Chapter 3

3.

Even though her net worth had skyrocketed, Rowena still lived in the modest villa we bought together with our first big paycheck.

She claimed it held too many precious memories to leave.

I didn't doubt she believed that, but I wasn't in the mood for nostalgia.

The accident had wrecked my health. I was awake, but my body was fragile.

The stress of the day caught up to me, and by nightfall, I was burning up with a fever.

Rowena panicked. She called her private doctor and stayed by my side all night, personally giving me my medicine.

Whenever I drifted awake, I saw her red, tired eyes watching over me.

It wasn't until my fever broke the next morning that she finally relaxed.

She collapsed into my arms, her tears soaking my shirt.

"I'm so sorry, Hudson! It's my fault for not taking care of you. I can't lose you again!"

Can't lose me?

If that were true, why did she keep stabbing me in the back?

My phone buzzed. It was that same unknown number again.

I made an excuse about being hungry to get her out of the room, then opened the message with shaking fingers.

It was Logan. Since I'd woken up, he had been sending me constant taunts.

Descriptions of what they did, words I couldn't unhear.

This time, he sent a twenty-five-second video.

The sound of Rowena's moans and the sight of her lost in passion felt like a hot blade in my eyes.

The background was our living room.

The irony was sickening. I thought she had stayed up all night worrying about my fever.

Instead, while I was drifting in and out of consciousness, she was finding her own kind of heat with another man.

The pain expanded until it felt like my chest was going to burst. I watched that video over and over, a form of self-torture.

I didn't stop until my tears were blinding me.

Rowena walked in with a tray of food and froze when she saw me.

"What's wrong, Hudson? Are you hurting? Let's go to the hospital!"

"It's nothing," I lied, wiping my face. "I just realized how lucky I am to be home with you. It got to me."

She sighed in relief and gently wiped a stray tear from my cheek.

"Silley. We're going to be together forever now. Nothing will ever tear us apart."

Looking into her gentle eyes, I felt my own soul turn to ice.

She had no idea that "forever" was about to end.

She had cooked a massive feast of all my favorites to encourage me to eat.

She looked at me like a puppy seeking approval, asking if it tasted good.

Rowena came from a wealthy family; she used to never even step foot in a kitchen.

She learned to cook because my stomach was sensitive and I hated takeout.

Memories of our early years flashed by like scenes from a movie I no longer wanted to watch.

The old Rowena loved me purely. This Rowena loved me with a side of betrayal.

I couldn't bring myself to take a single bite.

My mind was filled with those twenty-five seconds of her with someone else.

Suddenly, her phone lit up.

She glanced at it, then quickly put it face down, looking guilty.

"Hudson, the wedding planner needs me to go over some details at their office..."

She was always a terrible liar.

The high-end company she hired would come to her if she snapped her fingers. A CEO doesn't go to them.

I knew exactly where she was going.

I gripped my fork until my knuckles turned white, then forced a smile. "Go ahead. Don't worry about me."

She looked visibly relieved.

She leaned in to kiss my cheek, but I turned my head just in time to avoid it.

She was in such a hurry she didn't even notice.

"I'll be back before you know it, baby."

I didn't answer. I watched her leave, feeling a cold void in my chest.

I opened my phone to find a new message from Logan.

It was a screenshot of his chat with Rowena from a minute ago.

Logan: "It's your fault I'm sick today. You were too wild last night and didn't let me get dressed. I have a fever now."

Logan: "Want to feel what a hundred-and-two-degree heat feels like inside me?"

He attached a photo of a thermometer.

Rowena didn't reply, but her departure said everything.

I clutched my chest. After the crushing pain came a hollow sense of confusion.

I didn't even recognize the woman she had become.

If she was this desperate for someone else, why keep up the charade of loving me?

Did she really think she could hide it until we were in our graves?

I laughed bitterly to myself, stood up, and scraped all the food she cooked into the trash.

I threw away our seven years of history along with the leftovers.