

3

I didn't sleep at all that night. I listened to the sounds outside my door fade from chaos to a chilling silence.

When the sun finally came up, I walked out to find the living room in shambles.

The coffee table and chairs were overturned. The expensive vases and clocks were gone.

Those were all things Bennett used to love.

But now... they were just trash.

I took a deep breath and pulled out my phone to call my parents and his.

My parents stayed silent for a long time on the other end, but eventually, they didn't say much.

Bennett's parents, however, tore into me.

They called me an irresponsible bitch, accused me of treating marriage like a game, and said Bennett was cursed to have ever met me.

I didn't argue. I simply sent them the video I had recorded at the bar the night before.

I wondered what kind of look they would have on their faces when they saw their son cuddling another woman the night before his engagement.

I spent the day cleaning the apartment and packing up the rest of Bennett's junk.

I picked up my phone to text him to come get his stuff.

But the call wouldn't go through, and the text failed to send.

I realized then that Bennett had blocked me on everything.

I stared at the red exclamation mark and sighed deeply.

Suddenly, a friend called me, her voice frantic. "Lyra, what happened between you and Bennett? Look at his Facebook right now!"

I gave a weary laugh. "I can't. We broke up, and he blocked me."

"You guys..." My friend was speechless. "When did this happen?"

"Last night."

"What?! That's insane! You broke up yesterday, and today he's making it official with another woman!" she hissed. "You threw away years of your life on that dog!"

She sent me a screenshot.

I clicked on it. It was a photo of Bennett and Jada, their heads pressed together, grinning like idiots.

The caption read: "After all these years of twisting and turning, I'm just glad I didn't miss you."

Those few words felt like a knife to my eyes.

Seven years of pining, three years of total devotion, and in the end, I was nothing but a punchline to a joke.

My friend sensed my silence. "Lyra, are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

I tilted my head back to keep the tears from falling. "It's in the past now."

I asked my friend to send Bennett a message for me, telling him to come get his things.

Two days later, surprisingly, Bennett sent me a friend request.

He didn't message me, but his feed started blowing up every single day.

It was a non-stop highlight reel of his "perfect" life with Jada.

I scrolled through them like a masochist, my heart tightening with every post.

When we were together, I'd beg him to go shopping or take a trip with me. He always claimed he was too busy with work.

Now, he was flying all over the country with Jada. They were running through meadows, kissing in front of fountains, and dancing under the northern lights...

Finally, I had to admit it. Bennett never loved me.

In his eyes, I was just a placeholder, someone who wasn't even worthy of his time.

Even though Jada had hurt him and abandoned him when he was at his lowest, he was still obsessed with her.

At least I had finally decided to pull myself out of this mess.

If he wanted to go, why should I keep hurting myself?

A few weeks went by.

I was slowly getting used to life without him.

I didn't have to worry about what he wanted for breakfast, or if he was stressed at work, or live in a constant state of anxiety.

Without Bennett, my life was surprisingly peaceful.

Until one day at the start of the month.

He actually sent me a text.

"Lyra, it's been two weeks. I assume you've reflected on what you did wrong?"

I frowned. "?"

"If you hadn't started that drama and lied about my relationship with Jada that night, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Whatever. If you apologize now, I'm willing to give you another chance."

"But you need to send my parents a nice gift. How else are they supposed to explain the delayed engagement to our relatives? Some expensive scotch and cigars should do it, or else..."