Chapter 3

3.

I drove down to Damian’s studio.

He had countless tour dates, and he always practiced his illusions in the rehearsal hall there.

Tally was the assistant he hired last year to manage his daily schedule and grab his meals.

Back then, seeing how young and unassuming she dressed right out of college, I never suspected a thing.

Yet she had managed to steal my man right under my nose.

Since it was a holiday, the rest of the staff had the day off, leaving the studio empty.

I walked straight toward the private rehearsal room where Tally had filmed her TikTok.

The door wasn't fully closed. Peeking through the gap, I saw Damian spinning Tally around in his arms, both of them laughing.

“Want me to show you another magic trick?”

His voice was dripping with tenderness.

I froze on the spot. A memory flashed back to our college days when I first agreed to be his girlfriend―he had spun me around in the exact same way.

He had told me: “Kendra, I will never let you down. I love you.”

When a person makes a vow, they look radiant and beautiful.

When they tear that vow apart, they reek of decay and deceit.

“Yes! What trick are you going to show me?”

Tally smiled brightly.

Damian put on a mysterious smirk.

“Close your eyes first.”

The moment Tally closed her eyes, he leaned down and pressed a firm kiss against her lips.

A deep blush rushed across Tally’s cheeks as she tapped his chest. “You jerk!”

“Haha!”

Damian let out a booming, carefree laugh.

It had been so long since I heard him laugh like that.

Every evening when he came home, he would eat dinner in silence, take a shower, and go straight to sleep.

He never smiled at me, nor did he share any details about his day.

We barely exchanged a word.

Whenever I asked if he was growing tired of me, he always blamed it on work fatigue.

And I had believed him.

Only now did I see that he was simply exhausted of me.

He was bursting with joy whenever he was around Tally.

Thinking back, the warning signs had been there all along.

He constantly offered to drive Tally home, claiming it was just a quick drop-off on his way back.

Whenever she caught a cold, he would rush over to look after her, claiming she had no family or friends in the city.

I had trusted him blindly, never questioning his motives.

A sudden tremor ran through my hands, and my car keys slipped from my fingers, clattering loudly against the hard floor.

“Who’s there?”

Tally gasped and spun around.

Damian turned as well, his eyes locking directly onto mine.

His pupils contracted in shock, and he rushed toward the doorway.

I spun around and bolted, crying as I ran down the hallway.

My chest felt like it was tearing apart from the suffocating agony.

I truly believed we would make it to the altar and grow old together.

Now I knew it was all just a pathetic fantasy in my own head.